Mom Remembers

Soren: * recognizes himself in the mirror * recognizes himself in pictures * recognizes his name (both spoken and written) * identifies objects as "mine" * communicates likes and dislikes * know the different parts of his body * tells me when he is "stinky"

What the heck does cognitive development even mean?  Wikipedia says it relates to "information processing" and "language development"; I guess in this post, I'm using it to mean "stuff people think makes a kid smart".  Traditionally academic knowledge, like numbers and letters.  Soren is really good at this kind of stuff; he's great at memorizing sounds and recognizing symbols.  Of all the areas of development, this is the one Soren really excells in.  He doesn't understand the abstract implications associated with the symbols, but he retains the more concrete connections well, storing them away for future use. Soren can: * count to 12 * recite his alphabet forwards and backwards! * recognize all the letters and numbers * recognize all the major shapes * remember the text from his favorite books * remember the words of favorite primary songs * identify conifer trees He's getting to the point where it's pretty easy to teach

Developing theory of mind (or understanding that other people have minds, feelings, and goals separate from your own) supposedly takes off around a child's second birthday.  These first sparks of rudimentary empathy are exciting and certainly worth recording. As of his second birthday: * Soren hides where I can't see him , * offers favorite food to others (especially his brother), * uses words like please, thank you, you're welcome, and bless you , * complies with simple requests , * understands the necessity of a trade-off , * asks for help when he can't accomplish something on his own, * and does not take toys from other children . This is an area that Soren is really blossoming in right now and I am excited to see what the next year will bring.

Fine Motor Skills Soren can: * build with blocks (especially legos) * scribble with crayons * turn doorknobs * complete a puzzle * turn pages one at a time * use a spoon and fork * open boxes * put on and take off a hat * draw a circle, make dots with a crayon   Gross Motor Skills Soren can: * stand up unaided * walk * run * bend over to pick up toys without falling * dance * walk backwards * seat himself in his "high" chair * help put his arms in sleeves and his legs in pants * throw a ball * walk upstairs upright while holding my hand

A, again, all done, alphabet, amen, animals, apple, art, asleep, away B, baby, back, bag, bagel, banana, beach, bear, bed, bird, bite, black, blanket, bless you, block, blues, boat, boo!, book, boom!, bowl, box, bread, brown, brush, butt, butter, button, bye C, cake, caps, car, cards, careful, Carl, carrots, cat, cedar, cereal, chair, cheese, child, chips, church, circle, clothes, coat, cold, colors, computer, concert, conifer, cookie, cool, cough, count, cow, cracker, crayon, crazy, cross, cup D, Daddy, dark, diaper, dinner, dinosaur, doctor, dog, doing, doom, door, down, drop, dry, duck E, ears, eat, eggs, eight, eighteen, elbow, elephant, eleven, eyes F, face, feet, fight, fish, five, flower, fly, flying V, follow, food, foot, fork, four, free, frog G, game, geese, George, get it, giants, girl, go, God, good job, got you!, grape, grass H, hair, hand, happy, harp, Harry, hat, head, heart, Heavenly Father, hello, here, hey, hi, hooray!, hop, horse, hot, house, how about ...?, hurt I,

Soren has been attending nursery for 6 months now. How time flies! I remember thinking that he would never be old enough for nursery (18 months) and now he's almost two! I am very grateful that Soren enjoys going and that he doesn't give the nursery leaders any trouble. The biggest tip-off that things are going well for everyone involved is the drop-off. It has always been surprisingly easy, with no tears on Soren's part and lots of enthusiasm on the part of the leaders. Soren huddles near Scott for a moment or two, then rushes to whichever leader holds out the most enticing toy. He is always cheerful when we come to pick him up and the leaders (embarrasingly) gush abour how smart and happy he is. I really am grateful that it is going so well. But I had a bitter-sweet moment a few weeks ago when I realized that he was growing up a little bit each week without me. He is learning things in nursery--things I didn't teach him! For example, I didn't teach him ho

Goals for Soren: * learn to recognize colors * sit down while eating at the table * say "yes, Mom" when given a job to do Goals for Carl * reinforce good sleep habits * play independently for 10 minutes twice a day * tummy time Goals for Carolyn * practice one hour * do one hour of housework * read the scriptures for half an hour Goals for Mom * make Soren laugh * make eye contact with Carl when picking him up * make one-on-one playtime inviolable

6:34 - breakfast Related Words: cereal, juice, milk, spoon, bowl, eggs, pancake, toast, Spam, banana, apple, please, more, thank you, sit down, chair 7:12 - free play Related Words: crayon, paper, car, tree, [alphabet] 7:49 - story time Related Words: book, church, elephant, Pop, socks, baby, dog, kiss, please 8:10 - dressed Related Words: pants, socks, shirt, stop it, diaper, butt, toes, feet, hand, head 8:37 - room play Related Words: toys, phone, car, square, circle, oval, star, triangle, sky, moon, house, boat 9:19 - Soren & Mom playtime Related Words: Mommy, stop, go, blanket 10:07 - getting ready to go Related Words: shoes, coat, hat, let's go, door, knock, outside 10:19 - car ride Related Words: car, keys, O's, go, alphabet, please 10:52 - outing Related Words: walk, stroller, cookie 12:22 - lunch Related Words: cracker, cheese, bread, water, please, thank you 1:31 - nap 3:26 - still napping 4:07 - awake Related Words: stairs 4:47 - cartoons Related Words: please, ch

Carl is sleeping through the night. By sleeping through the night, I mean eight hours of sleep. That usually means six or seven hours for me. Seven hours of sleep! The last time I slept seven straight hours must have been last spring! But not anymore. Since last Friday, Carl has slept eight hours every night. This is a happy house.

As Soren develops more and more vocabulary, he is better able to make finer distinctions and express exactly what he wants. This means that, rather than just "tee vee" or "buk", he can ask for specific movies and books. Below is a list of his media words. I've tried to spell them like it sounds when he says them, to capture his facility. aech dog (H dog) - "Harry the Dirty Dog" (book) akis akis (kiss kiss) - "Kiss, Kiss" (book) baebee (baby) - "The New Baby" (book) beeya (B) - "Letter B" (song) chorj (George) - "Curious George" (book) cow (cow) - "Where's my Cow?" (book) chik chik boom (chicka chicka boom) - "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" (book) chooch (church) - "Green Eggs and Ham" (book) dog (dog) - "That's my Dog" (book) dooeen (doing) - "Do as I'm Doing" (song) elfant egg (elephant egg) - "Horton Hatches the Egg" (book) ess arr k

He wears 3 month clothing and doe sn't fit as neatly in my arms. He's filling out and shooting up far too quickly. He can grasp. Carl doesn't reach for things, yet, but when something comes into close proximity to his hands, he grabs on tightly. I went to pick him up today and found that he was clinging to the wire of his bouncer quite tenaciously. He recognizes faces. He will smile readily when he sees his Dad or makes eye contact with me. He scowls at everyone else. He can hold his head up , at least for a little while. This means that tummy time is a lot less frustrating for him; he doesn't have to spent five minutes eating sheep hair. Instead, he can keep his face off the floor and look around! It also makes riding in the car a lot more pleasant since he doesn't have to slump all over himself. He can roll over. Yesterday, Carl rolled over twice in a row, showing that if he wanted tummy time to be over he could darn well end it himself. He can sleep f

Two nights ago, it was Soren--and not Carl!--that woke us up screaming in the night. He had thrown up in his crib. He was sick and frightened. I carried him downstairs, still crying, for a bath while Scott cleaned up his bedding. I held him close and kept talking to him calmly but he was inconsolable. He kept sobbing while I peeled off his sticky clothes and put him in the water. I soaped Soren up and rinsed him off. He cried. I took him out of the bath. He kept crying. I dried him off, with the usually laughter-inducing fanfare. He continued crying. I was about to put on his diaper when he threw up again. Back into the bath. Scott brought down new pajamas. I ran another bath. Soren wailed. 15 minutes later, Soren was clean, warmly-dressed, sitting on the couch between his attentive parents, and still crying. It was 3:30 am and I didn't know how else to console him. After a moment, Scott noticed that Soren's cries were actually a wailed rececitation of the alphabet.

Dear Carl, Almost two weeks ago, you received your name and a blessing. You were wearing the family gown, which has now been worn by your father, your brother, and you. Many who love you were in attendance and many more had sent their best wishes. Your father, grandfathers, and great-grandfather circled around you and used the power they received from your Heavenly Father to bless you. You began the journey of life with God's choice gifts for you laid out at your feet. You were blessed with a strong and healthy body . That body truly is a gift from God and it is holy. With your body, you can enjoy God's creations and realize the righteous desires of your spirit. It is marvelous to be healthy and capable; protect that gift by obeying the Word of Wisdom and using caution in your physical activities. Your father said, "We bless you with the powers of the mind , that you will have an incisive and keen intellect." You were admonished to use that power by solving spirit

Today Carl is six weeks old. That means it has been six weeks since I had a good night of sleep. Scott says that, among other things, our body uses sleep to organize and store our long term memories. Research has demonstrated that poor sleep results in poor memory storage. In other words, we can't remember well what happens on the days we are tired. No wonder I remember so little about the first three months of Soren's life. With this in mind, it seems much more urgent that I record some of the things I can remember about Carl's infancy. I wouldn't want to forget my sweet newborn and his ever-so-gradual development. I remember the first day home from the hospital. Our home felt as much like heaven that day as it ever has. Carl was sweet and easy to care for. Soren was elated to spend time with his father. When all four of us where in the same room, I thought my heart would burst for joy. I can't describe the way I felt and so I'm glad I slept well the n

SOREN: Eez? ME: What do you want? SOREN: Eez? ME: Would you like some juice? SOREN: No. ME: Do you want a cracker? SOREN: No. ME: How about some more cereal? SOREN: Mo! Cereal! ME: Can you ask nicely? SOREN: Eez! ME: All right, I'll get you some. SOREN: Mmm! Mmm!

"OK, this is it, Carolyn. I need you to give me one more good push. Take a deep breath and then push as hard as you can." Dr Laine's voice was calm and even, unchanged after half an hour of coaching. She seemed completely unruffled and, as such, was the perfect foil for the love and panic I saw battling in my husband's eyes. "You need to push him out now ," he urged, then gave my hand an encouraging squeeze. I could see Carl's purple head in the mirror and hear the too-slow beeping of his heart rate on the fetal monitor. He had been stuck nearly delivered for several contractions and was obviously in distress, halfway in and halfway out of the birth canal. He desperately needed me to shepherd him quickly and safely into the world but I was tired and had felt my efforts grow increasingly less effective with each contraction. I looked to Scott for support as he and the nurse braced themselves against my feet. I took a deep breath and held it,

Can you believe it? I made this: And I made this, too: Moms are pretty amazing!

A couple of months ago I was trying to encourage Soren to draw. For 15 or 20 minutes every afternoon, we would sit at the coffee table with paper and pencil. I would draw stick figures and doodles; Soren would watch, his own paper untouched. After a couple of days repeating my usual pictures over and over, I ran out of ideas and started writing the letters of his name. One day I wrote and drew pictures of all the things I could think of that began with S: Soren, snake, superman, spider, stars, etc. The next day we focused on the letter O. It gave me ideas for drawing, which kept Soren entertained even if it wasn't fulfilling its original purpose. A couple more weeks went by and I didn't put any effort into reinforcing the letters. So I was very surprised when, one day while reading a naptime story, he pointed to the page and said very distinctly, "ess". He was, in fact, pointing to an S. And he was very excited about it. So, instead of reading the book, we sp

As some of you may know, Scott and I are not set, as once we were, on what we will be naming our second son. I never thought it would be this difficult to decide, seeing as how we had no trouble at all picking out Soren's name. But Soren's perfect name is the trouble in this case. I want our second boy to be as perfectly named as our first was and I'm finding it very hard to be as head-over-heals in love with any other name as I am with "Soren". One of the names we are seriously considering is "Carl", which is a family name from the Duede side (while "Soren" is from the Larsen line). Although I don't think that "Carl" is a particularly sonorous name, it is a name of honor and great significance in the Duede family. Carl Duede was a famous aviator and inventor in the early 20th century. Primary among his extraordinary accomplishments was his successful construction of an airplane at the age of 14, only 2 years after the Wrigh

Soren's linguistic development has really taken off all of a sudden, to the endless delight of his parents. His vocabulary is blossoming at a rate of one or two words a day when he used to only learn one or two a month. Everyone tells me is normal (not extraordinary) but it is still very exciting to watch happen. He uses words to communicate now, not just as coincidental by-products of a situation or emotion. He loves to identify things: animals, household objects, and even the letters of his name. Yesterday he used my very favorite word: "mom". Up to this point, he has never referred to Scott or I as "mom" or "dad", although he has enjoyed identifying his "dad" in pictures. But yesterday, while he was playing with his Aunt Breezy, he started squirming to get away, then pointed at me and said "mom". I don't want to get all sappy on everybody, though, so I won't tell you how that made me feel. I'll just say that

As Soren neared 18 months old, my mom kept calling to ask me how many words he was saying. Apparently, by 18 months, toddlers should have a vocabulary of 20 words. So I started keeping a list of words I had heard him use (in an understandable context) on at least two separate occasions. And sure enough, Soren acquired his twentieth word the day before he hit the 18 month mark. It's nice to know he's completely normal. These are the first 20 words he used regularly and correctly: * boom! * box * car * clothes * cookie * Dad * duck * geese * hi * hot * juice * no * please * shirt * shoes * snake * sock * stick * thank you * yeah!

Soren is good at saying "please". He has trouble saying "thank you". Soren is good at going up the stairs. He has trouble coming down. Soren is good at sleeping through the night. He has trouble taking naps. Soren is good at keeping his toys in the tub. He has trouble keeping the water in too. Soren is good at identifying ducks. He has trouble feeding them. Soren is good at waiting resignedly. He has trouble waiting quietly. Soren is good at staying in one place. He has trouble staying in one position. Soren is good at drinking from an open cup. He has trouble setting it down right-side up. Soren is good at identifying food. He has trouble identifying what is not food. Soren is good at adapting to new people and places. He has trouble adapting to a new timetable.

I went in for ultrasound #2 today. A good friend watched Soren so Scott and I could visit the technician in peace. I swung by Scott's office to pick him up and we headed to the clinic, him in his suit and tie and I in my jeans and oversized tee. It was a different technician this time and he got straight to business. He got a clear shot up between the legs straight off and imparted the all-important news: It's a boy! Then he puttered around, looking at the brain and making sure everything was ok (which was the excuse given so we could come back). And everything is ok! The doctor said there is no reason to expect that our next son won't be as intelligent and good-looking as our first. Hooray! Two healthy sons! I know it does't have the same implications today as it did back then, but I can't help but think about what a winning streak this would have been for a medieval wife. It's too bad I wasn't born back then so I could enjoy the (completely undeserved) pr

Soren has learned two new words this past week: "soos" (shoes) and "duht" (duck). These words serve a very different purpose from all the other words that he knows --and I hope they are the beginning of a trend! All of his other words are very expressive. He uses them to tell us how he is feeling or what he wants. In his previous lexicon, there were words to convey happiness ("hi"), amusement ("aht" and "doh"), desire ("juz" and "eee"), or abject misery ("nono" and "mama"). But these new words he uses simply for the joy of naming something. With pride, he points out birds at the park and says "duht". He gets just as much pleasure out of holding aloft his toy duck at home. He also identifies his toy penguin as a "duht". I think that's rather clever since we didn't teach him that at all. And whenever we put his shoes on or take them off, he repeats over and over (while ki

This post is a lot more about my feeelings (as Audrey would say) than I usually discuss in this blog but it needs to be written. It probably doesn't need to be written for any of my readers; perhaps it only needs to be written for me. It's about my experiences with Soren as a new baby and the valuable truth I want to remember when I have another new baby. A lot of my friends are pregnant with their first child right now and so this spring has been the baby shower season for me. Baby showers are a great opportunity to give gifts and advice, so I've been thinking a lot about the gadgetry I was most grateful for and the knowledge I wish I'd had when Soren was born. Picking out a baby shower gift is easy. Scott and I knew immediately what material possession made having a baby 10xs easier: our sling. We went without diapers and bottles and didn't use our bassinet or stroller for months. But we would never have survived the first week without the sling we carried So

aht - "Watch out! I'm throwing stuff!" buh - "book" doh - "Hey, look! I just knocked those blocks down!" dops - "Whispering is fun." hi - "Hello, you. I am so happy to see you!" juz - "I'd like some fluid in a sippy cup." mamamama - "I am very unhappy." nonononono - "It's so frustrating when you won't do what I want you to." rrrrr - "I am pretending to drive this car." ssssss - "Look! It's a snake!" tsz tsz tsz - "Please read Caps for Sale to me!" uh-oh - "Well that turned out differently than I expected." wasat - "Give me the word for that thing I am pointing at."

It's long overdue but this is my official blogger announcement: the Duede family is expecting again! I'm pregnant and excited to welcome Baby #2 in late August. In connection with this announcement, I will be changing pretty much everything about this website, including the address. When I switch to the new site in a couple of days, you will be able to find updates on my children--plural children!--at www.momremembers.blogspot.com. I will also be making available a back-log of posts I have written and kept private for the past few months. You can find them in the archives, although I imagine they will pop up on your readers, too, as soon as I publish them. Eek! Isn't this exciting?

We went for our 19-week ultrasound this afternoon. I got a friend to come sit at home while Soren napped and then picked Scott up from work. We drove to the Women's Clinic, parked, and held hands while we walked through the corridors to the lab. "I'm mostly excited to make sure that it's healthy," I lied. "It's more important to count the limbs than know the gender." Scott smiled and squeezed my hand. He knew that I could barely contain my excitement to find out whether we would be having a son or a daughter. He saw right through my paper-thin disguise, I think because he felt the same way. There was only one important question: boy or girl? I'm sure the technician knew why we had come. I'm sure he knew we were all chomping at the bit to see those all-important boy or girl parts. But he took his sweet time getting there, looking at the heart and brain, measuring the bones and belly, snapping pictures of the limbs and spine. Everything

For a while now, I've noticed our son developing a funny quirk. When playing or eating happily on his own, Soren would sometimes look up at me and blink very deliberately. It was obviously a sign of contentment, as it was usually accompanied by an amusing smile, and he always seemed so proud of himself after he had done it. For a while, I thought it was just amusing and unusual. I would think, huh. My son blinks at me when he's happy. Weird, but ok. And then, one day, I figured out why he did it. I was reading a book on the couch and Soren was flipping through his own books on the carpet. I paused at the end of the chapter to watch my son for a moment. He looked up at me. I smiled and then I winked at him. And he blinked back. Suddenly, I understood! He was trying to wink! Excitedly, I winked at him again. He blinked back. Having confirmed my hypothesis, it is now really fun to see Soren blink/"wink" at me. He often does it without my winking first, and then

Soren zipped into the kitchen while I was folding laundry this morning. I heard him open his favorite cupboard and start rustling around with the canned goods. I figured he'd be occupied for a while. I just kept folding. A few minutes later, he crawled out of the kitchen and back into the living room to play with some more conventional toys. When I finished the folding, I got up to put the cans away. I scooped Soren up and started singing our "clean up" song while walking to the kitchen. But when I got there, there was nothing to clean up. None of the cans where out of the cupboard. Instead, I saw this:

On Sunday, our family went to visit Scott's old mission trainer, James (Elder Russell); his wife, Darlene; and their new baby boy, Hudson. Soren was tired and cranky most of the visit but, near the end, he did something to make us proud. He took two consecutive steps! And then, he did it again! Ever since then, Scott and I have really gotten into the spirit of bribing him to walk. Scott's favorite trick is to hold marshmallows just out of our boy's reach and make him walk for them. Soren wants the marshmallows so badly, though, that this sometimes causes more problems than steps. Blinded by his desire, he is suddenly wobbly and inadept, and so sure that he is incapable of reaching a treat just beyond his grasp. It can frustrate him but is very rewarding in the end. Because he always gets it in the end. I prefer a more subtle method. Even more than eating marshmallows, Soren likes to turn the pages in a book. So when I read to him nowadays, I keep the book at

Soren has gotten much better at standing up on his own. He will now stand up unaided for an extended period of time, even if he is in the middle of an empty space. He used to stand up only when he was right next to a table or chair, probably so that he could grab it if he felt unstable at any moment. But now, there is no longer the need for that mental safety. He is brave and strong enough to stand all on his own. This is such a common occurrence now that I even managed to run and grab the camera and snap several photos last night before he sat down. *** On Valentines Day he made a very humorous and disastrous attempt at walking. He was playing with a flimsy doll stroller at his friend's house. It looked very much like his walker but it was not built to support any weight at all. He was standing up, holding the handles, and he took a few confident steps forward, completely expecting the stroller to sustain him. With each step it slipped further away from him until he f

It's been exactly three months since the start of my last menstrual cycle and so, of course, I have known that I was pregnant for a while. But, as a part of my whole paranoia about this pregnancy, I hadn't taken a pregnancy test until this morning. I didn't want to get a positive and then loose the baby. But the more time that passed, the more excuses I had to forgo the exciting pregnancy ritual of peeing on a stick. It seemed silly to rely on a test when more and more I could feel the life growing in me. Or maybe I'm just too cheap to buy a $15 test when I already know the answer (or will in a few more months at no extra charge!). But Friday night I mentioned to a friend that I hadn't yet taken a pregnancy test. She told me she had a spare and offered it to me. I took it, laughing. I used it this morning. Even knowing everything I did, it was still exciting to see the little plus sign appear in the window. It took hardly any time at all to materialize but e

Tonight I was a good mom. It doesn't happen all the time so it's very refreshing when it does. Soren was really tired and cranky when we were trying to wind down and get ready for bed. Every time we got near his crib his whining would change into piercing shrieks, with legitimate tears running down his cheeks. And although I knew he was probably really thirsty, he was throwing his cup of milk all over the room. So I turned off the lights and sat down in his rocking chair with him. He pointed with a squawk at the bookshelf, hoping for a story. But I knew that one book would blossom into a million and wouldn't help him calm down at all; my son is a greedy, voracious bookworm and one story just wets his appetite for a dozen more. Instead of getting a book, I cradled him in my arms and sang songs. I sang "Waltzing Matilda", "I Know My Father Lives", "I Lived in Heaven", and " Still Alive ". Surprisingly, he didn't resist the cud

I decided last week that I was going to start doing the dishes in the evening rather than letting them wait until morning. That small change has given me a new perspective on my family and an added opportunity to love and appreciate my husband. In order to do the dishes, I need to spend about 20 minutes in the kitchen directly after dinner. Soren is very clingy about that time of day but Scott has started playing with him while I work. They usually assemble legos or puzzles together on the living room floor, which is a good opportunity for Soren to demonstrate the verbal and physical prowess is developing. Scott often hurries to grab the camera and take videos of Soren's extensive babbling. I can hear them laughing and it makes me unbelievably happy. I didn't know it would become such a precious time of day to me or I would have implement such a plan a long time ago. After I finish the dishes, I often come sit on the living room floor with them. Scott and I curl up togeth

Soren has a few tricks that are endlessly amusing to me, even if he doesn't know what he is doing. I don't want to forget what a clever boy he is, so I thought I should make a post about his clever little tricks. Maybe later I will try to get a video of some of them. 1. When I sing "If You're Happy and You Know It", he claps his hands. Sometimes he even does it at the appropriate pause in the song! 2. When I say, "high five!" and show him my palm, he gives me a (weak) high five. 3. When someone offers their cheek (and sometimes even their lips), Soren gives them a kiss. It's more like a face bump but I think it's really cute and relatives go wild about it. 4. This is a bran-new trick: When I sing "When We're Helping, We're Happy" Soren will put his legos away. I've been working on teaching him to help clean up for ... oh, probably six months now. And Scott's been making terrible fun of me but it is finally paying o

I am so proud of my son! Yesterday Scott and I dumped a basket of mega-sized legos out in the living room. We were putting them together, trying to interest the boy in them. Soren usually doesn't care much for the legos. When we build a tower with them, he has a hard time knocking it down. And that was about the only use he had for blocks. Until yesterday. He watched us putting the lego pieces together for awhile and then he surprised me by grabbing one of the blocks and a ttempting to stick it on top of my structure. He struggled with it for a long time; I was really surprised that he didn't give up. But after a while, he snapped the piece into place. Scott and I gave him one of the bigger legos, to be a base for his tower, and we held it to the floor so it wouldn't wobble. Then we just sat on the floor with him and watched while he built. At first it would take him a long time to attach one lego but after a while, he got faster at it. Not adult-speed faste

I finally pulled all of Soren's 9-month clothes out of the mix with a bit of dismay yesterday. How can it be that he has gotten so big? I know it's long past his first birthday and I should have realized that meant he was more than 12 months old but--seriously, are they supposed to age this fast? If I blink my eyes, I'll find he has grown to middle-age while they were shut! I'm determined to appreciate his current stage of development more. I've been struggling with my newfangled camera this past month but I can't afford to let the time just pass me by anymore. I need to take pictures and make videos and allow myself the time to just watch him play. Why am I so worried about when he will reach the next developmental milestone? Why am I so caught up in getting his daily routine over and done with, instead of enjoying each moment as it passes? I suppose no one can be acutely aware every moment of their child's life. No one can really live that fully in