ch-ch-changes!
I feel like every day, every week, is an explosion of new milestones and changes for Philippa Florence. Each day is a new surprise and a new delight. The girl lives for making people laugh. You can practically see her mind cycling through the different tricks she's learned to get a rise out of people. Now that she has added walking (and a few words!) to her repertoire, she seems like a little girl rather than a baby.
As with everything, there seems to be two extremes in our culture when it comes to baby's milestones. On one end of the spectrum, you have those who want their baby to reach every achievement as quickly as possible, proving that their child is the smartest, and they are the best parents.
One the other side, you have parents who all but weep at every landmark development, wondering where babyhood has gone?
I think many parents are somewhere in the middle, and feel both the speed up and slow down instincts at some point or another. I am striving for the happy center which is thankful for a healthy child who can walk, talk, eat independently, and follow directions. I want to fully enjoy each stage while we live it, not longing for a past time nor striving for a new breakthrough.
Some of the best parenting advice I got was that everything is a phase. This, too, shall pass.
I try to remember that with both the good and the bad. It will be gone soon. Savor, enjoy, capture the moment, remember.
As Dean Martin sang, memories are made of this.