Sitting Rose

  And...she's sitting up by herself.

  I am guessing most parents are quite obsessive about "milestones" with their first child. I was.  I remember wondering if Naomi was Ok and was a little stressed that she was not walking at a year of age.

  MANY children later, I have gotten totally mellow about milestones. I know why they are there.  It helps parents and doctors determine if there is something wrong with a baby.  I know that early intervention is helpful for some disabilities so doctors have checklists to ascertain whether a baby might have a hidden disability.

 But I don't worry about my kids being late now.

  As an example, I will confess here, publicly, that Rose still doesn't roll over easily.  She is about 8 months old, and doesn't roll over from front to back easily!  She has done it a couple of times, but she makes it look hard.

  But I know exactly why.  Our sweet, adorable, precious child is being deprived of that most important of experiences (insert sarcastic eye roll) -- TUMMY TIME.

  She's just not on her stomach much. Which means she doesn't have practice being on her tummy and yes, her neck and arm muscles are probably not as strong as they could be. She also doesn't get to practice rolling.

  Now lest you think I am a neglectful or evil or lazy mom, let me explain.  The reality is that my sweet girl, like her siblings before her, is a MAJOR spitter upper.  The kid just spews a lot after eating. We have her on a fairly tight schedule. She eats, she plays, she goes to sleep.  After eating, she is prone to spewing for a good hour (maybe even longer) after eating. If she is on her stomach during that time, she WILL throw up. By the time peak danger is past, she is getting tired.  She doesn't like tummy time. Combo of tired and tummy time is much wailing and gnashing of her 2 teeth. And when she wails, she manages to upchuck even if it has been more than an hour since she ate.

  So I just don't do it much.  And the result is that she hasn't practiced rolling very much

  I know she is fine. She can sit up, she stands strong and tall if we balance her, and so on.

  I respect the doctors and their desire to make sure she is fine. But as her mother, I realize that the skill of rolling isn't that important in and of itself.  The important thing is to know she doesn't have a hidden disability and I know she doesn't.

  So she's good. At some point, she'll roll easily and may even start rolling around the room.  I am thankful, right now, to have a sweet little girl who just sits still and looks with wide and loving eyes at the world around her.  Take your time, sweet thing.  Take your time on rolling all over, on crawling, no walking. I like that you aren't mobile yet :-).