Diapers and Dimples: A Rant and a Rave

Oh, you know, not much here to report, other than....my daughter is a miniature adult! She's so big, yet still so small! Who knew that the year and a half mark would inspire my daughter's personality to emerge with full force, specifically her silly, humorous nature. She has become a comedian who offers touches of hilarity to my day.

As I mentioned in a previous entry, I've been trying to document as best as I can, our daily adventures. It's the least I can do as a homeschooling mom. I want to provide that "pedagogical documentation" as the Reggio Emilia followers would know it to be. She's growing and changing too quickly. I find myself thinking, "just slow down, won't you?" But, such is the impermanence in life. Nothing ever stays the same. Can you imagine your learning experience growing up, if you were to see pictures and videos recounting the events of your day? Would your learning be enhanced or fragmented? That's a research paper in and of itself.

I nominated myself a thirty day challenge. Teehee. From March 1st to March 31st...(March has 31 days right?) I am going to be blogging every day. With photos and videos! But, don't expect much from me, just ramblings about how I hate the bloody winter that is seemingly never ending, how Penelope refused to come for lunch because she was absorbed in a storybook, pictures of how lunch ended up everywhere but in Sophia's mouth, and how flax seeds makes bowel movements oh so regular (I'll write about and not snapshot that one).

Let's kick off this challenge with how Sophia has been progressing thus far. Intellectually, the kid amazes me. I know every parent says that about his/her child, and rightfully so, since you fall so deep in love when you spawn a crib midget. I am saying that I am amazed from a place of awe and wonder. My journey as a mother has been humbling. I realize I know nothing, and all of the theory that I learned in University while pursuing my Master's, I am putting into practice now. The best kind of vocation and career!

So, Sophia has taught me how to potty train her (more here). She's got so much love for the animals that she finds scary in her picture books or at her programs, namely dinosaurs and green frogs (purple frogs are okay). She offers them kisses and then smiles. And on the topic of books, she loves reading! I feel she's learned a lot about her world from studying the pictures of books. On the toilet, she will pick a book and point her finger to the words saying, "it says..." She loves helping me unload the dishwasher cutlery rack. She loves her hemp milk and poached eggs in the morning. She loves a strict bedtime regime, in bed by 7:30 every night! And, she still is up once or twice a night to breastfeed, which I'm okay with. She talks...a lot! Some of her favourite words are "potato," "delicious,"teapot,"bus," "sleep," "monkey," "dadda" and "mimi." And she talks in the cutest voice too!

Now, pressing rewind, a few months back, I was getting grief for everything I was not doing to assist Sophia to crawl. For goodness sakes, mother dearest, child will crawl in her own time! And she did! At 14 months, which is late, I know, as most babies are documented crawling at 7-10 months.

Here's a new case. She isn't walking on her own yet! And she weighs only 20 lbs (which is "about 6-10 lbs less than what she should weigh," says her doctor). Well, about her walking: Sophia was born three weeks early, and I know that affects physical development and motor skills throughout infancy and toddler years. I'm not worried. Gurshawn isn't worried. Sophia, sure as day, does not look worried. She loves to scale the couch, and chairs, and move around. Actually, she doesn't want to crawl anymore, she wants to be up on her feet to see higher up. Since she can't stand up or walk on her own, she wants us to hold her hands and walk around with her. And about her weight, the doctor did say that breastfed children typically weigh less than formula fed babies and she is extra tall for her height. I'm not worried about her weight. Need I show you a picture of tall and lanky me in my childhood days? Or, my gorgeous mother on her wedding day when she was 18 years old and weighing 95 lbs!?

I meet a lot of moms who put pressure on themselves and feel terribly down when their child is not performing the way they would expect them to. I try and remind them that with expectations likely comes disappointment, and everything unfolds the way it is supposed to in due time.

I often wonder why one might put pressure on their tot to develop physically to meet the "standard" of how others are developing? Sure, there are physical developmental milestones to reach, but there are also lessons to be learned. Of patience, of hope, and whatever else you think may be a lesson. I wonder why we are so critical of our own brothers and sisters when they do not fit in the "norm." We seem focused on comparing to determine who is fitting into the box, which leads to competition and fragmentation. Why not honour, support, and nurture unique talents, instead of follow a prescribed timeline of how you think a child is supposed to develop? As a holistic educator and conscious parent, my aspiration is to encourage other educators and parents to nurture the inherent possibilities of human development, without labelling, judging or segregating.

I have a thing about judgment and labelling. And while my fingers are filled with passion, I might as well extend this line of thinking to the topic of homeschooling (or not) and vaccinating (or not) and home birthing (or not) and cloth diapering (or not) and breastfeeding (or not) and medicating (or not) and sleep training (or not)...I could go on. From the moment we are born, we are constantly being compared and judged on our choices, achievements, abilities, and on what we lack or could not do. We adopt and play into systems and boxes (education, financial, and fragmentation instead of oneness and reverence for each other. Are we not sick of living this way? There is no right way of doing things, yet us silly humans truly believe there is. I've just been a mother for 19 months now, but in this short time it is utterly exhausting to witness how those who have different parenting philosophies are judged and bullied. We have control over our bodies, and mom and dad are free to choose "sides" when it comes to parenting, and ALL parents have the utmost best intentions for their children. What our society needs is to come together to move forward in LOVE and PEACE and NEUTRALITY, and what holds us back is our judgment of the other, paranoia, and fear of the unknown, and a desire to control how our life unfolds. What kind of life are we leading if we adopt a side and then judge others because of their free choices? Isn't our adventure on Earth about unconditionally loving and accepting the minority? And more important, making decisions from a place of ease and peace, as opposed to a place of fear and ego, and then unconditionally loving and accepting ourselves for all of our choices?

That's enough of me rambling about nothing.

I'm attaching some pictures of Sophia thus far in 2015 (her 18th and 19th month). My Instagram "followers" are probably getting sick of me using the tool as a baby book!

You can see she's fully enjoying Art activities! Being a homeschooling parent is incredible and challenging at the same time, and I haven't even begun! I am constantly talking her through the day, and identifying and explaining everything we see. I think she has become so inquisitive because of this! I have so much to learn from Sophia, and yes, there are frustrating moments in our day, but I will always remember how blessed I am and I never take for granted my time with her.

Why is she so funny?