Nature vs. Nurture

As a parent, you want your child to be the first and best at everything. There are several problems with this: 1) Not everyone can be the first and/or the best at everything; 2) It’s not always in your child’s best interest; 3) It’s not always in your best interest; 4) Children grow up too fast without rushing the next “milestone”. The sweetest one I ever had was today: DH laid her in bed with me before leaving for work (I was still partially asleep), and she rolled on her side and planted a kiss right on my cheek. Now that’s the way to wake up in the mornings!
As I mentioned in my previous post, I have no real desire for DD to become mobile as of yet, a major milestone (“Well, my child was crawling by the time s/he was 5 months, and walking by 9!”). When she weighs 20 pounds, maybe, but right now I still have to childproof the house and get more sleep before I can run around chasing her. Plus, I miss the days of her sleeping on my shoulder as she did the first month of her life. What else will I miss when she becomes mobile? As a (hopefully) good mother, I want to encourage her, model, and do everything I can to help her learn how to crawl, especially when I see her rocking back and forth on all fours, or lifting a hand before falling on her face. As a selfish person, I let her be, but keep the camera close by just in case.
Early today she was sucking on my hand (that child has given me a hicky!), and I thought I finally felt a tooth “bump.” Later in the day I happened to catch a glimpse of her lower gums while her mouth was wide open during a laugh, and thought I saw a hole where a tooth would emerge sooner than I began to hope. I stuck my finger over the area, and was greeted by a sharp tooth. There are some things that only nature controls. Don’t know what’s worse – the fact that I’ll have to hope she doesn’t bite my nipple off, or the fact that by the time her great-grandparents see her again she may have a very visible tooth or two. At least she enjoys brushing her teeth.

Note: The picture shown was taken in October after her second tooth cut through.