Six Months

When I approach a child He inspires in me two sentiments:

Tenderness for what he is, And respect for what he may become. Louis Pasteur

This week the babies had a birthday:
Half a Year
Six Months
26 Weeks
182 Days on this earth.

The week they turned five months, almost as if turning on a switch, they began grasping objects and then soon picking up objects. They can now--cue Handel's Hallelujah chorus--pick up their pacifiers and put them in their mouths. Although, of course now they are not as interested in their pacifiers as when they were younger. They are turning over with ease and agility. They push up well. Another thing they are just starting to do is sit up. For instance, if they are in a swing or in our laps they can pull themselves up so that they are not leaning against anything. It is interesting how some of their milestones they all three reach simultaneously and others they achieve at their own paces.

I love that Lucia, Elliott, and Mazie are triplets but that they look different and have their own unique personalities. They are all happy babies, most of the time. Lucia is very patient; Elliott likes to have fun; Mazie is very adoring. They can all get mad though and pitch the biggest fit you've ever heard. Even Lucia, who you think is Miss Little-lady-of-patience will scream so hard she stops breathing and turns purple. Mazie will scream so strongly that her eyes start bugging out of her head. Elliott can go from silent to concert-level decibels in no time flat. Luckily these episodes are not a daily occurrence. They have many similarities but also are unique little individuals even at this young age. I know they will continue to differentiate as they develop.

One specific difference between Elliott and the girls is his musculature. He is so much more solid than they are. He is strong; if we held him steady, I believe he'd stand all day long. But, because of his strength, he is not as flexible as Lucia and Mazie. They can easily hold their feet and pull them up to their mouths. I've tried to help him out with this and he is just too tough to get those feet up to his face. He would rather stick both thumbs in his mouth.

Elliott is ready for steak, or at least for butternut squash and carrots, and I feel the girls are right there behind him. He watches our fork so intently as we eat meals. H is so excited to feed the babies solids that I think she just may bust. I am trying to get her to wait until we go to Georgia next weekend. I don't want to deal with taking the babies on their first overnight trip along with their little systems processing solid food for the first time on top of that. We will see what happens.

The photo at the top of this post is of Elliott and Mazie. When I left them to put in a load of laundry, Elliott was on the green mat on his back. When I came back, he was under the swing as the photo shows. Mazie wouldn't tell me what happened, but I have a great suspicion that Elliott may have crawled. Happy six months to him. The photos below are of Lucia, Elliott, and Mazie, respectively.