Wednesday, 18 April 2012

I Love To Watch Her Grow

Often when I talk to people about Indigo, they ask about the milestones she's up to. They asked if she was crawling at four months old. They asked if she was saying any words at six months. They asked if she was walking at eight months. They also seemed to be slightly disappointed when the answer to all of these questions was "no". The day-to-day of playing with kids is a gradual process, and you can watch your child grasping new concepts and making discoveries every day. 






I guess a lot of people just don't know when kids start actually "doing things". I also don't understand the need to rush from milestone to milestone, without enjoying all the stuff in between. Milestones are things to worry about if your kid doesn't seem to be progressing normally, not play-by-plays every baby goes through in the same way, at the same time, or even in the same order! For example, Indigo started creeping along using the furniture before she'd gotten the hang of crawling, and is now a pro at both!

We had a visit from Dave's grandma today, who brought Indy a wooden pram and a wooden swan on a string, which she loves. She has spent a large portion of the day pushing around the pram, putting toys in, then dumping them all out. It's pink and natural wood, but I think I want to paint it red and white, to freshen it up.





Indigo is growing up so fast. I guess it's like that with babies - one minute they have floppy necks, the next you're running around trying to keep up with them. Indigo has started playing out of my sight, on occasion. This thrills me - after doubting my choices in regards to attachment parenting due to other people's opinions on Indy's joey-like clinging, it's so nice to watch her
 being so bold and adventurous. It reaffirms my choices, and proves to me that giving your child as much attention as they want does not raise a child incapable of independence.

I love to watch her grow. That just about says it all.






6 comments:

  1. This is really beautiful. I found that with my first I was always so excited to see the next milestone, in some ways I was in a rush just loving watching her learn and grow. With my second it was the total opposite as I just love each stage he is in, while he is in it, fully aware that the time goes way too quickly. Indigo is a lucky girl to have such a thoughtful and wise mama! x

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    1. Thank you! I think I'll be a lot more relaxed about parenting in the early stages next time, and leave a bit more space for my partner to bond with our tiny wee baby - I was a bit too stressed and tired to think much about that the first time around!
      Bea xo

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  2. I would spend countless hours just watching my kids when they were younger. And my husband would wonder what I did all day!

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    1. My partner is fortunate enough to scrape together a living working from home, which means he gets to watch it all happen too! It'd be nice if we could make more money, but getting to be around for Indy is so much nicer!
      Bea xox

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  3. I never really paid much attention to milestones either with my daughter, but I know many mums with children the same age who were all about it. I agree with you - worry about apparent milestone ages if there seems to be a delay in development.

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    1. They're just babies - if we do all the right things, even if there IS a delay, we parents can only do the best we can for our kids until it's been made clear to us that something is wrong anyway, so why rush?

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