They Grow So Fast

Ella Bean....as we call her

When I was pregnant with Miles I signed up for one of those websites that gives you a weekly rundown of baby's development in utero.  I used to follow it religiously.  I looked forward to each new week and finding out how many inches baby should be and what organs were developing at the time well so that I would have a very healthy baby.  It was like a little ritual I had.

Once the baby is born, the website continues sending you weekly emails with your baby's progress, like "Your baby is 4 weeks old.  At this point your baby should be starting to....".  When Miles was born I couldn't bare to read those weekly emails.  I was angry at them, angry that they only included milestones and development for a  typically developing child.  It was too painful reading where Miles "would" or "should" be if he didn't have Down syndrome.  I remember even crying once as I read one of those weekly updates.  That's when I took myself off their list.  No need to put myself through that crap!

Well, about three months into my pregnancy with Ella, I decided to sign up for those emails again.  I realized that I hadn't been paying as much attention to this pregnancy and where baby was in the process.  I wanted to give as much love and attention to this pregnancy as I had to my first one with Miles.  I didn't read the emails religiously and I didn't spend as much time visualizing the baby's progress, but when I had the time, I did it.  And it was nice.  Then Ella was born and everything was fine.  She is a typically developing child and I'm having a totally different experience seeing her develop.  In fact, this time it's the reverse; I actually look forward to reading the weekly emails and finding out where a baby her age should be in her development.  And the crazy thing is that she is right on target.  It blows my mind!!  A couple of months ago I read that she should be starting to make sounds and babble.  Like two days later Ella started babbling like crazy.  On another email I read that at these many weeks, she should be really interested in faces and be responding to different facial expressions.  Well Ella had already been doing that for a couple of weeks.

Mama and Ella

She turned five months today, five months!!!  And she's already turning from side to side, grabbing her toes, babbling and making all kinds of fun sounds.  She likes to reach for, kick and swat toys, stick them in her mouth and chew them up.  She loves to laugh and be entertained, she wants to try our food (and she will start eating this week!), she holds herself up so well and loves doing tummy time, she's very social and she's growing like crazy.  Every week, sometimes every day, she does something new.  And I just can't believe my eyes.  This is what our friends experienced with their kids, this is what they talked about when they said, "they're growing so fast".  Miles has obviously grown and development tremendously in his 2 years and 10 months, but it's been painstakingly slow!!  Each milestone has been a lot of hard work and tons of practice so it blows my mind to see how Ella just does things.  We don't have to teach her how to do them, she is figuring it out on her own.  And sometimes it does seem to happen from one day to the next.  I can say now that I get it, my little baby is growing so fast!!  But I am loving it.  I love that I get to have both experiences and that I am learning so much from both.  They are both exciting and amazing and a miracle.  They really are.  It sounds corny, but man, I truly feel blessed to have these two very different but totally related little angels in my life.

Miles & Ella love!