Monday, October 13, 2008

This is normal, right?

It seems that baby G is the kind of little guy who takes his time in his meeting his milestones. So far, he hasn't exhibited a preternatural talent for piano, babbled in more than what might be English, or done anything gallery-worthy with his crayons. Except try to eat them which could maybe become a performance art piece commenting on the how art should be devoured and internalized.

Of course, he's not quite one year old.

But it did strike me that although he's sitting up, rolling himself over, pulling himself to a standing position, army crawling like a champ, and just this week started cruising the furniture, he does it later than my friends' kids the same age.

And then it occurred to me that I was one of those delinquent moms who not only doesn't freak out when he eats things from the floor, but will turn a blind eye to it if it's only been there like, a day. And worse, I quit reading Baby's First Year, Week by Week somewhere around week 12 when I grew bored with the unrelenting chapters following this pattern: your baby will sleep a lot, eat a lot, have a lot of gas, spit up a lot. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Feeling I had a handle on that, I kind of just quit reading Baby's First Year. But I decided to bust it out again to see what baby G is supposed to be doing by eleven months of age, just to make sure we're in the ballpark. This is what I found out:

Week 40: Your baby may love to play in the water. He'll splash and kick when he takes a bath. He may be intrgued by the toilet. He can swish things in it, and it's a great receptacle. It's a good idea to keep your bathrooms off-limits to him. You can keep the bathroom door closed to keep baby and the toilet safe. Now may be the time to invest in a toilet-seat lock. It's a simple device that locks the lid shut, keeping baby from opening it.

Wish I would have read this before last week and baby G's Great Toilet Escapade.

Week 46: A favorite of some babies this age is undressing. He may do it as often as he can. He'll take off his shoes and socks. He'll also take off every stitch of clothes, including his diaper, if he's able.

Check and check.

Good news, y'all. Not only is he meeting his milestones, turns out he's a naked-getting, toilet-splashing prodigy.

Seven comments to move on....

9 comments:

LisAway said...

Good boy!! :) Aaron has been significantly later than either of his siblings on many of those milestones. He's pretty big for his age, but I still classify him with babies who have as many teeth as he does. It seems that's about where he is. A little closer to a year than to 18 months.

He doesn't take off anything but his socks, though. And none of my kids ever did anything in the toilet, except what they were supposed to after they turned two. I have a feeling Aaron won't be doing anything in there until much more like three years old.

I'm going over to your family site, in search of baby pictures, if you don't mind...

*MARY* said...

My son never crawled, NEVER! I kept waiting for it and tried to teach him, but it never happened.
He's three and fine now and sometimes crawls when he's pretending to be a dog.

Annette Lyon said...

Totally normal. So is freaking out whether your kid is normal. :)

Heather of the EO said...

Yup, I'm pretty sure Baby G is a genius. Is that what the G stands for? Ha, I just caught on! :)

Dedee said...

All kids are so different. My first at last walked at 10 1/2 months. The middle two took till 15 months or more.

So glad you have a prodigy in the family. Currently my two year old is trying for the guiness book of world records for how many apples he can consume in a 2 week period.

Heidi said...

That's good news but don't get discouraged if he falls behind in some things. Some kids focus more on verbal skills and fall behind on the physical ones or vice versa. Or, some kids will do nothing at all except that one skill they are trying to master. Not that I am an expert mom, I only have three BUT I have 40 nieces and nephews of which the older ones are starting to have their babies so . . .Just trust your instincts as a mom. That is the most valuable resource you have. I have learned that the hard way.

Alison Wonderland said...

Oh, now that I think about it Irish2 hasn't been in the toilet nor does he strip. Does it say anything in there about using a jigsaw when his mother leaves it on the floor? Baby-proofing my bum.

Jami said...

Amen! Toilet-splashing, nakey, cruising=developmentally right on target!

Kimberly Vanderhorst said...

Those books hurt my brain. Emma was always a bit behind the pack, and Becca has always been way head. That's the thing about average, just because it's the middle of two extremes, doesn't mean it actually means anything.

Glad Baby G is right on schedule though!