Eliza at 6 months

Yesterday I looked back at some of the old posts I wrote about Benjamin when he was 6 months old.  That was depressing.  I wrote something about Benjamin being an easy-going baby, not fussy unless he wants something, etc.  Huh.  Eliza is often a delight and we love her dearly, but she is still a mystery to me in ways that I don't think Benjamin was at this age.  Mostly, it has to do with sleep:  her sleeping patterns are starting to become somewhat predictable, but they are not convenient.  

And she seems to have been teething for the last two months but no teeth in sight.  That has to be why she is waking up so much at night.  In fact, JB and I are spending this lovely Thanksgiving morning trading off catching up on sleep that we did not get much of last night.  So reflections on the first 6 months of E Jane's life will have to wait until this period is over.  I'm sure I will be more generous when we have some distance.  

And thankfulness will have to wait too.  Of course we are profoundly thankful for this life and our children and many other things. But sometimes my feelings and willingness to write about them do not exactly align with the holiday itself.  Here are some images of what we are thankful for when I don't quite have the words.

At least Benjamin seems to be over the awful stomach virus he's had the last few days.  Thankful.  

E Jane is eager.  She is downing her solid food like she's been waiting
for it her whole life.  Which I guess she has.  

All Eliza ... almost

what about me?  Am I still cute?  

Curious George and ...

The man with the yellow hat, of course.  

It was so much fun to see how much Benjamin's understanding of this holiday developed in the last year.  He really seemed to understand dressing up like a monkey, knocking on doors, and getting candy at every turn this year.  It makes so much sense, right?  But what a great tradition.  

Halloween has never been my favorite holiday, but it is so much more fun with small children.  Benjamin's (self-reported) favorite part was giving out candy at our house.  I think we all had a good time, actually.  It was a beautiful night to sit on the porch and munch on swedish fish and m&ms.  Well all except for this one, of course:     

With these cheeks, you'd think both kids were keeping a stockpile of swedish fish for the next great depression:  

A common scene