It was a busy week here at the corner of Baby Street and Home Improvement Avenue. There has been a little more progress made on the master bath and kitchen. The real story though is the milestones that Levi reached all in a matter of a couple days. He now waves, crawls, can feed himself pieces of food, and can get into a sitting position from his stomach. It was amazing to watch those skills come together.
As first time parents we spend a decent amount of time reading books and articles written about babies, their development, their sleeping habits, their eating habits, helpful tips about baby care, funny stories about babies, advice about parenting from doctors, advice about doctors from parents, listings of 101 variations on ‘peek-a-boo’, recommended books for baby, nutritional information for baby, and on and on. Some of the most interesting reading to us, however, is on expected baby milestones.
Of course every baby is different. They develop at their own pace and at their own individual rate. Even so, there are lists of milestones published by doctors and researches that delineate what babies of a certain age are probably up to. Every once and awhile, we co-conspirators in parenting, eagerly read through these. There is always a convivial moment of celebration when we discover that Levi has tackled another one. We say things like, “Remember when all he could do was stare at the couch cushions, all swaddled up like a baby burrito? Now he can ‘bear some weight on legs when held upright’ as well as ‘sit without support’!”
We were aware of the obvious milestones such as sitting, crawling, eating, walking. It turns out, though, that there are milestones we didn’t even know were milestones. For instance: ‘Rake with fingers an object and pick it up in fist’. Also: ‘Turn in the direction of a voice’ and ‘Work to get a toy that’s out of reach’. Who knew? We’re happy for the education because it means more instances of celebration. An only slightly exaggerated conversation:
Amber: Guess what, Honey, today Levi looked for a dropped object!
Luke: That’s great! Yesterday he objected when I tried to take a toy away and said mama and dada indiscriminately!
Amber: Really? I wonder when he will pick up a tiny object with any part of thumb and finger?
Luke: He’s growing up so fast.
We also celebrate milestones that aren’t found in any parenting book. This weekend we realized that we didn’t have to have multiple bibs or a bucket handy at all times to catch our little boy’s drool. He is definitely slowing down the slobber production. Also, his fuzzy little head is getting more and more hair. There’s almost enough to muss up.
What would really be helpful are parenting milestones. Accomplishments like “Remembering the diaper bag when leaving the house”, “Bathing baby without getting water in his eyes”, “Remembering all the words to “Only a boy named David”, “Always knowing where your camera is”, “Know by memory at least four board books,” and “Navigating a spoon full of peas successfully into babies mouth after dodging waving arms and grabby hands”. It would be nice to check things off the parenting milestone list. It would probably feel like you were getting parenting figured out. Until then, we’ll just get a little reassurance and a lot of enjoyment watching Levi tackle his.
As first time parents we spend a decent amount of time reading books and articles written about babies, their development, their sleeping habits, their eating habits, helpful tips about baby care, funny stories about babies, advice about parenting from doctors, advice about doctors from parents, listings of 101 variations on ‘peek-a-boo’, recommended books for baby, nutritional information for baby, and on and on. Some of the most interesting reading to us, however, is on expected baby milestones.
Of course every baby is different. They develop at their own pace and at their own individual rate. Even so, there are lists of milestones published by doctors and researches that delineate what babies of a certain age are probably up to. Every once and awhile, we co-conspirators in parenting, eagerly read through these. There is always a convivial moment of celebration when we discover that Levi has tackled another one. We say things like, “Remember when all he could do was stare at the couch cushions, all swaddled up like a baby burrito? Now he can ‘bear some weight on legs when held upright’ as well as ‘sit without support’!”
We were aware of the obvious milestones such as sitting, crawling, eating, walking. It turns out, though, that there are milestones we didn’t even know were milestones. For instance: ‘Rake with fingers an object and pick it up in fist’. Also: ‘Turn in the direction of a voice’ and ‘Work to get a toy that’s out of reach’. Who knew? We’re happy for the education because it means more instances of celebration. An only slightly exaggerated conversation:
Amber: Guess what, Honey, today Levi looked for a dropped object!
Luke: That’s great! Yesterday he objected when I tried to take a toy away and said mama and dada indiscriminately!
Amber: Really? I wonder when he will pick up a tiny object with any part of thumb and finger?
Luke: He’s growing up so fast.
We also celebrate milestones that aren’t found in any parenting book. This weekend we realized that we didn’t have to have multiple bibs or a bucket handy at all times to catch our little boy’s drool. He is definitely slowing down the slobber production. Also, his fuzzy little head is getting more and more hair. There’s almost enough to muss up.
What would really be helpful are parenting milestones. Accomplishments like “Remembering the diaper bag when leaving the house”, “Bathing baby without getting water in his eyes”, “Remembering all the words to “Only a boy named David”, “Always knowing where your camera is”, “Know by memory at least four board books,” and “Navigating a spoon full of peas successfully into babies mouth after dodging waving arms and grabby hands”. It would be nice to check things off the parenting milestone list. It would probably feel like you were getting parenting figured out. Until then, we’ll just get a little reassurance and a lot of enjoyment watching Levi tackle his.
1 comment:
Awsome!
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