![\"Matilda's](\"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Matildas-first-time-at-a-BMW-Dealership-April-20-2024-20240420-BC1A9164-jpeg.webp\" "\\"Matilda's")
<\/p>\n
Matilda, you\u2019re 6 months old. Birthdays will be celebrated bigger than today but experiencing all of these changes in just a few months has been profound and worth writing down. It may have been me who changed more. You\u2018re almost 19 pounds and 26 inches long. That\u2019s a big change and it shows. You\u2019re wearing 9-12 month clothes and even some of those aren\u2019t long enough. You\u2019re drinking more than ever and eating a lot more than I expected of semi-solid foods and surprisingly finishing most of what we give you. I also see the impact you\u2019re having on us as you demand a bit more in care\/attention\/entertainment. You are curious about literally everything and want to feel, hold, taste it all but Heather is trying work as am I in the process. You want to be on the ground with toys, sit upright and be in your high chair and go with us to every room and always be 0-3 feet from us at all times. It makes it hard to get anything done being attached to you all of the time but this is all a part of the process.<\/p>\n
Currently, your nicknames in the house are Big Chongus, Pterodactyl (as you find your voice and fill the house with high pitched screams), Little Bugger, Baldy (a quickly fading nickname), Little Cutie and Beautiful. Nicknames are sort of always evolving so who knows what we\u2019ll call you next.<\/p>\n
You have gone from sleeping every night for 7-10 hours until your 5th month when you regressed to waking every 1-3 hours. It\u2019s not really clear what happened but Heather is feeling the brunt of this and struggling to keep you fed and then put back to sleep. This seems to be getting worse and I\u2019m looking forward to you sleeping a full 8 hours again. It\u2019s been almost 5 weeks after 3 months of fairly consistent nights.<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve been my \u201cunion rep\u201d for the new BMW Bike Build project and sat looking on as I twist bolts and move parts around keeping track and watching me closely. I make no assumptions on what you\u2019ll like doing as an adult but it\u2019s really rewarding to build things and as long as you\u2019re cool with it, I\u2019m happy to have you with me in the garage putting things together. Appropriately, we took you to a local motorcycle dealer on your 6 month birthday and put you in a sidecar and on the parts counter and asked what we could get for you\u2026a new bike perhaps? Heather discouraged the parts manager doing any negotiation on what I could get for you.<\/p>\n
Every night, we have family dinner and you sit in your high chair throwing toys around and eating liquified vegetables and fruits along with yogurt. I wasn\u2019t a picky eater and ate everything and there\u2019s almost nothing I won\u2019t eat. Maybe you\u2019ll be the same.<\/p>\n
The only thing that makes me feel like a guilty parent is just how much time you\u2019re being exposed to screens. I don\u2019t use my iPhone very much at night but when a call comes in or a message I have to reply, you are very aware not only of the existence of the phone but of its presence as a notification \/ attention getter. You don\u2019t have the capacity yet to understand what the phone\u2019s purpose is only that it\u2019s small, shiny and lights up and you want it more than the television which is more of a piece of furniture you can see versus a personal computing device for interactions. The same thing happens at my desk when working for a few minutes while holding you and you’re surrounded by screens and want to play with the keyboard. Heather uses her phone with you more than me but I\u2019m supporting our family through these light-up screens and it\u2019s going to be on me to set an example of responsible technology usage but also be a parent with boundaries and guidelines. I don\u2019t think it\u2019ll be a challenge but it\u2019s really important that we don\u2019t just say phones should be used in moderation while we spend all of the time on them. Your existence has made me more conscious of how I use technology. I appreciate you for that even if you don\u2019t know if until you read this in a decade or more.<\/p>\n
You\u2019re not crawling yet but your mind wants to be mobile. You want to go over to the dog and pull his hair, crawl between us on the couch and follow me into the bedroom when I put away clothes from the laundry. You have a yearning to explore on your own terms and an insatiable curiosity about the world around you while being stricken to a life on your back waiting for someone to pick you up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It seems so basic but I look forward to our 3-4 times every day in the backyard sitting on the patio together watching squirrels, listening to the birds and watching porter roll around in the grass. You don\u2019t seem to mind it much either but Charlotte has pretty severe tree pollen and you get stuffy some times which is my fault both genetically and for physically taking you outside in the peak of it. I look forward to our daily journey to check the mail. Today you just looked up and noticed there are trees with huge branches and leaves hanging and you were in complete awe of the majesty of nature. Don\u2019t ever lose that. Our world is special.<\/p>\n
You love stroller walks and you\u2019re growing to love hikes with you strapped to me. We\u2019ll take one tomorrow and maybe this time you can stay awake longer than 5 miles. I want to get us up to 12 mile hikes before you start to prefer walking on your own.<\/p>\n
I think you\u2019re going to be right-handed just based on your dominant actions when it comes to interacting with the world around you. I wonder if that\u2019ll remain constant over the next 6 months.<\/p>\n
You don\u2019t have an identity yet so style, opinions, cares and debate are a way off but you\u2019re stubborn while not holding a grudge. It could just be the 6 months thing but you know what you want and when you want it but when you don\u2019t get it or it\u2019s taken away, the world isn\u2019t shattering around you. I expect that to change but it\u2019s refreshing that you\u2019re easily entertained as long as your\u2019e being actively entertained at all times.<\/p>\n
You\u2019re going on your first camping trip in a few weeks and again, I hope you enjoy the outdoors as much as I do. The woods are where I lived as a child and the possibilities a forest unlocks for a child is limitless. I love the forest and it\u2019s great to share this with you along with a few upcoming camping trips this Summer. Our time together in the woods is something I hope brings you peace and the super power to invent worlds you\u2019ll explore and make your own even if those worlds are just a creek, boulder and a walking stick.<\/p>\n
The last observation is really about your parents. We\u2019re surviving. Day to day, things are great but our lives are changed. When I stay at work late or have a function related to one of my hobbies or have to go on a business trip, it\u2019s just Mom doing everything. When I\u2019m at the office, she\u2019s it and I worry about her health, happiness and stress with no pressure relief valve to have someone else to lean on when I\u2019m unavailable. I don\u2019t really know how to fix it. We have no family or friends in Charlotte, NC and I\u2019m here for a job so I have to maintain those responsibilities. I just want to achieve balance with your needs, you mom\u2019s needs and exist as a balanced family but we don\u2019t have that at the moment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I look forward to sharing all of the great things you will be doing when turning 1 in six months. It\u2019s going to be pretty amazing to see all of these changes in you. Happy 6 months on Earth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Matilda, you\u2019re 6 months old. Birthdays will be celebrated bigger than today but experiencing all of these changes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-04-28T03:06:31Z","apple_news_api_id":"c57c5560-3ee6-4786-81b9-f8fd20370845","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2026-03-18T05:41:03Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AxXxVYD7mR4aBufj9IDcIRQ","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"csco_singular_sidebar":"","csco_page_header_type":"","csco_custom_appearance":"","csco_disable_excerpt_posts_layout":false,"csco_page_load_nextpost":"","csco_post_video_location":[],"csco_post_video_location_hash":"","csco_post_video_url":"","csco_post_video_bg_start_time":0,"csco_post_video_bg_end_time":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[403],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-12260","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-parenting","7":"cs-entry","8":"cs-video-wrap"},"apple_news_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pb3IC4-3bK","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4645,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2015\/05\/05\/waltzing-matilda-leather-macbook-pro-sleeves-1-year-later\/","url_meta":{"origin":12260,"position":0},"title":"Waltzing Matilda Leather MacBook Pro Sleeves, 1 Year Later","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"May 5, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"With my 15\u201d MacBook Pro Retina purchase last March, I ordered a leather sleeve that would look nice, smell nice and be very soft in protecting the MacBook inside of my backpack. 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My therapist asked me a question about how I feel having a child will impact my life, career and what I\u2019ll accomplish. It\u2019s one of those questions intended to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Parenting"","block_context":{"text":"Parenting","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/category\/parenting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Matilda Chandler One Day Old","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53281921587_28c10ab371_b.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53281921587_28c10ab371_b.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53281921587_28c10ab371_b.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14147,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2026\/03\/11\/matilda-the-toy-store\/","url_meta":{"origin":12260,"position":3},"title":"Matilda @ The Toy Store","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"March 11, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Matilda is 2 years and 4 months old. She does things that are very unique and surprising. Every parent says that but I thought it might be fun to document some of these things for my own memories. Yesterday, we went to a toy store. She has enough toys but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Parenting"","block_context":{"text":"Parenting","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/category\/parenting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13038,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2025\/08\/23\/life-39\/","url_meta":{"origin":12260,"position":4},"title":"Life: 39","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"August 23, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"ChatGPT didn\u2019t do this year justice and even though it is a tradition that I write this around my birthday, I also feel really great about the timing. The timing could not be better to share an annual life update. Despite everything ahead, I\u2019ll do my best to look back\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Life"","block_context":{"text":"Life","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/category\/life\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14188,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2026\/03\/19\/daddy\/","url_meta":{"origin":12260,"position":5},"title":"Daddy","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"March 19, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Matilda doesn't remember the last time I took a flight since it was nearly a year ago before she turned 2 and before we moved in with Heather's parents for 6 months while our house was being rebuilt. I was dada back then. 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