Milestones in your baby’s first year!

So, we all have these to look forward to when we have a baby – when will they first smile, roll, sit up, crawl, even walk??? And we love it if ours do it early. I use the phrase Mummy Boasts, nicked from another site I frequent and it describes the process well. Recently I was Mummy Boasted by a 17 yr old ex student of mine, who had left school to have a baby in Y11. I never saw it coming. She stopped me outside school on her way to work, and asked how I was, how the baby was, what he was doing etc….. when I told her he was starting to stand up using the furniture she smiled sweetly and replied “oh, my daughter was walking by then”. Shot me down in mid boast myself!

So here, for your delectation, are what I consider to be the milestones so far in George’s life……

1) Baby’s first smile
A lot of debate on this one – smile? Wind? Smile? Wind? If in doubt, claim a windy one as a smile. Otherwise you’ll end up like me, with my mum the proud recipient of George’s first, undoubted, big wide grin.

2) Rolly over
Wheee! He’s over! He’s over again! He’s……. gone right off the end of the bed! Add to this Subsection 2 (ii): Baby’s first trip to A & E

3) Baby sits up
This is FANTASTIC for sheer comedy value. George sat up quite happily quite early on but had no idea how to get himself down again. So every time he wanted to lie down there was this hilarious “TIIIIIMBEEEEEERRRRRRR!!!!” effect as he poleaxed down to the floor again. Leading to Subsection 3 (ii): Should this be Baby’s second trip to A & E, and will they think I’m a child abuser?

4) Playing Games
The favourite usually being “peepo!”. I once went to my childminder to find her fixedly grinning and saying “Where’s he gone? There he is!”. As I picked George up she said through gritted teeth, “He’s been playing this for FORTY FIVE minutes and shows no sign of stopping.” The woman deserves a rise.

5) Crawling
You wait for this moment for ages, become convinced they are child prodigies when they shove one leg under themselves at five months, then wait another three for them to finally pull themselves together and do some moving. And when they do, you have an overwhelming urge to tie their legs together and stop them? Where is he? Oh, he’s outside, heading for the main road, because I happened to sneeze and therefore blink for a second. Or up the stairs (time to get UP the stairs: a minute or so. Time to get down again: about two seconds if they let go and drop….. leading to Subsection…. Okay, you get the picture)


6) A sense of understanding
There is a particular moment in every child’s development when you realise they understand what you are saying to them. And it goes like this: Baby is reaching for an item (take your pick of: a sharp object, something poisonous, a live mammal in danger of extinction, a weapon etc etc) and you quite rightly say NO! How do you know Baby has understood you? Because they turn around, give you the most demented evil grin to show that they KNOW they are doing wrong, and then continue with their action, giggling like a comic book arch-villain.

7) Weaning
Of course, this comes in many stages and starts with slop, moving on to lumps, and finally chopped food and finger food. George has recently demonstrated that he is ready to go on to hard foods. How do I know? Because his current favourites are: Coal from the ‘Living Flame’ effect gas fire, glasses left in his reach, and cupboard doors. Yummy.

8) Walking
A lot of babies these days walk before they are one, although just after one is the average, I believe. George is unique ion being the world’s only average baby: he is not showing any signs of being advanced like nearly everybody else’s baby is. I suspect, although he is very good at walking with support and cruising the furniture, it may be a while before he walks unsupported. Although that may have something to do with the fact I’ve sellotaped his ankles together ; that way I can be sure he’s not in the garden when I thought he was in his playpen.

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Nikki and Nick married 14/12/02
George Nicholas Smith born 23.9.03
Leo Philip Smith born 20.3.05

"Help!" said Eddy
"I'm scared already.
I want my bed
I want my teddy"



http://www.myspace.com/nikki_i_like_shoes

Tears streaming down my face with laughter as I this!

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The IVF worked!!! William Robert born 21st Dec06www.picturetrail.com/jonathansel

Oh Nikki thats fantastic and soooo true!!

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Loving my chickens All laying now.

I think that Nathaniel averages out as being average. He seems advanced in some things yet spectacularly lazy in others. He has been standing up holding onto furniture for ages, but he was very late to smile, and didn't roll until the second week of June. We did think that he was going to crawl yesterday, but have now decided that he just likes lying on the floor balancing on his chin, chest and knees, waving his bottom in the air! And a mighty fine bottom it is....

Oh and he still won't sit up on his own for very long, and I know George was doing that younger than Nathaniel is. Still, I think our babies are just so darned cute that they are planning on relying on their looks to get by in life!

Great article!

Nicola

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