We've created a monster!

I always hear "She'll be walking in no time." "She'll crawl backwards before she crawls forward." "They grow up so fast." "She'll lose all that baby weight once she starts moving" and similar lines. I used to just shrug them off and say "Whatever, I've heard that before. Blah, blahbitty, blah." But now I'm starting to say it myself and actually understand what it all means. I mean, I've been a mom for 8 months already and it seems like last week that I started my new job but I've been there for 4 months. Heck, my kid is already starting to crawl backwards! AHHHH! We used to think we had months to babyproof the house and now we realize we're too late. Gone are the days where we didn't strap her into everything. Gone are the innocent days where we could leave her unattended for five seconds while we try to throw out a diaper or wash our hands or answer the door. Gone. All gone.

Just the other day I put Ada on the center of her vinyl table cloth/playmat/rug saver and went to the kitchen to quickly wash her bottles in the sink. Not five minutes later I return to see that she has somehow worked her little body under the dining room table about 6 feet from where she started. I even put the boppy and another playmat behind her in case she fell over. She managed to move from a seated position, onto her belly, and then scoot backward 6 feet. All of this while cooing away, happy as can be, assuring me that everything was going well in the living room and I didn't have to worry about her. And yesterday I found her sitting up in the middle of the playmat after I had left her on her tummy as I went to empty her diaper pail. Thirty seconds or less and she's sitting up playing with her toys. What have we done? How did this happen? We've created a monster. Now she's right around the corner from crawling, walking and getting into everything.

And even scarier than that, we went to a two-year-old's birthday party this weekend and I got to see kids I don't see on a regular basis. One was 18 months, one just turned 2, and another one was 4 years old. What a reality check. I mean, I see my niece every few weeks and am amazed at how she is growing but it's gradual. Then I see several of our friends' kids and they are growing into perfect, adorable little women and I am a little freaked out. Really. I've created a little person. She'll be walking and talking and throwing water from the pool on people at the party. Whew. That's a big realization for me. Hello reality.

Moral of the story: Babies eventually grow into real little people, and eventually big people. That's just how it works. And I don't think anyone or anything can ever really prepare you for that fact. Good luck.