Will the real Hannah Buck please stand up?

As the parents of a baby, we know all about the milestones children are suppose to reach and about when these milestones should occur.  Holding their head up, cooing, rolling over from tummy to back, rolling over from back to tummy, grasping a rattle, smiling, laughing, squealing, making "talking" sounds, turning in the direction of a voice, bearing weight on legs, reaching for an object, sitting unsupported, pulling up to a standing position, crawling.......and on and on it goes.  It is enough to drive you crazy if you let it.  And, that's the key: you can't let it.

There is one great piece of advice that I read early on in "What to Expect: The First Year."  All babies reach milestones on their developmental time line. What's normal for your baby depends on their own rate of development.  It's so easy to compare your kid to other kids she's around or friends' kids.  "Oh, your baby is sitting up?"  Mine's not.  "Your baby is crawling now??"  Mine hasn't started yet.  But your baby is just as old as my baby...

Joe and I have been really good about not getting worried or stressed over this.  We are in no rush for Hannah to crawl, walk, etc.  After all, when she starts moving, then....well, she's moving!  I mean, heck!  I am enjoying the fact that when I put her down on the floor, she will stay in that general area until I go get her.   There is one thing we'd like her to be able to do.  Sit unsupported consistently.  For one, I'm looking forward to bathing her sitting up in the tub!  She's sitting up on her own, but when she feels like it.  She may sit for a while without one of us, and then the next time I sit her up she topples over right away.   She gets frustrated laying on the floor on her stomach or back a lot quicker these days.  I guess she'll just get frustrated enough til she does something about it!

One thing Hannah does like to do is stand.  She barely needs support.  We can hold one or both of her hands or her index fingers and she is so happy just standing there.  Her legs are strong!  When we try to sit her up she immediately straightens her legs and wants to be pulled to standing.  It's cute most of the time...  So we joke, "Will the real Hannah Buck please stand up?"  Because that's what Hannah Buck likes to do.  She'll sit in her own time.  Right now she likes to stand.  And we're ok with that.