I love my son an indescriable amount. It came on somewhere between the 2nd and 3rd trimester when I got to see him moving on the ultrasound screen and I fell head over heels in love. I knew that no matter what I would love him to pieces :)
The other day he threw his banana, peaches, kiwi, yogurt, grapes, cheese, eggs, and toast on the floor without taking one bite. And yes I offered all of that, one right after the other. Was he sick? Nope. Was he not hungry? Who knows? Either way, I burst into tears sitting at the table and cried. He looked at me with a sweet smile and patted my head. Then after the crying fit, we practiced walking in the living room and he took a few steps and then squatted to the floor and crawled toward the window so he could stand by the ledge and watch the squirrels outside. And I thought to myself ugh, when is he gonna walk? After I put him down for his morning nap, I felt defeated. Is he taking a sippy cup perfect yet? No. Is he walking yet? No. Is he eating perfectly? No. He calls every animal a d-duck, and waves bye bye at people at random times (none of which is when we are actually leaving) Uh oh. Is he going to be behind?? Or worse....did I fail him by not working with him harder/longer/sooner...or better?
As I cleaned up his morning breakfast disaster, it hit me. Why does he have to eat all that stuff? Does he have to be walking perfect? Where did I get these ideas from?
I remember being a teacher and feeling like so much is pushed on little kids at a young age. Now I know some kids really do grasp things earlier and thats fantastic, but I know my child is fantastic too. Maybe instead of practicing walking he would like to watch the squirrels. So that afternoon we went walking again, but then he found a rock on the sidewalk and decided he'd rather sit and explore that. And I let him :) The most valuable lesson you could ever learn is to never compare your child to anyone elses....or to a textbooks set of rules. So are we still practicing the sippy cup? Yes. Are we still practicing walking? Yes. And are we still exploring food alot? Ha, oh yes. I'm so proud of him for always exploring, even if that means it takes some time :)
Today he drank a 1/2 ounce more than he usually does from his sippy. Hooray!
He showed a little less fear when standing. Hooray!
And he ate like a pig for breakfast AND lunch today. Amazing!
No more stressing. :)
With love-
Sarah
Mike and I talked about our plans to have kids. I stressed to him the need for me to do this earlier then later due to Billy. I watched a show that stated Autism has to do with age of parents and family history! It scares me to know that my child could go through that! But, as for Jackson he is going to be his generations Albert Einstein! I know it! He watches the Squirrels and wonders why do they walk like that? Why are they Furry? He has so much wanting to know going on, he is like "walking nah not yet, this rocks more!" And for him to understand your feels! by patting you on the head! That a true sign of a great leader! He feels you and everyone else! Love you!
ReplyDelete