Week 29 – On the Verge

When you have a child, you begin to see the world through the eyes of a parent, therefore appreciating your own parents and what you put them through over the years. (Thanks for the whole giving birth thing, mom!) You also begin to get an understanding of the way they must have felt when you reached certain milestones. It strikes you at the oddest of times. For example, lately I am starting to get a sense of what it must have felt like for my parents when I was about to get my learners permit. I am sure they were terrified that I was going to hurt myself or be hurt by someone else, but at the same time excited about the freedom, adventures and independence I was about to encounter. While Elise is obviously years off from driving, she is on the verge of being mobile…and I think that the same sort of feelings come into play.

She can’t quite crawl yet, but she’s almost there. She can get up on her hands and knees and rock back and forth but goes nowhere. She can also lie on her stomach and move her little legs a mile a minute like she’s swimming. But neither action actually gets her anywhere. She can, however, roll. And boy does that girl know how to roll! Why crawl when you can roll around like a maniac to get where you need to go. Sure, you may get dizzy but it’s so fun! You should try it. I wouldn’t be surprised if Ellie forgoes crawling and walking in favor of rolling. I can just see her now, rolling up on stage to get her high school diploma.

Milestones are just that – milestones. They let us know if we are progressing and how fast. The amazing thing about babies is that they pass milestones left and right… sitting up – check! Eating solids – check! Pooping solids – (grunt) check! Crawling – almost. One month in baby time can mean the difference between being mobile and sitting like a lump. (We love our lump just the way she is!)

In contrast, milestones for adults are so spread out. Granted we cover more ground than Ellie does but the theory is the same. And now that we are married, have a home, child, careers… what’s next? Where’s our next mile marker? Retirement?! Actually, I think we’ll just live vicariously through Ellie for a while. She’s going to be speeding through milestones so fast, it won’t even occur to us that she is our most important milestone yet.