Developmental Milestones

It’s amazing how fast 3 months go by.  It seems like just yesterday, we were welcoming our little baby girl Katie into this world.  Now she is 3 months old and so far seems to be developing normally.  She smiles at us every day and is beginning to have a little giggle, especially when Dan tickles her under the chin.  What amazes me is that looking back at Andy’s development, I don’t remember him making his developmental milestones as early as her.  Even at this stage, though he seemed to be gaining weight normally, I don’t remember him rolling over and laughing.  All I remember at this stage of his development is colic.  He was always crying in the evening.  When Andy was 3 months old, I remember Dan carrying him around in a football hold.  That was the only way he would stop crying. 

Why is it that as parents we blame ourselves for not seeing how sick our children were?  Andy was growing.  I have proof of it in his baby book where I meticulously recorded his weight and length for the first 4 months of his life.  I keep wondering now if things would be different if I had taken him to the doctor earlier.  But I have to remind myself that it is what it is.  We take things in stride.  Some days are better than others.  Some hours are worse. 

Developmentally, Andy is somewhere around a 2 1/2 year old.  It can get frustrating for us because he is chronologically 4 1/2 years old so he “looks” like he should be able to do things other 4 year olds do, but he can’t.  He is not potty trained.  He has limited communication skills.  He throws temper tantrums like he is in his terrible twos, because he is.  I have to accept him as he is, try to help him on his way, and hope that eventually I will be able to talk to my son and understand him as he understands me.  It’s such a simple thing that most parents of “normal” children never even think about.  Still I wonder. I fear.  Will Katie be the same or will she develop more “normally” since we caught her diabetes sooner and had her on the Glyburide so early?  There is reason to hope.  Only time will tell.