Lessons from my 6 Month Old

Yup! That's right, folks. Blueberry turns 6 months today. I know! It's crazy. I cannot possibly be the mother of a 6 month old. And yet I am. I have also been the recipient of a number of lessons via this same 6 month old. Sometimes I wonder who is learning more--her or me?

So what have I been learning?

Lesson #1: Patience. With myself. I make mistakes; I have bad days; I can't figure it all out perfectly every time. I don't know what she wants all the time, I get frustrated because I feel like I should, but I don't! I even have had moments when I simply have to put her in her crib and walk away for a few minutes because she's driving me up a wall. I can't be wonder woman and manage to do everything that I want to do and still keep my sanity. And I'm learning to be more okay with that. Of course there's always a dangerous, slippery slope of being too lackadaisical as well, but we'll fight that battle if necessary.

Lesson #2: Trust my child. This is a lesson I didn't expect to have to begin learning so quickly, but the reality is that I have worried less and been less stressed when I just accept that she's going to grow and change and learn in her own time. I can't force her into anything, nor do I want to. She is her own unique little person. I want to respect that, to believe in her (and her designer). It's so easy to slip into the comparison game. You know the one: Baby X was born around the same time and they're already doing such and such--why isn't my baby doing that? Instead there is the act of stepping back and looking at this beautiful, charming, dainty little girl that I've been blessed with and realizing that every milestone will come when it will--until then, enjoy her as she is.

Lesson #3: The world is a curious place. And it is worth slowing down to enjoy this curiosity. The best way to do so? Watch her. Look at the world from her perspective (and her height sometimes!) and see what she's seeing, appreciate the whirring of her little brain as she makes discoveries and solves mysteries. And as I take the time to see the world from her point of view, I find myself appreciating many of the smaller, beautiful points of existence that are far too easy to overlook as I go about my adult years.

A few thoughts and many happy wishes for my Blueberry's half-birthday.