Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Milestones
I thought one of the hardest things about being a working mom would be missing so many of the firsts. Rolling over, crawling, walking, etc. But what I didn't realize was what a process reaching all of these milestones would be. I guess that I just expected Jillian would suddenly achieve each milestone...like one day she'd be hanging out on her back on her play mat and the next day she'd be rolling over. I didn't realize that the whole thing would drag out for months. First she'd roll on to her side. Then she'd roll even further up on her side. Then further. Then she'd pretty much be all the way on her stomach except for that dang arm in her way. And then...finally...she'd roll on her stomach. In all honesty, I still can't quite figure out what point in the whole process marked the "rolling over from back to front" milestone. And you know what, I don't really feel like I missed anything major by working because even if I wasn't the first person to witness each little inch of progress, I still got to witness the spectrum of her learning process. And somehow watching her learn is the most satisfying part of all.
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8 comments:
It's funny how we idealize those moments like that on TV, in the movies, and even in family pictures. I think a lot of that whole mentality is the result of it, where we're shown pictures of things like our first walk. Such things tend to focus more on single events, which are much easier to capture on film, than on the long and drawn out processes that is the reality of life. Nobody lives just for the big events in life - they live to live it out.
Sometimes I feel like that too. But part of me still wishes I was there to see some of the actual firsts instead of John telling me about it and then trying to see it for days cause my daughter is stubborn and won't dothings if she knows people are watching.
I totally missed Cameron rolling over for the first time - but I got to see him do it this morning - and it was just as awesome. He was so funny about it. He was sitting up - throw himself forward (he was on the bed, thank god) butt in the ait, then flipped over and giggled. Too cute.
DH and I have been talking about this a lot lately! First, for Bean's first words. Has he said them yet? I have absolutely no idea. Yesterday I was about 85% sure he said "ball," which came out as "baoo." Or was he just babbling nonesense like usual? My Dad on his visit was convinced that Bean has like a 15-word vocabularly already. DH was like, "So are you going to make the official call that BALL was his first word? I'm sure there's paperwork or something we have to fill out about it." And I was like, ummmm... ???? The second thing is walking. He's taken a few steps here and there, but accidentally. So as far as I'm concerned, he hasn't walked at all. But maybe he kinda did? Yeah, this is not like the movies at all.
Yeah, we were that way about sitting. He was upright for a moment before toppling over... was that his first time sitting? How long does he have to be upright before we call it his first time?
I have to say, though, that his first time rolling was definitely obvious. We'd been putting him on his stomach for weeks, and he'd only cried, never moved at all. And then one afternoon, boom, he just rolled all the way over. But he proceeded to do it on command for several days, so everybody who wanted to see it got the chance.
Exactly! I could not agree more. Lemy has been learning to crawl for months now and its torturous for both of us! :)
geeesh - I totally love this post. I'm all teary-eyed about it. It makes so much sense and helps put everything in perspective. If I could, I'd give you a big hug for making my day :)
Very well spoken! I've never thought of it that way, but you are so right.
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