adventures in motherhood: pushing + letting go.

Do you actively push your child towards the next developmental leap, or do you tend to sit back and enjoy the ride?

Lorelei's favorite activity recently: looking longingly at the big world outside her door 
(p.s. don't you love that baby mullet? It kills me.)

I've had this on the brain lately because Lorelei isn't walking yet. I'm not concerned -- she's barely over a year and is a fantastic crawler who doesn't seem to need another method of locomotion -- but it's a milestone that everyone asks about once they find out how old she is. I didn't walk until I was over 15 months old and clearly turned out just fine, but there's a little bit of pressure for Lorelei to get her feet moving in time to be the flower girl for my brother's wedding next month. So I sometimes, just a little bit, try to encourage her to take some steps by herself. And she promptly sits her butt right down onto the carpet and goes back to poking her baby doll's eyes with her fingers.

When I see other moms on the playground, I sense that a lot of them are eager to share what amazing new tricks their babies and toddlers are mastering, and I certainly love sharing Lorelei's exploits, too. But when and where do you draw the line between encouraging their development and dropping them into the deep end before they're ready? I'd like a toddler who can put on her own shoes, use the potty, and feed herself without making a mess as much as the next mom. But I'm trying really, really hard to enjoy our current stage instead of rushing into the next one.

I'm going to keep right on offering a hand when Lorelei wants to take a few steps, repeating simple words and phrases over and over when she points at her favorite objects or new ones that have just grabbed her attention, playing stimulating music and taking her on "educational" outings and planning playdates for her social development. But I'm also not going to worry that her playmates are doing things she isn't quite ready for -- the girl's gotta set her own pace, because (as my old principal used to say) this is a marathon, not a sprint.

Instead, here's a list of unique-to-her talents Lorelei has mastered at this point:

insisting on having the milk carton on the table in front of her at breakfast so she can "mooo" at the picture of the cow on it to her heart's content

shaking her money-maker with wild abandon if you utter the phrase "wiggle butt" in her general vicinity

waving furiously at anything she sees that she likes -- a squirrel outside, a picture of a baby in a book -- in a way that tugs at your heartstrings because it is so sweet ("Hello! I like you! I hope you might like me too!")

using her pretend bank as a cup and laughing hysterically when the "coins" fall out onto her face (or, better yet, into her mouth)

"reading" Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes  by pointing to all of the babies' fingers and toes and then pointing to her own...on pretty much every single page

What amazing and unique milestones is your little one working on right now?