The Best Age

I’m going to be frank here, and this is not to say that infants are not amazing creatures all the time but…the “best time” in the life of an infant has to be 6-12 months…the most boring time is 2-5 months. When a baby is first born they are helpless and quite easy to take care of…other than the lack of sleep you will experience thus rendering you useless more often than not! For the most part though it goes: eat, diaper change, sleep, repeat. There is very little awake time for anything else.

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The 2 – 5 month period is rather boring. They are still sleeping quite a lot, but have a bit more awake time…during which they can play on their back in n activity gym or scream during tummy time. You need to be vigilant while watching them, so you can’t just set them down and go about your day. This was, by far, the hardest time for me as a parent. I was going stir crazy and felt like I was contributing nothing to my child’s development. Even though I was breastfeeding every 2-3 hours and pumping 2-3 times a day like a mad woman!

Consequently, this is the time I started to work again, thinking I had all the time in the world. That resulted in Lili being placed in full time day care while I over stressed myself and worked during every waking hour. I ended up being miserable, because once Lili neared the end of the 5 month period, I realized how much I was missing out on in her life, and for what, to make some money that would go right back to the daycare provider? No thank you!

I am currently in the middle of the amazing infant stage with Lili. Physical, emotional, and social change happens daily, if not hourly during this marvelous period. She is a sponge, and the world is full of all different types of fun liquids to soak up! Every day is a new sound, a new funny face, a louder giggle, a more inquisitive look, and a much longer attention span. She engages in at least 1 hour of calm self play (yes, supervised) 2-3 times a day. I love to sit back and watch her learn and expand her world. I have two toys for her that make noise, otherwise her playroom consists of plastic bottles, blocks, old boxes, wood coasters, books, a toy tractor, and a few different objects on which she can climb. Every once in a while during her play time she will come over to me and share her latest discovery, then go about her merry way.

Just in the past two days she has cut two teeth, thus making mealtime more exciting! She has also started to stand on her own for at least 20-30 seconds before falling on her fanny. The proud expression on her face is priceless, and her determination to get right back up is impressive.

I look forward to Lili learning more words and walking in the coming weeks. I am also glad to be aware that there is a lull in the excitement of infancy so the next go around, I will be prepared.