Today is Deuce's six-month birthday.

He celebrated the occasion by having his first decidedly non-breastmilk-only poop, reminiscent of last night's experimentation with a chunk of avocado in his mesh feeder. I guess the babymoon is over. *sigh*

He continues to be completely charming in nearly every way. He wakes up with a smile, a big "gee, I'm awake! How nice to see you, mom!" expression that splits his whole face in half. Sit him up and he will bounce and wave his arms in a frenzy of delight.

He laughs at everything. Sneezes. Goofy faces. Tickles. Pictures of other babies. His brother saying the word, "Five." He laughed while eating his avocado, presumably just because he enjoyed it so much. Sometimes he laughs at nothing at all - just sits by himself and chuckles into empty air. Maybe it's not empty. His guardian angel might be a real comedian.

When he's not laughing, he's generally contemplating some found object with a Serious and Thoughtful expression. Although most items find their ways into his mouth eventually, it is not his first impulse - he likes to examine and explore things, usually talking his way through them in a quiet series of monosyllables.

He cries, of course, at all the usual things. Tiredness, hunger, pain, teething - in fact he makes far more fuss about cutting teeth than Peanut did. But his demeanor, over all, is sunny - making me even happier that we incorporated a name meaning "bright" into his mouthful of a title. It's very likely that portion of his name is what we will eventually call him, once (if ever) we drop the nickname in use.

He is a precious gift, a treasured addition to our family, a perfect complement to his loud and impulsive brother. I cannot imagine life without him.


I love you, little man.