six months

We are having a very hard time understanding how our resident small person has gone from this:

To this:

Our adorable but boring little lump has turned into a person who laughs, sings to herself, eats vegetables, pets the cats, insists on talking on the phone, and has recently invented a game that consists of simultaneously sucking down a bottle, kicking both legs, and smacking Mama in the face. I am not making any of this up.

And she has a tooth.
Also, there's a slim possibility that she's begun speaking Swedish.
We are out of our league here, people.

M could care less that today is her half-birthday, but we're pretty excited for her. Also, it kind of feels like we've accomplished something, keeping a tiny person alive for half a year. I think we're entitled to a small celebration. Of course, I'm hoping for something involving a cupcake. But I'd also settle for a stiff drink. Parenthood, as it turns out, is a study in contradictions.

Thank you, everyone, for helping us keep it together for the past six months. We owe you.