It's a double-edged sword, really. You want your baby to grow and develop and learn lots of new things. You read about the "milestones" in all the books and feel proud and relieved as your child reaches each one. "She's normal!" you think to yourself. And if they reach a milestone a little earlier than average, you think, "oh my god, she's sooo gifted!" and want to brag about it.But once your baby has mastered a new skill, you also secretly wish that they hadn't. Take standing for instance. What a great milestone! Kaylin learned to pull herself up to a standing position last week and we're so excited about it! Yayyy, she can stand! Yayy, she can see the room from a whole new vantage point! Yayyy....oh wait, she can also reach things we've left on top of chairs and tables. Oh wait, she can grab the remote control and spit all over it. Oh wait, she can stand up in her crib and, if she had a pole-vault pole, jump over the side!
Needless to say I've discovered a new state of mommy-alertness while Kaylin is roaming the house. I now know that silence is deadly; if I don't hear her chattering away or banging toys around I know something is up. (Like the time I found her standing on the second stair with a bottle of shampoo in her mouth.)
I guess you can't stop progress, or child development in this case. You can only stand by and watch...and put up five different baby gates...and remove anything from the room that isn't tied down...and cover all hard floor surfaces with blankets and pillows in case they fall...and never let them out of your sight, even to go to the bathroom, so you have to hold it all day until daddy gets home.....
Happy Mother's Day to new and not-so-new moms everywhere!
3 comments:
Standing? Wait until she starts walking.... running.... riding a motorcycle....
She is gorgeous. Good job!
Don't worry, Little Sister, she will be just fine. You have to allow Kaylin to live her life.
Think of all the things that Mom and Dad allowed us to do, and we turned out just fine. The following are a few examples:
1. riding to kindergarten on Todd McCready's handlebars with no helmet, holding my lunch pail (age 5);
2. playing in the back seat of the car with no child restraints or seatbelts (age 1 to 15);
3. playing with and mixing various chemical compounds with the "children's chemistry set" (age 12. I don't see these in department stores anymore. I wonder why?);
4. driving a motorized go-cart on residential roads to Paul Christie's house (age 12 but had to have special class of drivers license granted by Mom and Dad);
5. playing in the back yard with a real bow & arrow (age 10);
As long as you force Kaylin to take swimming lessons and prohibit her from having a BB-gun (because she could lose an eye), she will be just fine.
Uncle Dennis
All I have to say is you will never go to the bathroom alone again. :)
Post a Comment