Not sure if it is Miss's age (10 months) or the change of surroundings (staying at Gong Gong and Pao Pao's), Miss B has experienced a lot of firsts since this past Monday:
1. she has mastered crawling (no more army crawling!) 2. she has said "Mama" repeatedly and clearly! 3. she can give "high five"! 4. she babbles a lot... and I think she is doing about 10 different sounds! 5. 1/2 hour ago, she has stood up in her crib!
The first time Bethany said "Mama" was about a week ago, when we arrived at my parents' house! She was crying hysterically and cried "Mama". A day or two later... she said "Mama" uber clearly!
We have been planning this trip to Vancouver for almost 4 months. Traveling with a 10-month -old is a challenge. Packing means "fitting everything Miss B needs in a suitcase or two!" Traveling "light" does not appear in my mommy-dictionary. On board entertainment means singing lullaby repeatedly for "I-have-lost-track-of-how-many-times" on the plane to keep Miss B amused and entertained.
We were on the 7am direct flight from Ottawa to Vancouver. Miss B had to wake up two hours earlier than usual. I thought she would be cranky and would have a meltdown, surprisingly, she fussed for less than 5 mins when I woke her. After her uber early breakfast, she was all happy! We left the house at 5:30am and arrived at the airport at 5:45am. Check in at the Executive Class counter was a breeze. We were allowed to gate check our Uppa Vista (and I was relieved as I did not need to worry that the stroller would be damaged!). Going through Security was a also easy-peasy! They did not ask me to empty my diaper bag, which contains two outfits of Miss B, one pack of Mum-Mum, a container with formula for two feedings, two bottles with pre-measured water, numerous disposable diapers, sunblock, hand-sanitizer, diaper cream, numerous teething toys for Miss B... and many more stuff! (I find that my diaper bag is a treasure box these days....)
Pre-boarding was not as difficult as I expected. An Air Canada staff offered to carry the stroller and my diaper all the way to the cabin for me. I had Miss B in the Ergo so folding the stroller was easy.
The Executive Class was not full, so Miss B ended up having her own seat -- Seat 1A! She was such a good girl that everyone in the executive class adored her and took turn waving at her! :-)
Miss B had two naps on the plane. One was shortly after the plane took off, so I managed to enjoy the breakfast while she was sleeping sideway on my laps. The other nap was when the plane went through some turbulence, and she had an hour nap and I managed to enjoy two episodes of Two and A Half Men!
I am surprised and at the same time, amazed that Miss B did so well on her very first plane ride!
Miss B is an active crawler! She has been army crawling for what seems like f.o.r.e.v.e.r.! On Father's Day, she decided to progressed from army crawling to real crawling. It took her only a few days to master the crawling department!
Let's get to the point! I am slightly annoyed and mildly offended!
... and all because of Facebook!
Bethany is not a fast-track baby, but she hits all her milestones, so far, according to her age / month. I have a copy of "What to Expect in the First Year" and I have been referring to it as the baby-bible.
Three days ago, she just started sitting up from a lying position. At first it took her a bit of a time to figure out how to place her little hands and feet to pull herself to a sitting position. It took her less than a day to master it. As first-time parents, watching Bethany accomplish yet another milestone is rewarding and exciting! Two days ago, while I was out grocery shopping, Bethany managed to pull herself up from a sitting position by grabbing onto Joe's fingers.. I was only out for 1.5 hours, and Bethany, once again, hit another major milestone. Same as all other first time dads out there, my husband posted this piece of joyful news on Facebook!
Fast forward to this morning, I had coffee with my mommy friend and her 8-month-old son. Her son is two months younger than Bethany, and he seems to be hitting the milestones faster than Bethany. For example, he managed to pull himself to a sitting position before Bethany did. He has been cruising the furniture while Bethany is perfectly happy army-crawling!
My mommy friend: "Remember a few days ago, your posted on FB that Bethany is able to sit in the crib? My husband and I had a discussion about you. You know you are so competitive and you want to make sure Bethany hits those milestones before anyone does." Me: "Yes I am competitive in nature and it is in my blood. But Bethany DID sit up in her crib!"
My mommy friend: "Hahaha! This morning as soon as I posted that my son is standing in his crib. I told my husband "Wait until Louisa sees that. She is going to post right away that Bethany is able to stand in her crib too! Hahaha!'
Me: (speechless for a few seconds... and this was what went through my head, " Ok this is not funny hahaha! At this point, I was annoyed. Was she implying that I "lied" when posting on Facebook to make myself and Bethany look good")
Me (put on my normal face though I was upset): Bethany did pull herself up by grabbing onto Joe's fingers wednesday night!
( I was out grocery shopping when Bethany pulled herself up! Although I did not see it with my own eyes, I am sure my husband would not, in a million years, lied about Bethany's achievement !)
My mommy friend: Joe knows you are competitive and I am sure you must have rubbed some of your competitiveness on Joe as well. (Seriously... I was beyond annoyed at this point. So I admit I am competitive and I have been secretly compare Bethany with other babies at her age to see if she is slow, fast or normal in achieving milestones! As much as I would like to see Bethany on the fast-track, I am relieved to know that my little girl is normal! My husband and I would NOT lie or post un-truthful comments on FB about Bethany just to make us look good! And this is not what parenting is about! Plus... babies do not lie! They can either stand or not... !)
Somehow we moved onto a different and lighter topic. After coffee, we went to a friend's house for mommy & baby's playdate. While I was sitting on the floor, chatting away with other moms, watching Bethany sitting happily on the floor, clapping her hands, the conversation I had with my friend earlier at Starbucks kept replaying in my mind. Being competitive is one thing, but lying about Bethany's achievement is another thing and I do not see a correlation in those two at all. The comments she made left a very bad taste in my mouth and I was not enjoying myself at the playdate. At the end, we left early so that I could come home, take a deep breath and collect myself.
The bottom line is,I am a.n.n.o.y.e.d. and o.f.f.e.n.d.e.d.!
When I was pregnant, I "waddled" to Chapters and got a copy of "What to Expect in the First Year". This book has been my "go-to" guide for the last 10 months.
According to the book, by the end of 9 months, a baby should be able to push herself up to a sitting position when lying down. I have been waiting patiently for Miss B to do this, and with only one day shy from being 10 months old, I began to have doubts and worries.
... and this morning, I put Miss B in her crib for a morning nap and then went to the kitchen to get my caffeine fix. Then I went back to her room and with my own eyes, I saw this:
