With fresh eyes

We were on the road again this weekend for the 3rd of 4 weekends away from home. We went to my parents' home to visit with them and my little sister, who is visiting from San Diego, and brother, in from Philly. It was a great time--with everyone home except my brother-in-law who is currently serving in Iraq.

My sister hadn't seen Lucas in about 3 months and couldn't believe how much he had changed. It is fun to see your baby through someone else's eyes.

Especially because over the last few weeks, I had been worrying about Lucas's language development. First, Amalah so courageously shared with us the challenges of her son's language and sensory issues. She was one of the first blogs I "discovered" several months ago and I've often thought her adorable Noah is a lot like my adorable Lucas--Lucas is just a few months behind Noah.

Next, my husband Abel picked up and started reading a random article in a parenting magazine about language development. One particular passage was relating speech language development benchmarks and said that a child should be able to name his body parts by 18 months. Abel started freaking out because Lucas, at 19 months, can only name a few. I retorted, well, have you taught him any body parts? (So what, I can only take credit for nose and belly, but that's something, right?) To prove my point, I practiced "arm" with him the next morning and demonstrated the newly acquired body part to Dada that night.

Yet, the questions and doubts were lingering in the back of my head. I found myself adding up the number of words Lucas knows. Wracking my brain to remember if he has "lost"any words. Listening for any multiple word phrases. And noticing the few times he walks on his tip-toes.

Ugh. These benchmarks and developmental milestones are enough to drive a sane mom (is that an oxymoron?) crazy! This is the kid that was walking at 9 months. He has been babbling constantly since about 5 months. He mimics inflection. He constantly amazes me with the comprehension of words he can't yet say. We've hit all his well-baby check-ups and the doctor has never expressed any concern. But still I worried.

Then came this weekend's visit with my family. It pretty much erased my doubts. Lucas was talking in multi-word phrases. I wasn't the only one who noticed. My sister swears that he said I want to get up when she went in after his nap. He told my brother gonna' get you. My mom recognized I want that.

It is so easy to get wrapped up in the craziness. It sure was great to see Lucas in a new environment and through the eyes of his loving aunt, uncle and grandparents. It helped me to see in a new way, too.