6 Months

It's hard to believe, but our boy is 6 months old today! Although I can't seem to remember what life was like before he was born, the time really has flown by. He hasn't had his 6 month visit with the pediatrician yet, but I weighed him using our scale at home. It's difficult to get an accurate reading with our cheap-o dial scale, but he's over 20 pounds and over 29 inches! 6 short months ago, he came into the world at 8 pounds 14 ounces and 22 inches. More than double his birthweight and off the charts for height, we've got one big boy on our hands.

(Click on the picture below to enlarge it.)

Ready to hit the hay:

Cutest 6 month old ever:
Yesterday, I noticed that he has two bumps that look like teeth getting ready to come in on the top. My pediatrician said that every single baby she's ever had as a patient but one had their two bottom teeth come in first. It appears Griffin may be her 2nd baby to get top teeth first! I tried and tried to get a decent picture of these impending little "toofers" (as I call them), but this is all I could come up with. Turns out, a 6 month old doesn't stay still for a picture while you push up their upper lip...

It's hard to imagine what my life would be like without my sweet Griffin in it. Being his mother is so fulfilling and rewarding; I know that I know that I've stepped into the role that God prepared for me before I was even a twinkle in my mother's eye. It hasn't been all roses and bubble, warm, happy feelings, but the joys, rewards, and goods far, far outweigh the sleepless nights, the stressful, fussy days, the postpartum hormone rollercoaster, the stretch marks, the 20 lbs. that seems to just want to hang on just in case there's a famine or another ice age and I must still produce milk for Griffin, the sad, melted candle looking belly that was once my much doted on baby bump, the pain of labor, the days where I'm overwhelmed by how far I fall short as a mother. His great, big smile makes all those things worth it all.

There's a song by Rita Springer that I listened to non-stop in the weeks and months before Griffin was born; it is called "Worth It." It about the pain and joy found in following Jesus in this life is going to be worth it all at the sight of His face in heaven; however, the lyrics can be perfectly transposed into all the pain and struggle of becoming a mother in labor and of being a mother is worth it all at the sight of your child's face. 6 months ago today, as I labored and prayed and suffered through all the pains of childbirth, I thought of this song over and over. It reminded me that it really was going to be worth it all. It reminded me that the pain of labor was the intended and natural test of perseverance I needed to overcome in order to become a mother...the very same gauntlet that the first of all women had to endure to bear her children, I had to endure to bear mine. And, sure enough, at the sight of Griffin's face, it was all worth it. Just like anything that is valuable and rewarding and especially like being a follower of Christ here on Earth, there is something about the pain and suffering that makes the end result more rewarding. Sure, labor hurt...bad. Sure, going on very little sleep for a very extended period of time is rough. Absolutely, my body has spent 6 months trying to recover from pregnancy and delivery...trying being the key word. Yes, I question my maternal instinct, judgment and competence as a mom, and spiritual "fitness" as a mother almost every day. But, like being a follower of Christ, motherhood is a journey of many, many highs that are made even higher by all the many, many lows. Praise God for contrasts in life like these; for if everything were neither too low, nor too high, we would live very dull, bland lives indeed. The past 6 months of being a mother has been the second greatest struggle of my life (second only to being a follower of Christ), but the past 6 months of being a mother has also been the second greatest joy of my life.

Tomorrow, I plan to post what new things Griffin has been up to this past month, along with some new videos. I remember my dad saying to me, "Can I just give you a pill so you don't have to grow up, and you can stay the same as you are now?" Thinking he was just trying to be sweet, I would give him a hug and go on my merry little way, but now I understand. Almost daily, I look at Griffin and get all teary-eyed realizing how quickly it all goes by. I don't miss the past stages too much, and I don't yearn for the future stages too much... I just want him to stay just like he is every single day! I'm sure you mothers (and fathers!) will understand this. So, as I said to Griffin today, on his 6 month birthday, "Can I just give you a pill so you don't have to grow up, and you can stay the same as you are now?"