Everybody warns you not to compare your kid with other kids, and you swear you won't do that, but I think there are just some things that overtake us when our guard is down. Playgroup just makes it too easy to notice that little Millie (born the same day as Caleb) has a whole paragraph of words in her vocabulary or that little Jack (two months younger) runs circles around the others. And then being at home, I watch Caleb do things that make me swear he must be a prodigy - as if there were something really spectacular about using a hairbrush correctly, pretending the remote control is a telephone, or carrying his cup to the table.
I subscribed to a weekly email update from Baby Center that gives examples what's normal, what to expect, what not to stress over and it seems that all of Caleb's behavior and achievements are...normal. His aparent advances - right on time. His lagging vocabuary, exactly where he should be (Ma-ma, Da-da, plus 3 other words.) He follows simple commands, pretend to read books, and gets frustrated when he can't have his way - all normal, normal, normal. It's like the 15 month update used Caleb as their poster child.
Well it's fun to play with other kids, but it is just amazing to watch my newborn morph into a little boy. It's like an indulgence. Which is why I don't want to go back to work while he's little. There is no amount of money that could buy this.
Amen to your last paragraph!!
ReplyDelete