tomorrow, anna will be 6 months old. and she is more than ready to join the world--these days i walk around with her on my hip and her head swivels this way and that in a desperate attempt to see everything that i am doing, and if possible to grab it. her hands go out at everything. near, far, doesn't matter, she reaches to Get It! It is SO Interesting! Let Me Have It NOW!!

she is still pretty much happy go lucky,though she does finally understand that when i leave the room she can yell and i will return. she enjoys this power. she does not really want to be left alone these days, and while i can let her sit for reasonably long periods of time in her jumperoo, when she is ready to get out, she just starts yelling. not crying, just yelling. loud.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

at first she looks like she is enjoying the process of making the sound, but eventually her brow furrows and she stares at me, directing the force of her voice like a laser beam. but the best part is when i pick her up because she always, without fail, lunges into a huge snuggle into my shoulder and neck--she burrows her face in there and squeals and hugs with her arms and bounces with her legs and bottom. and then she looks up and makes eye contact, smiles and squeals. and that is another loud sound that she loves. it seems that her goal is to find the highest possible pitch to express her joy.

and then of course there is her laughter. she loves to laugh. peekaboo will guarantee it, as will a visit to the mirror. but many other things will get her going, and if another person is laughing, she will join in.

sound is basically something she loves. it is pretty much nonstop--either the aforementioned yells and squeals and screams, or mamamamamamamamama, dadadadadadadadadada, buh buh buh buh buh, ya ya ya ya ya ya , di dii di di di di di di,-- even when she is nursing, she tends to sing "mmmmmmm mmmmmm mmmmmm" -- which makes me think fondly of my friend jenny who liked to hum while she ate.

as for eating, she will not take anything off a spoon. i try at least once a day, and she just holds her tongue out and her mouth open in an expression of "ge iii oooo I ooonngguee oooww" -- (get it off my tongue now). but. she loves her little mesh bag that i can fill with fruit, and she even enjoys little pieces of cheerios. in fact, she loves that. i just don't get it. so, i am thinking perhaps we can just skip right over that pureed food part.

of course after eating all that fruit, she is a sticky mess, so we move on to her absolute favorite part of the day, her bath. she gets the prize for most enthusiastic bather. when we are in there, all she wants to do is float on her back and stretch waaaaay out, then kick a bit. she also enjoys splashing and floating on her tummy so that she can stick her face in the water, but really she tries to float on her back as much as possible--she will fling her head back into the water forcefully, and i have to be really prepared for it. it is a very weird thing for a baby to like. most kids desperately try to keep the back of their heads very clear of the water.

we went to the beach today, and she is now strong enough to lie on her tummy and plyy with the sand, which only made it into her mouth 2ce--she really adored spreading it around though--it was fascinating. and she is at the point where if you put her in the middle of the blanket she can squirm and wiggle all over it, often backwards, but sometimes forwards, always in a circle (like a clock). sometimes she even gets herself up on all fours which really makes her proud. she can sit unassisted for a few seconds, and for a long time with someone offering occasional support--she no longer just folds over in half. those stomach muscles are growing!

but truly, the thing that distinguishes anna is quite simply, her joy. the other kids were definitely always happy to see me, or others they knew, but she takes it to another level entirely. when you make eye contact with her, she explodes in a huge grin, so big you can see the muscles in her face straining, and she squeals and laughs and jumps and kicks. it is such a gift to have someone react to you that way. she basically constantly reiterates the phrase everyone needs to hear over and over "you are so loved by me! i adore you. life is so great to have brought you to me." and of course, one can't help but hold her tight and say the same thing to her. and i always add "thank you."