Milestones

When I was trying to get pregnant and was looking for information about pregnancy, I stumbled upon a web site called “BabyCenter”. It seemed to be the most useful site about pregnancy and babies so it quickly became my addiction (oups I mean my favourite website) even before getting pregnant. When the pregnancy test came back positive (yay!) I registered as a new member, and the website would send you an email every week to tell you how big your future baby was getting and the new things he/she could do. On week 25, BBC (short for BabyCenter) told us that Emma was big as a rutabaga. We laughed at the rutabaga bit for several weeks. But the real milestone mania starts when the baby is born. I never cared much for milestones and Emma was a preemie so we were told that she would be 4 weeks behind other babies her age when it came up for milestones. As I browsed BBC more and more in the first rocky weeks/months of Emma’s life, I noticed that a lot of mommies seemed to be obsessed with milestones and as predicted, Emma always seemed to be a bit behind the other babies her age. But I didn’t care so I didn’t pay much attention. The only time I cared was when we were going for her scheduled visits at her paediatrician. Dr. Djeredjian has that sheet where she check-marks all the things your baby is suppose to do at her age. She sees Emma at her “corrected” age, a month later then all the other babies, but still sometimes some squares go unchecked. THIS is where I begin to worry. How come she doesn’t say “ba” yet? How come she doesn’t clap her hands yet? This is when I need to take a deep breath (or several out of a brown paper bag) and remind myself that all babies are different and we don’t care if she doesn’t say “ba” or doesn’t clap yet. Even if she never claps she will still be the best baby in the whole world. When she does achieve some of the baby milestones we get all excited, take pictures, videos, call all our family members to tell them and ... post it on BBC! (Heehee)

The past couple of weeks was Milestone Mania in our house. She learned how to crawl instead of inch worm, pull herself up, cruise, climb up the stairs, drink regular milk from her sippy cup, blow raspberries and say the infamous “ba”. She might be late reaching some milestones and early reaching others but in the bigger picture it doesn’t matter. All that matters is that she is the most loved baby in the world and we are incredibly proud of her, no matter what she does or when she does it. We firmly believe that she deserves a “Milestone mania Championship belt”.



Emma drinking "real" milk for the first time



Emma ordering and eating a "real" kids meal for the first time

Learning how to stand up

Learning how to cruise

Learning how to crawl

Learning how to read