Parenting: Developmental Milestones for Your Toddler

When you first become pregnant, it is inevitable that even strangers will have a comment or two on "when I was...". I remember the comparisons and the comments, from you haven't gained enough weight", to "you've gained too much", to "what do you mean you're going to breastfeed", to "breastfeeding is the only way". I'm not easily swayed, and I was able to let most of the comments not get too far under my skin. It's enough that you read all the "What to Expect" type books, and subscribe to every parenting magazine under the sun, and join every website and group that you come across, and promise every stranger who approaches you that you'll follow their advice (knowing you probably won't but still wondering if they were right). It will all drive you crazy if you let it.

Especially for me, being a first-time parent, I was already agonizing over every single detail of life the moment I found out that I was pregnant. (Do you really know how polluted our air is?) Then thinking about tsaying home versus going to work, which really wasn't a question for me but everyone has an opinion on this. If all that wasn't bad enough, the real mommy wars began once my son was born. I remember this one mother in particular telling me how her son was just about walking by 5 months and could recite the encyclopedia by the time he was one! Of course, I'm exaggerating, but you get the picture.

I watch the little miracle that happens to be my son, and how he grows and discovers new things every day. When he first discovered his hands, that was the most amazing thing. To when he first started crawling, and now he takes a few steps on his own before diving back to the safety of the couch or my arms. It's all so incredible and precious and humbling. To have that cheapened by some overly competitive parent would be a travesty. I've stopped paying attention to that one parent and have resigned to just simply being polite when she gushes about her son and how he'll be in medical school when he turns four. Yes, I'm exaggerating again, but if I don't laugh about it, it will detract from the everyday joy of seeing my son discover his world.

Those developmental milestones are only guidelines people! Barring anything as yet unforeseen, your child will discover the world in his own time. Enjoy every second. It goes by too fast.