Reflections on a 6 Month Old Mae

Mae turns 6 months old this Wednesday and I can hardly believe it. So here are some of the things I have been thinking about:

1. There is a direct correlation between number of kids and reduction of "free" time. Though for some reason it doesn't seem to matter much.
2. Mae is in love with all of us. She has the most beautiful sparkle in her eyes when she looks at Hallie and me. When she looks at Jonah it makes me jealous that she doesn't look at me that way. She LOVES Jonah. Anything he does is funny to her. He touches her on the head and says in a sweet voice, "Hi Mae" and she sighs, giggles and wiggles with delight. Hallie says that this is the reason that older siblings can totally take advantage of their younger brothers or sisters. Now I think that is not true but don't talk to my sister about that. She'll just lie and tell you a story about how I used to make her look in the sleeve of my long sleeve shirt (while I was wearing it) and then push my arm through the sleeve and smack her in the face when she did. That doesn't sound like something I'd do at all.
3. Mae loves to be around the older kids. She sits in an exersaucer in the center of the room when Jonah is playing with his friends. Soon enough she has lured them over with her smile and they are playing with her and the exersaucer toys or spinning the exersaucer around and singing "Ring Around the Rosie".
4. Mae loves to sing and talk. She has a beautiful voice that makes any of the crap I deal with at work fade quickly upon entering the house. Of course Jonah does a great job of making daddy happy upon entering too. "Hey buddy. Missed you today." He says.
5. Mae expects mommy to be there to put her to sleep and when that expectation isn't met, she really demonstrates her lung capacity. This is not an often occurrence but still makes me spastic and anxious. Case in point. Hallie was out. Mae woke up. She didn't want what I had to offer and soon started screaming. Well, I had just put Jonah to bed and don't want the screaming to wake her up so I try to calm her as fast as possible.

• "Does she need a diaper change?" Peel off the swaddler, unbutton the 18 buttons on her pajamas to get to the diaper. It's dry and I have only made her madder. Can't get her buttoned in completely before the screams vibrate my eardrum like the first notes of a rock concert where you just knew you should have brought earplugs and NOT stood in front of the stacks of speakers.
  
• Now I quickly attempt to swaddler her and get her outside or downstairs. Anywhere that does not make Jonah wake up. One leg is dangling out of the pajamas and swaddler. Her head is partially covered, and I am pretty sure that the velcro is actually stuck to my bathrobe.
  
• Grab a shirt of Hallie's from the laundry bin and drape it over my shoulder hoping the smell will fool Mae into thinking I am mommy. It does. Now she is making sucking sounds that are growing louder and more frequent as she tries to latch on to my arm. I think I just reminded her of mom a bit too much and I definitely can't provide what she is rooting around for.
• I am now in the basement. In the dark. rocking back and forth and making the universal sound for Be Quiet Baby. Shush. This just makes her mad.
• 25 minutes in and I am out of tricks. I know there are others but I admit, I panic a bit. I call Hallie, who has been out with her friends for an entire 30 minutes (do the math- mom leaves, baby realizes it somehow though already fast asleep, waits 5 minutes and then lets dad know she is not happy). Hallie decides to come home. Mae hears this. Waits 5 minutes and then passes out. I text Hallie back. She continues her night out and I am not a failure.

I am so happy that Mae has joined our family. I don't even want to imagine life without her.
I love you little Mae-Mae.