The first half-year of Baby’s life is full of extremes, and includes both some of the happiest moments of your life and some of the most exhausted, confused, or terrified. Now that Baby is getting old enough, and you’re getting familiar enough with him that you’re starting to get into the groove of this whole thing, it’s nice to take a look back and appreciate how much Baby has grown up during that whirlwind.
- Baby can see it in your eyes
Baby may not be up for involved debates about world affairs yet, but he is definitely starting to figure out the basics of how communication is supposed to work. Not only is he making facial expressions that express his feelings, but he is starting to notice and react to your emotions based on your facial expressions, too. - Going ga-ga for ‘goo-goo ga-ga’
Baby is still a little ways away from speaking in words, but he has started to make sounds that may sound a lot like words. He may even have started to babble responses when you talk to him, and to wait for you to respond when he talks to you. This is his way of learning the pattern of conversation, just like how babbling is his way of learning the sounds he will need when he does start to speak. - Turning frowns upside down!
At this point, Baby will have been smiling socially – smiling in response to your smile, or smiling at you – for a few months now. The first time you notice that he is smiling at you, not past you, or around you, or in his sleep, or because of gas, is one of those magic moments that make the harder parts of parenthood worth it. Luckily, once Baby starts smiling on purpose, he is only going to start smiling more and more often, and it’s one of those thrills that doesn’t really get old. - Baby wiggles and giggles
Not long after he started smiling, Baby probably started laughing, too. He is still developing his sense of humor, but there are a few things that he probably thinks are hilarious, like you and your partner making funny faces, peek-a-boo, or your tickling fingers. - Baby on-the-go
That stage where Baby does his best to climb everything in sight is still a little ways away (but it is coming, so brace yourself!) but Baby is already leaps and bounds more mobile than he was as a newborn, even if he isn’t quite up for leaping and bounding yet. In the past 6 months, Baby has changed from someone who pretty much stays where you put him to a sitting up and rolling over machine. Some babies even use their new rolling skills to cover some serious distance. - “What happened to my eyes?”
Now that Baby isn’t a newborn anymore, there’s already some nostalgia in looking back at those pictures you took on the day he was born, and how tiny he was then. Tiny and …different. Since Baby was born his eyes and hair may have seriously changed color and (in the case of his hair) texture. Eye changes have probably happened by now, if they’re going to. Hair changes could still happen in the future if they haven’t yet, but before too long, Baby will probably settle into the complexion he will grow up with.
