Milestones: Child Development on a Child's own terms

I was scrolling through Mamapedia Voices today and came across a posting about sitting http://www.mamapedia.com/article/sitting. The mom was concerned that her child was 6 1/2 months but wasn't sitting yet. I can relate to her concern and wanted to write about milestones and comparing your child with others.

My eldest the first time and never did it again. Seriously. She hated being on her tummy. I was a bit concerned about this but then she started sitting at 5 months and I thought, if she can sit the rolling over thing musn't be too important. And then she sat and sat and sat and did nothing else. She was perfectly content sitting and playing and was not interested in moving. I took her to gymboree classes and tried to get her interested in crawling but she would not go on her tummy. For about 4 months, she did not have any gross motor developments.

Around 10 months she started to "walk" holding our hands and that was it. This was all she wanted to do which killed our backs. She finally walked on her own around 13months and never looked back. The first time she crawled was around 20 months (way behind according to milestones). She is now 2 1/2 and has totally caught up to her peers and I have realised that milestones are a general map for parents but should not be looked at too closely.

My youngest daughter has been rolling non-stop since 4 months and at 7 months just became steady while sitting. She is not interested in sitting. She much prefers rolling around on the floor. I look forward to seeing what route she will take in her development and now know not to worry if she takes the road less travelled :>.

The strike that may never end

It has been five weeks since the Toronto city worker strike began and it is starting to try my patience. It is not the lack of garbage pick up that bothers me (although Torontonians do pay a premium for this service). What is starting to bother me is the fact that this may be my last summer at home with my girls and we are missing out on some great activities.

I had some great activities planned for me and the girls. We were going to go to the public pools a couple of times a week (they are water babies) and we would go to the parks with wading pools. We also love going to High Park to see the animals. Ainsley was also supposed to take her first gymnastics class starting next week. It saddens me to think we have missed out on these fun activities because of this strike. If I go back to work in January then I have missed my last summer to do this with the girls.

I am really loosing my patience with those involved in this strike. Those on strike, I really wish they had some perspective and realise this is a tough economy right now and that to be blunt it is not the best time to ask for raises and benefits that most companies do not offer employees. A lot of people are loosing their jobs so honestly, people should sit tight and wait for better times to make demands. I feel sorry for those kids who rely on summer jobs to pay for their tuition. I was one of them and if I had not been able to work during the summer, I would not have been able to afford University.

I am not even affected as much as some people. I don't have my kids in daycare, nor were they enrolled in summer camps. This strike is hurting families, both those who cannot access city programs and those families on strike who are not getting paid.

I am really hoping that an agreement is made this weekend. News reports are stating that if an agreement cannot be reached by midnight on Sunday that one of the locals will walk away from the table (whatever that means).

All in all, this strike needs to end. Okay, I'm finished my rant.

Potty Training - Pull-ups

I bought pull-ups for my daughter about 6 months ago as recommended by her nursery school teacher. She had been going into the bathroom at school and trying to pull down her pants as she was watching what the older kids were doing. She wore them once at school and that was it for a long time. Every few days I would ask her if she wanted a pull-up or a diaper and everytime it was "No pull-up mommy. Diaper."

This went on for months and then last weekend we visited some friends in Milton and Ainsley and her friend Hannah watched "Elmo's Potty Time". As soon as it was over both Ainsley and Hannah spent the rest of their time together in the washroom bare bottomed trying to go potty. When we got home I asked Ainsley if she wanted to wear her pull-ups and she hasn't looked back.

This is a good thing as at least we are talking about potty training. However, she is only passingly interested in the potty and she refuses to wear a diaper at night and the wet pull-up wakes her up. Fun times.

Ainsley is a very opinionated toddler and I know there is no point in pushing her when it comes to potty training. I know that one day she will come to me and tell me she is ready. Until then, at least we've taken one step towards that day and we will just have to put up with a middle of the night wake up every now and then.

Perception changes as you grow older

Today my husband and I (yes Brett I used the word husband)took our 2 year old to Canada's Wonderland. I used to go every year when I was growing up with my uncle. I remember it took FOREVER to get there and that park was HUGE.

Today was the first time I had been to Canada's Wonderland in over a decade. Some things had stayed the same and some perceptions I had when I was little were totally wrong. The drive to the park took all of 20 minutes. Not the hours I swear it took when we went as kids. The park which had felt huge when I was little, despite expansion was a lot smaller than I remembered. Even the mountain didn't seem so big.

Some things were the same. I knew exactly where to find Hanna Barbara land. My favorite ride, the Ghoster Coaster, was still in operation although Ainsley was too small to go on it. Sigh....We had a blast on the kiddie rides and she loved the splash park which was not there when I was a kid.

Despite the fun we had, I left thinking, how did my uncle stand to take his 2 neices and 1 nephew every year. It was extremely loud and at times crowded. Waiting in line was tedious and everything cost a fortune. I think it is time I made a quick call and thank my uncle for the fun memories I made when he took me and also give him props for being so brave.

Apology to my husband Brett

So I have been blogging for a few months now and my husband Brett came home yesterday and said he had a bone to pick with me. I was wondering what that could be as I didn't think I had done anything particulary bad lately. It turns out, Brett finally logged onto my blog and read it and he objected to being referred to as "hubbie". He said that did not sound like me at all and that I had never called him that and would not like to be referred to as 'hubbie' from now on.

I was very surprised but said ok no problem. I will stop calling him 'hubbie'. So now as I am typing that I realize I should be the one to have a bone to pick with him. He's just now reading my blog????? What's up with that?

So Brett, hubbie, if you are reading this, I am glad you are finally doing so and please note this will be the last post with the word 'hubbie' in it.

Love your loving wifey.

Lindsay

Thank you Lindsay - Penny People Designs

I finally received copies of "Baby's First Journal" on Friday which was so exciting. To see my vision in print was amazing. I am so excited to bring these books to stores so other expecting parents can use them. They are now being sold at DearBornBaby in Toronto!!

The next step is the website. I sent a few copies of the books to my friend Lindsay Stephenson who owns Penny People Designs www.pennypeople.com. She specializes in customized stationary. I asked her if she would be interested in designing our website and to my delight she agreed. I love what she does. Her stationary is beautiful and she has adorable art prints perfect for decorating your child's room. Her design aesthetic was what I was looking for on my website and I was confident that she would be able to design exactly what I wanted. I was right!

I am so thrilled to announce that thanks to Lindsay, the website is up and running at www.glowbaby.ca. We still have to work on the shop portion of the website and my hubbie is feverishly reading Dreamweaver for Dummies so he can figure out how to do this. I have my fingers crossed that this will be working soon.