26 Weeks (title edited)

wow
hard to believe Abigail is ALMOST 6 months old already. today. [EDIT: It has been brought to my attention that Abigail is 6 months old TODAY on Sunday Sept 7. For some reason I had it in my head that she would be 6 months on Friday because she was born on a Friday. Yes, that was foolish of me.]

it's been a while since i wrote a monthly reflection on life with Abigail, so let me attempt to do so now with Abigail in arms.
she has her moments, entire days even, when she is fussy, but by and large Abbie is the same happy, smiley baby I've been bragging about for the last 6 months (longer if you count the easy pregnancy). I foresee battles ahead between us, but for now I am bigger and stronger. ;)
she'd love to get her hands on everything, and everything into her mouth. right now she wants to type, or rip the keys off. I'm not willing to find out which. she's settling for chewing my chin. she loves to roll around on the floor and play by herself, which is great for me. gone are the days, however, when i could leave her on the bed or futon. on the right floor space I can leave her for a few minutes, but not for long. soon enough she will be crawling on all fours, and then I'm in trouble! she is already teetering on the edge of such crawling. so long as she can wait until after the living room renovations are done I will be happy.
september 1 marked my return to academia after 2 school terms of maternity and parental leave (Jan-Sept). the return is challenging, but I welcome the opportunity to return to my studies and interact with my colleagues. balancing my time with Abigail and my studies is a challenge. given the choice, I'd rather be playing with Abbie than reading a stuffy book. fortunately for me, I don't find the books I have to read stuffy. usually. sometimes I can do both - spend time with Abigail and read, particularly as I lay beside her nursing and waiting for her to fall asleep for her nap. having a book nearby enables me to make this time more productive. and, you know me, I always have to be productive. I can rarely simply sit and watch TV or a movie. Robin laughs, but I have to knit (or crochet). then I feel productive (and relaxed and entertained).
I am still managing to find time to knit - while relaxing; while travelling; while waiting for webpages to load; while watching Abigail roll around on the bed diaper free, pulling all the clean diapers out of the basket and waiting for me to not be watching as she rolls off the change pad to pee on the bed... Knitting helps me to relax. It also puts wool soakers on Abbie's bum and provides gifts of socks for family feet, among other projects.

And now a few letters from Abigail:

n,[ju juyu ulpi

She managed to delete an entire paragraph about today. She is aiming for the power button. I'd better save and post this before more damage is done. In short I talked about being on campus, enjoying time with colleagues, Abigail's good behaviour, Abigail being en route to being an academic herself with plenty of time at University already including one conference...