Human Development: suprising baby stages list

Everywhere. And I do mean everywhere. Everyone, from somewhere in their consciousness, can pick out the stages of a baby’s development. Right?

Milestones such as:
Birth
Sleeping through the night
Crawling
Solid foods
Walking
Talking
Etc.

Any book, article, parent Facebook post easily covers these important stages. It’s everywhere. Even someone who doesn’t have kids knows that sleeping through the night is a key milestone, (more so for the parents than the wee babe)!

You know what? There are so many more stages. Our first child is over a year old now, and I marvel at the past year. I wasn’t ready for the whining stage, or the crumbs everywhere stage. We’ve already hit an, albeit minor, version of the terrible twos. Every once in a while, she prostrates herself on the ground. Luckily, we’ve not seen any head banging. Yet. Usually she’s prostrate because she hasn’t gotten what she wants, but sometimes we have no idea what’s upsetting her.

I can’t really blame her. These micro stages are natural and normal, and a lot less work for her than the major stages of development. It sure is an adjustment for us, though! When I first started feeding her solid foods, the main new workplace challenge was Bib Supply Chain Management. Just to manage the bib inventory, it got to the point where Erik and I would compete over who could feed Becks with the least mess. “No goop went lower than the chin!” was the first triumph. Then, we topped it with “no mess on the bib; we can re-use THIS one!” But the most accomplished among us (can you guess who this wonder of a person may be?) could feed our little angel without exterior evidence at all. “No goop on the face! Beat THAT!”  I’m not competitive. I just hate to loose. 😉

It’s a little daunting and a little rewarding and a lot of work. Yes, for the child, but also, for the parent. And if you’re bored with baby (because they finally are sitting on their own and it will be months of waiting before they crawl), never fear!  A new stage of development will soon be here.

(This post was originally drafted in 2014 for MissMaryClare.wordpress.com and published in August 2015.)

Intent Research Minded Mamas

My current puzzle is looming large in my mind and our day to day lives. How does someone like me, whose mind and habit thrive on intense projects, tend to the many menial tasks of motherhood that interrupt such projects. Probably, I’m a researcher at heart. I’ve found that I’m most pleased when I’ve tackled something 100%, whether it’s the perfect transformation of a closet into a sewing room/office, or the historical question of whether “Bloody Mary” deserves the name. When a kid with a double ear infection wakes up crying and needing food and unwilling to take their meds, all of what I love to do seems trashed by those who I love. And I do love them. And I want to care for them, even for their menial needs. And, yes, I could consider them “projects”, but I don’t want to. They are people, not projects, and not research subjects.

Update on our Life

We have a son! Little Joshua is a sweet little boy. We’re very happy with 2 kids for now, but giving birth was such an empowering experience (yep, what I read in the hippy books I found to be true), that I already find myself wanting to do it all – that part of having a kid – a few more times. Strange and inconsistent? Yes.

Toddler Testing Boundaries

“That paper is not for your mouth. Let’s not eat paper.”

…toddler looks around and puts a different piece of paper in her mouth:

“No, that’s paper, not in your mouth, please. Why would it be okay for the 2nd paper if not the 1st?” (with a grin).

…toddler looks up at parent, down at floor, then stoops and puts yet another piece of paper in her mouth. Is again told to take it out, but the parent realizes it’s a small plastic toy:

“Oh, ok, that’s ok; that’s a toy.”

…toddler scans the room, zeros in in a coloring book, brings it to her mouth:

“No, that’s made of paper. Take it out please.”

…we move on to testing the bouncy seat toys, looking at Mommy after licking each:

(sigh) “Yes. I guess that’s ok.”

…the taste testing tour continues with a backpack (“it’s ok in theory, but that’s Daddy’s, so it’s not ok to taste it if he doesn’t want you to. Clear?”), footstool (“um, I guess that’s ok.”), etc.

Real Life Training is complicated,
MMC

Real World Word Problem for House Wives

This is the kind of word problem we should have had to work in school:

6. Sam has a desk job and wears jeans to work every day. If Sam has 4 pairs of jeans and also gardens at the end of the day 20% of work days, how often does his wife need to wash his jeans? (Bonus points for answers that don’t require a wash for every wearing.)

I wonder whether HomeEcc classes back in the day covered this. It’s just another reason I wish I was born 100 years ago.

Pensively,
Miss Mary Clare

PS: When you have the answer, would you please raise your hand and share with the class? Thank you!