Unique

As a parent, you will hear a million times "every child is different".  I think we all know this to be true.  And while all children are different, there is still something..........typical about them, right?  I mean, we have a certain range for which we expect certain things to occur in childhood.  I know this because at various times throughout PB's first year, people will ask things like "is he rolling over yet?"  "Is he loving solids"?  "Is he crawling yet"?  "Walking"?

The truth is........................PB is not typical.  He is unique.  PB is not crawling.  And he is not walking.  He does not babble.  There's been no "mamama" or "dadadada" or "babababa".  He does not clap or wave bye-bye.  He cannot pull himself to stand or get himself into a sitting position when he's laying down.  At almost a year old, I guess these are things he should be able to do. 

Why is this the the first time you're hearing about this?  Is because I am ashamed?  ABSOLUTELY NOT!  There is nothing to be ashamed of at all.  PB is perfect, just the way God created him.  And that is not some self-serving mumbo jumbo I tell myself to make myself feel better.  It is the truth.  You're just now hearing about this because I tend to be the kind of person who thinks that if I don't say something out loud, it just might not be true.  Go ahead.  Call me an ostrich.

For the last several months, I have heard it all.  And believed half of it.  "Oh, some babies just do things on their own schedule.  He'll get there".  Or "my son didn't walk til he was 18 months".  Or "he'll talk when he has something to say".  All of these things might be true.  But if you know me at all, you know I am not going to sit around to wait and see.

PB is in his third month of Occupational and Physical Therapy for his low tone and motor development issues.  We practice the exercises and skills they show us at therapy when we're home with PB on the weekends.  We have been blessed to have PB in a local daycare (that's a whole 'nother story) that has FIVE teachers in this classroom of 12 babies and three of the women in there are dedicated to making sure PB receives his exercises each day at school.

I am not going to paint a picture of glitter and rainbows and unicorns for you.  This has been hard.  It's been hard to know that despite wanting this baby so stinkin' bad and doing "everything right" during my pregnancy, I still had a baby who will struggle.  It's been hard to see the babies born around the same time blow past him on their milestones.  It's been hard to see the tiny babies at daycare start to do things PB is not yet doing.  But the hard days are few and are paled in comparison to the numerous joyful days when he is not a baby with delays, he's simply my Precious Baby.

I don't tell you all this to inspire any pity.. I don't pity myself, so you shouldn't pity me either.  I tell you because I started this blog to tell you about this crazy journey of motherhood.  And this is just another loop-de-loop on that roller coaster.  You should know about that too.