Six Months Already

By Paul Morrone CFP®, CPA/PFS, MSA

It didn’t hit me until I walked into work, but Kyle turned 6 months today. I may not remember this day as well as when he says his first word or when he takes his first steps, but it is a significant date on the calendar that has now passed. The first couple of months were a blur and I feel like we didn’t really hit our stride until three months had passed. Our confidence has risen significantly after getting our share of bumps and bruises in the early days which has allowed us to settle into a routine. With Kyle comfortably out of the newborn stage, he is much more predictable and is sleeping and eating on the same schedule each day.

If you remember back to when he was younger, I would half-heartedly complain that Kyle liked to stay up late, often going to bed close to midnight as an infant. This has now changed dramatically, and now he is usually down by 7pm with some surprising regularity. Getting him to bed so early is bittersweet, however, as both Jill and I can work late and often don’t get home until at least 6 which leaves us with only a limited amount of time to spend with him at the end of the day. It is also a rude awakening in the morning as he is early to bed and early to rise, often rolling around in his crib ready to get up before 6:30.

While we are still probably 2 months away from him saying any audible words, and much further from him establishing a vocabulary and having fluent conversations, I find it amazing how well both Jill and I have learned to read his non-verbal communication and react to what he is trying to tell us. In the beginning, I felt like a dog in a dog park, picking up a million different scents and not knowing which way to go first. Now it seems that we’ve established a mutual understanding with Kyle and he reacts to us just as much as we react to him. It’s fascinating to say the least.

It’s a great age, one I’m sure is probably too brief, but it is definitely one I’ll miss dearly. I have been doing my best to heed the advice many of you have given us, trying to take in every moment as they are all special. Now if I can only figure out how to slow down the clock because these months are going by a bit too quickly!

On another note, for anyone that has had a child I highly recommend watching comedian Sebastian Maniscalco’s new standup on Netflix called “Stay Hungry.” He talks about his experience having his first child, from the birth announcement through her first birthday and it put both Jill and I in stitches. Well worth the hour of your time if you want a laugh.

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