Comparing Milestones Will Always be a Temptation

Sometimes it is nice just to get out of the house.  Although, I always feel like it's a bit at Brady's expense.  I decided to skip his first nap today and take him to a play class in our area.  Brady was actually one of the older ones because the group has age ranges from 12-18 months.  He was probably pretty tired, but woke up a lot with all the running, jumping, crawling, and dancing.  I always chuckle a bit to myself when people marvel at how well he is doing.  "Wow!  He walks so well and runs so well!"  "Wow, he really knows how to bounce on a trampoline!"  I think they assume he is several months younger than he actually is and hasn't been walking long.  He actually started walking on Easter when he was not quite 11 months old, so he's had over half a year of practice now.  Now, he's getting good at climbing too, which he demonstrated at the library after class.  He climbed all over the chairs and couches and then finally settled down enough to pick out a book.  First time he got to pick out his own book!

All this thinking gets me wanting to talk about comparing milestones.  Plus, it's the optional prompt for blog hop this weekend, so it's good timing anyway.

I know it will be hard not to compare Ada to Brady.  Fortunately, I was a bad mommy when it came to keeping track of exactly when Brady did everything.  I only remember the walking specifically because it was Easter and all of our friends (and my camera) were there to see it.  I did keep track of a few things in a little board book for him, but I didn't do anything extra.  As parents, I think it's always hard not compare our children to other children.  This is the case with any child.  I just hope that I won't let it stress me out too much because we will definitely be surrounded by many other babies Ada's age.  Kalista was just born, another friend is on baby watch as we speak, one is due 2 weeks before I am, one due in March, and just found out there is another one due in May.  I'm sure there are more, but this is in my immediate group of friends.  All but one of these women have toddlers near Brady's age, so we like to have them all together I guess.

There will always be the comparing in the back of my mind, even now.  It's amazing to see how different they all can be.  Brady focused a lot on the motor skills and he just recently started talking.  He still mostly babbles, but he has a few key words.  He signs more than he talks, though.  He loves watching Baby Signing Time!  One of his buddies just started walking at 18 months old, but she can talk up a storm!  In the end, there is just no point in comparing.

I feel like we're due for a picture: