My Big Sister's Shadow

It's been fascinating to me to observe the ways in which Abby and Michael's developments have thus far been similar, and also, how they have been different.

For instance, Abby was babbling freely from about three or four months on, and Michael has just barely begun. Abby's first two teeth popped out at nearly the same time, just before she turned seven months old, whereas Michael is eight-and-half months, and just sprouted his first tooth about a week ago.

However, both of them had the bottom tooth on their right-hand side pop out first, and both began to sit up unassisted at approximately 5.5 months old.

Also, both seem to be attempting to learn to crawl and walk at the same time.

However, most likely because Abby didn't really put her mind to working on either process until she was nearly nine months old, she seemed to pick it all up a little faster than Michael has been able to do.

That could just be my faulty memory though. As fast as I remember it all going for her, I'm pretty sure that she was cruising for over a month before transitioning to walking. What I'm fuzzy on is just how quickly she was able to master standing and walking along the furniture from the time she learned to pull up in the first place. It feels to me like it happened quickly, but I know how time can play tricks on one's perception.

I took these pictures of Michael about a week ago (September 26th). This was the first day that I saw him pull himself up on his own (though he had been showing interest for a few days before, and had pulled up on a few occasions with quite a bit of assistance from me).

Though he's basically mastered crawling at this point, he's still only able to pull up halfway (to his knees). He is, however, doing it with more frequency now. The position photographed above has been a common one to find him in when we go to retrieve him from his crib after nap times.

When he approaches me to try it out, I help him pull all the way to his feet. Though he is still quite unsteady in a standing position, I've seen improvement in his ability to hold himself fully upright for longer periods of time. So, it seems that he is slowly making progress. However, it seems to me that balance is a larger issue for him than strength, and I don't know which will prove more helpful to him on that point: practice, or time.

Maybe, in another month, he'll be that much closer to following in the footsteps of his big sister.

I suspect that he wants nothing more than to be her little "shadow." I'm giddy with anticipation, eager to observe how that development will alter the current nature of their relationship. But, I'll be honest, I'm a little scared, too. What will that mean for poor old Mommy? There is only one of me, after all.