Child Development

One of my favorite aspects of motherhood is getting to watch my children grow and develop. It is one of the most amazing things to see the tiny, helpless newborn baby you gave birth to grow up and learn to roll over, then sit up, then start eating solid foods, then crawl, stand, walk, talk, and continue to learn more and more things everyday. It all happens in such a short period of time, and yet you barely notice it happening sometimes because it is slow and gradual.

I believe getting to really see this process is something that only parents can really get to see, because even people who get to see certain children once or twice a week don't get to see every little gradual change, as well as the changes that sometimes happen in a moment. But as moms, we get to see it all! It is so great!

Often in a matter of a week your baby goes from sitting up to crawling, or can all of sudden clap or click her tongue! Hope just started getting so good at mimicing, it is amazing! She even tries to snap her fingers when we do. She can now sign "more" and "all done" and probably could do so much more if I took the time to work with her on it! And she is only 10 months old! She just started crawling a few weeks ago, and will come to me when I tell her to. I think one of the amazing things about how infants develop is that they really understand so much more than we think they do. She certainly understands when I tell her no or when I tell her to lay down and go to sleep. Of course, she often fights me in these things and likes to pretend like she doesn't know what I am saying, but I have come to realize she really DOES know what I am saying, and if I don't let her get her way, she obliges to what I have told her. Kids are so darn amazing!