Monday Milestones

Let's talk a moment about milestones. I am not talking my little girl's either. I am talking about mine. There are certain points in time in which you don't feel like you are a mommy. Then suddenly something happens that you would have never ever done childless and you pause. I have had a few of those lately. I can now call myself officially a mother.

I have let my child put sticky food in my mouth, and I was not grossed out by this. I guess having her snot on me, slobber on me, and puke on me so much prepares one for all bodily fluids that will be upon you in the future. I had a squishy, sticky piece of cereal thrust into my mouth. I ate it and smiled like a mom should.

I carried a little girl and fifty other things at once. Now, two years ago I was the person who only carried a wallet because if you need more than that then you have too much stuff. I never had a purse, a backpack, nothing. Today I carried Aria, a diaper bag, sippy cup, extra food, phone, wallet, and insurance cards.

But here is the big one today. Unaware of the cause of the mess that was in my tiny daughter's bed, I lifted a blanket and smelled the mess with my nose. It was vomit. Yes, I touched my nose to sick toddler vomit. This is it, I am now officially a mom.

Aria had her hearing test today. Her hearing is normal. She hears everything normal. At this point they can't tell if she can hear better in one ear over another, but if she does have a better ear, at least one of them is perfectly normal. This means that her speech delay is not caused by her hearing. In a way, I am disappointed because I wanted it to be something easily fixed. I wanted something that tubes or cleaning, or anitibiotics would fix. No, instead I have to go to her 18 month appointment and see if they recommend speech therapy. The good news is that everyone says it looks like she's trying. She talks and talks and talks insistently, but she doesn't actually say anything when she does talk. She has no real words, just babble. Well, I keep hearing that 1 out of 5 kids end up with a delay in speech, so maybe Aria is just one of those kids that will need some help. I dunno yet. We'll see at the 18 month appointment to see if the doc thinks she's reaching her milestones. The girl can eat with utensils, run all over the yard, dance, clap, and put the circles in the circle part of the shape sorter without help, but she sure isn't going to talk.