Five months

Dear Neil,

You are 5 months old today! Giminy crickets, at this rate, before I blink, you will be off to college!



But for today, you are still my small baby who I can cuddle and dress up (as you can see from the above photo). And YOU ROLLED OVER TODAY!!! I have been working on your rolling over for a few days now and today just like that you did it yourself.



And then you did it 2 more times. Your dad, grandmother and I cheered you as soon as you did it and there was the biggest smile on your face. We are so proud of you, baby!

So what is going on with you?

1. Your first Christmas: Our Christmas was infinitely sweeter having you around. You probably had no idea what in the world was going on. But we had the best time with you. Your aunt (my sister), uncle and cousins came over here for the holidays and baby, you were loved to bits.



Your cousins could not get enough of you and were kissing and hugging and playing with you and I could never tire of seeing the love.



2. We travelled to the Keys and rented a villa. Since your grandma had to leave to India in the middle of the vacation, there was quite a bit of traveling and you are the BEST TRAVELER EVER. You didn't make any fuss at all and was always smiling and laughing and playing with everyone.

3. Your grandma had to leave back home after Christmas. She helped me look after you for the first 4 months of your life and she missses you really badly.



4. Now your other grandma is here and she has some tricks up her sleeve to entertain you. She has also totally fallen under your spell. One of her tricks is to make an air bubble in the mouth and break it. You just find it highly entertaining and laugh loudly.

5. We took you to your first movie, "Where the Wild Things Are". We all went when your cousins were here and you slept through the entire thing. Actually, so did I. But everyone else enjoyed.

6. We also took you to putt-putt golf. You were in a sling on your Dad's back and you were awake and enjoying almost the entire time.



6. You also went bowling, and it was not even your first time! You also went for a Lion safari and we just scared you by all our yelling and excitement. We also took you on a glass bottomed boat tour while we were in the Keys.

We take you just about everywhere we go and you are so well behaved. Unlike some of the blessings we take for granted in life, in this case I well realize what a blessing it is that you have such a sweet, sunny personality.

The day your grandma arrived, I was walking towards the kitchen to meet her with you in my hand when I slipped and fell. I broke the fall with my knees and elbows and you were safe in my hands and did not even touch the floor. But that evening, you cried for almost 2 hours like you have never before. Later we found out that it was eczema, but we wondered if the fall had hurt you internally. I have never wondered about my love for you. But that evening, during the agonizing hours I spent wondering about the fall, I came face to face with the extent of how much you mean to me.

You are so interactive now, it is such a joy to be around you. I start every morning with "Good Morning Agooboo" and you give me the biggest smile. God knew that Mamma needed a Neil in her life and I thank God every day for the privilege he gave me of being your Mom. My hope and prayer for you is that you will grow into a man He wants you to be and that you will know Him early in life, the one who loves you more than I do.

Love,
Mamma