When I was pregnant with Emma and during her first two years, I lived and breathed those “Your baby is…” milestone emails I got from BabyCenter.
“Your baby is the size of a kidney bean” or “Your baby should be learning to blow raspberries and might be ready to try baby food now” - I would read each update religiously, combing through all of the milestones, and then sit and analyze Em making sure she was “on-track,” growing like she should. Thriving.
Then along came little Addie and I would skim the updates, kind of note the highlights, and promptly forget everything I had read as I got back to wiping snotty noses, poopy bottoms, and making snacks. (Not all at once, of course. Well, ok…sometimes all at once, but there is a hand washing, or three, thrown in there as well!) Occasionally I will try to reach into the depths of my sleep-deprived (once much larger, I’m certain!) brain and try to remember - “What age did Emma do this?” Or “Wow, did Emma ever go through this phase?” - that Mommy amnesia is a lovely thing.
But for the most part, we are back to kind of “winging it.” Stumbling along. Dragging Addie along behind us and hoping that she will not only keep up, but maybe absorb some of the stuff I painstakingly sat tried to instill into Emma.
And you know what? It is kinda working.
Just for kicks I looked at those BabyCenter email updates today instead of clicking delete.
For Emma it said:
Just as your child’s body and intellect are maturing, so is her sense of humor. That’s a good thing. Children with a good sense of humor cope better and have a better sense of self-esteem and more friends. Humor can also build vocabulary and reading skills.
Um, yeah. Right on! Thanks to J’s donation of a very good sense of humor, Em has definitely been forming her own little personality and she is so funny lately. We have no problems with the self-esteem thing. She knows the names of all the kids in her class, and we have to wade through all the kids to get to the sidewalk each day as they all are trying to say goodbye to her. I think she is making friends very easily.
And her vocabulary and reading skills! I am astounded by how quickly they have taken off. She has been in school for only 2 weeks (This is my 9th day of kindergarten, she will tell you!) and she is reading and writing all sorts of words and phrases with ease.
And Addie’s update read:
Three-year-olds are beginning to learn colors. They can usually point to a color when asked and may be able to name four or more by midyear. Most 3-year-olds start the year sorting according to their own whims rather than by color or size.
Addie knows all of her colors, most of her shapes, can count objects, count to 15 (or 20 if it doesn’t necessarily have to be in the right order?), and can play Memory like nobody’s business. So I guess this one wasn’t really as spot on, but we do know she is on track, for sure. When I picked her up from preschool today, there were kids all over with all sorts of problems. Kids were crying, a couple had accidents, the teachers brought a few out and said that they had had a rough day.
And then Miss Mary walked Addie out and she looked at me and said, “Addison is an absolute dream. She does so well. I mean - she is well-behaved, but she just moves from each activity well and has such a good time.”
Who needs those BabyCenter updates? I have my proof right in front of me. Our girls are indeed doing well on all accounts.
And happily thriving.
