In November of 2019 I became a mom. River is 8 months now and she is such a joy to watch as she navigates life. Watching her figure out how to grab a thing or move to a place or watch me watch her is fascinating.
Last month she was working on crawling. She would get onto her knees and hands and rock back and forth but she couldn’t figure out how to do more than belly flop in that position. River got around plenty without being able to crawl. She would wiggle, roll, and pull herself around. I would turn away for 5 minutes (literally just the time it takes for me to make a cup of tea) and she was 5+ feet from where I left her.
That didn’t last long. I blinked and suddenly she was crawling everywhere. We had to put up barricades to keep her in one room otherwise she was chasing after the dog and heading off to find dad. Her desire to explore is awe-inspiring.
Becoming a mother has been a never ending learning experience. How many layers of clothes does she need? How much food should I feed her and how often? What time am I supposed to put her down for bed every night? The biggest learning lesson has been that there is no right answer to any of these questions. Everyone fumbles their way through these questions. Doctors can offer suggestions but, since every child is different, results vary wildly. So, I will continue to fumble my way through motherhood with all the uncertainty it creates.
If you ever want to hear specifics on how I did things, let me know. I am happy to offer suggestions to other new moms who are just trying their best as I have been.
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