Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Little Big Milestones

There are the "traditional" milestones that babies hit: holding head up, rolling over, sitting up, walking, etc. But then there are a thousand little tiny milestones that might not seem like anything to anyone other than a baby's parents. For us, we have hit several of those. There was Topher's first "happy bath" (where he didn't cry at all), his first time sleeping through the night, his first walk in his stroller, his first Super Bowl, etc.
Yesterday morning, while I was sitting on the couch with him, I noticed another one. There was a green blanket draped over the back of the couch and I noticed him looking at it intently. Soon, he was reaching his hand towards it and trying to grab at it. Several times, he did get a handful of it and he seemed pretty pleased with himself. I know it doesn't sound like anything at all, but we've never seen him reach for anything before.
At one point he even pulled the blanket towards his mouth. Again, it probably doesn't sound like a big deal but it just seems like he's figuring out his world and exploring it for the very first time.
Later, Sassy was sitting by us and sniffing Topher all over and Topher reached out and grabbed her coat. He came away with a handful of white hair and smiled. It just seemed so amazing that one day he was just staring at the world and the next day he was touching it.
After TJ came home from work, we were all standing in the kitchen when Topher starting leaning out of my arms towards the refrigerator. I stepped a little closer and he started touching all the magnets, so I told TJ to run and get the camera. Here's the video we took:
I'll be honest: we're still trying to find our footing as parents. We still feel sometimes like Topher is maybe a different species, but that he will probably turn into a little human someday. We get frustrated and impatient because we don't always know what we're doing and it feels like we're walking into a blind fog. But it's getting better, in tiny little ways. We're becoming a little more sure of ourselves. We can make Topher smile, and we can see him growing in ways that are huge for him. More than anything, we feel blessed to be his parents, even if we're still figuring out exactly what that means.
--KC

2 comments:

  1. That's really cool that he figured it out and then progressed so quickly!
    Every new parent feels like they are in a fog for a while, but like you said it does get better. Course then as they continue to grow there are all the NEW things that pop up and throw you right into that fog again! But frankly, there's no place I'd rather be. I fear SO MUCH the day when my kids are grown. Not because I don't want to be around just Jeff more, but because I will miss their childhoods so desperately. I can't hardly stand watching them grow up out of babyhood!
    luvs, aby

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  2. It's nice to know we're not alone in being clueless, lol. I'm the opposite of you, though, I can hardly stand to wait for Topher to grow up and watch him get older. If I could give birth to a 6+month old, I think I would do this again! :)

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