Guilty Of The Worst Mommy Crime!

I am guilty of doing what all the books and magazines tell you as a parent NEVER to do: I am comparing my child to another child. Of course, the “other child” is also my child, which is why it feels even worse to me! Pumpkin is four-months-old today. Four months exactly. I made the mistake last night of looking in the scrapbook I kept for The Princess to see where she was at four months. That was a big mistake.

Of course, at this point, The Princess had been rolling over for about two weeks already, and Pumpkin hasn’t yet started. Already, I’ve been making myself crazy about the “rolling over” thing. I know that those milestones as they dictate them are just a suggestion, that every child is different, but of course, in my mind I think: “What am I doing differently now vs when The Princess was a baby?” Pumpkin is SO close to rolling over, that it’s really probably only a matter of weeks, but of course, it’s maddening to me – I put her on her belly for “tummy time” and watch her figure out how to roll, but she just doesn’t quite get it yet.

The Princess ate cereal (runny soupy rice cereal) a few days before she was officially four months old. She loved it. We tried it with Pumpkin this a.m. and she hasn’t lost the tongue-thrust reflex – she pushed it right back out! So, it will be another few weeks…

Why this surprises or frustrates me, I have no idea. Every kiddo is different, and I know that. I can tell already for their similarities, these two girls are very different. Example, The Princess was darn near bald when she was four months old — Pumpkin still has a full head of hair (and has since birth – save for the bald spot on the back!). The Princess was lactose intolerant (so much so that I had to stop drinking milk during the months she was breastfed), Pumpkin doesn’t seem to be (though she seems to get REALLY mad when I have spicy food). The Princess is more fair-complected, Pumpkin seems a bit darker, like me.

All things will happen in due time – I feel like the worst mommy, comparing these girls. They are both so amazing and incredible in different ways, and I actually look forward to Pumpkin getting older, and watching her personality emerge even more. All the other stuff will happen when it happens.