Dear Klaasen,

Where did the past six months go and what are you up to now?

You are such a good baby. You hardly ever, EVER, cry. You never even fuss! You are completely content with whatever, wherever, who ever, and whenever. We've taken you all over the country and back, and most of the time, we wouldn't even know we had a baby with.

You are getting really close to crawling and can scoot backwards all over the place. You get on your hands and knees often and love to rock back and forth. You finally rolled over! Even though you don't do it often, at least I know that you can do it! You also have a new favorite position. I laugh when I see you sitting in this position because it looks like you are trying to do the splits!

You are just learning to clap your hands and can point to my nose when I say, "Where's Mommy's nose?" You babble. You can say, "mama," "dada," and "bye-bye." When you say, "bye-bye," you wave. The other day we were in Costco and you saw another baby in a cart and said, "bye-bye," and waved. It was so super cute! You have dark brown eyes, like your Daddy and sister, but those might change like Skogen's did. You have very dark brown hair just like Daddy and we think it's going to be curly, too.

You love to play! You still play in your exersaucer a couple times a day and enjoy playing on the floor with toys, too. While I shower, I put you in the doorway of the bathroom in your Johnny Jump Up and you love that! You especially love playing with your brother and sister. They keep you entertained all day long!

You still aren't sleeping very well at night. Sometimes you do 11 hours, but most of the time you only sleep six, and then think you need to get up and eat again before going back to sleep. I'm not going to complain about that, though, because I know that some mothers have it a lot worse. You usually take two naps a day, one that is 45 minutes to an hour long in the morning, and one that is three to four hours long in the afternoon. You have started solid food, now. You usually have rice cereal or homemade applesauce once a day. You've also tried peas and pears. You're not really a fan of food and that's fine with me because it's a lot of work to add in solids. Every day we'll increase your solid intake by a little bit, though, and soon we'll get you eating with your brother and sister.

You love Barkley!, you love Sunday School, and you love to suck your thumb. You sleep on your belly. You take a bath every other day and love to splash! If you hear the bath water running for Maida or Skogen to take a bath and you don't get to get in, you cry. You know how to arch your back, throw your head back, and throw a tantrum. You especially like to throw a tantrum when it's time to take your medicine. You hate taking medicine and getting your nose wiped.

You are fat. You weigh the same as Skogen - 27 pounds! You are also 27 inches tall. You have tons of rolls. Complete strangers come up to you and want to hold you or ask to touch your fat. The doctor says that you are completely healthy and there is nothing wrong with being a fat baby. We can't wait to see what you s-t-r-e-t-c-h out to be and how you'll grow into a little boy. You are such a joy to have around and have a special way of making us happy and proud. I love to kiss your chub and hope I never forget what it's like to kiss those chunky cheeks of yours!

I love you, Tossy.

- Mommy