The first 7 weeks of our little girl's (to further be referred to as LG) life have been very stressful for both her and us. She's got baby reflux and we've got no experience so there hasn't been a lot of smil ing yet one either side. Fortunately, things seem to be quieting down around the house and we've finally had some time just to enjoy our new little family...So now we're playing the waiting game.
It's a fun game and I'm sure if you're a new parent or a veteran you're playing too. You know, it the game where you wait for those milestones that babies are supposed to hit in that very specific time window. Smiling is our current goal. Everyone is telling us there baby smiled at them at around 5 weeks...Here we are at week 7 and she only smiles in her sleep. So of course we stare and wait, afraid that if we turn our heads for a split second we'll miss it.
It's a lot of pressure on her and on us, so over the past few days I've decided to just step back a little. I'm tossing out the milestone chart and I'm going to let her smile when she wants to. And while I'm not paying such close attention, I will say she seems to be getting closer. She's opening her mouth more (like she's test driving it) so I think it's only a matter of time at this point. I mean, not that I'm obsessing, but it could literally happen at any minute...Did I mention I'm just going to let her do her own thing?
I haven't blinked in 4 days...but whose counting. She'll be 8 weeks next Thursday, will she make it in time? Who cares...I'm not worried, wait, there's the phone...Maybe it's my wife, maybe she smiled this morning. Gotta go, I'll keep you posted...Or not, I'm not really stressing about it.
11 comments:
lol! good going man...not being concerned indeed :-) One little smile can melt everything else away...Kudos!
A smile is great! I remember when my little girl smiled at me for the first time. Turns out it was probably gas...so I wouldn't worry too much about it. Funny how gas can be so great :)
The first thing we did was throw out the charts(after a lot of impatient waiting)...Some kids hit them, some are early, some are late. Every baby is different and you just have to let them progress in their own time. It's a good thing that you're catching on to that early(but the anticipation is still there and it sucked)
I hated those darn charts! When my girls were babies, they did everything on their own time. It was a lesson learned after much impatient waiting. Who invented those charts anyway?
Her first smile, whenever it comes, will blow you away. That is worth waiting for. Not that your impatient or anything . . .
I agree with everyone else... the charts blow! All the parents of the world should unite and have a chart burning in protest!
Hi, I'm visiting from MBC. Great blog.
DOn;t toss the chart too far. My wife got really bummed after she forgot to keep up with it. Oh well, not like we're really going to look at it later.
Yes - I am eagerly awaiting the "sleep through the night" milestone, with our five month old.
That is a hard one to let them do it in own time - but I guess there is absolutely nothing I can do about it!
The only more hateful thing than the charts, is a parent with a kid who continually hits the milestone in time and before yours! Get over it already!
I love the name of your blog... i am a tired daddy too!
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Stepping back is a good idea. I tried to force everything at first, but I quickly learned you can't make a baby do anything. They go at their own pace. All you have to do is enjoy the ride.
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