In The Moment

It's 70 degrees outside in mid-November, enjoy!

I want to just take a few minutes and list a few things I love about my daughter right now.  As of today she is 17 months old and is sitting next to me on the couch laughing at Cookie Monster as he tries not to eat the letter of the day on Sesame Street.

It's really easy for me to just let the days fly off the calendar (cue time-passing graphic here) without stopping to appreciate the little things she does at this age that make me laugh, smile, groan and sometimes struggle not to swear under my breath!

Lately I've been worried.  I know, as a parent I should get used to worrying about my kid 24/7/365, but this is different.  I've been watching her develop, and everything seems on track except her speech.  Our pediatrician said it's nothing to worry about yet, that different kids develop at different speeds.  I have friends whose siblings or children haven't started really talking until age 2 or 3, but still - how to stop the worry?  My brain is one that can take one simple little concern and skyrocket it into full-blown panic in less than a minute.  It stews in the background and then explodes in a complete freak-out concern that my child will never speak.  I keep asking myself what I could be doing wrong, am I doing enough to interact with her, to make sure she understands, do let her watch too much TV while I'm trying to work, etc. etc.

It's exhausting.

Today I decided to try to let go.  Of course I talk to her all day, read with her, play with her and point out familiar items and what they're called.  But I'm trying to take the pressure off.  To slow down the freak-out so I don't miss out on these everyday moments with her.

Today we took the time to just go outside for a walk to get the mail (takes about 30 minutes with her tiny legs!), play in the damp grass and just enjoy running around and laughing together.  No stress for me because she doesn't form words yet, no pressure to "teach" her something constantly.  Just a fun walk with my daughter...and her teeny little 17-month-old legs.

In the spirit of stopping to enjoy my daughter, here are my top 5 things about her at this age that I want to remember:

1. She LOVES her blankie (always has) and has taken to sniffing it and laying her cheek against it when she's tired or wants a little comfort.

2. Everything is a chase, she thinks its hilarious even when I'm just walking at a normal pace behind her.  She'll turn back, laugh, and attempt to speed up to "run" away so I'll chase her.

3. She has discovered her nose.  And how much of her pointer finger will fit into it.  Of course.

4. When she gets excited or wants to dance, she does this stomping shuffle-dance that looks like river-dancing, it cracks me up and I especially love it when she does it getting out of the bathtub so she gets to add splashing to her river-dancing moves.

5. Stacking is her favorite thing.  She loves her ring-stacking toy and gets really pissed when she puts them on in the wrong order and they won't fit.  It's probably a little wrong how funny I think it is when she gets mad at inanimate objects!

Does this mean I won't worry? Of course not.  It's impossible for me not to worry, but I'm trying to let go at least a little bit and not let the worry make me miss out on the everyday fun with her.  Before too long she'll be all grown-up and walking away from me for real!