She isn't walking yet??

What do you mean my 17 week old can't walk yet??

Being a new mom and experiencing so many new things, often times I find myself comparing my daughter to other babies her age and slightly older than she is.

In a bad way.

Not the, "I wish I had that child" sort of way. But the "Why can't she crawl yet when THAT baby is practically running" sort of way.

A friend of mine had her baby just a week after I had Eloise. She posted a few days ago that her daughter learned how to roll over and that she doesn't think she's ready for her to be mobile yet. When I read this post, I was happy for her, but also very sad and frustrated at myself because Eloise doesn't know how to roll over yet. Heck. She HATES tummy time!

All I could think about after reading that was trying to get my daughter to roll over.

All. The Time.

Within a few hours, I was on the floor with Eloise, putting her on her side and trying to help her feel how rolling over felt. She didn't enjoy this activity very much. Soon, tears started to roll and screams started to sound.

What the heck was I doing?! I was so caught up with the fact that someone's baby was rolling over (who knows how often) before mine. And she's not even 4 months old!! I was so concerned with what she wasn't doing, that I wasn't praising and embracing the things she could do.

I wasn't paying attention to what this little one was learning each and every day.

 Like the time that she REALLY found her thumb.

 Or the time that she rolled onto her side (that's almost rolling, right?!)

 Or when we went to breakfast and she was able to sit in the high chair thing by herself (with a pillow shoved behind her.)

 And then there's the time when she was able to lift her head during tummy time and grab for things.

Let's not forget the time that she scooted herself up from the middle of the play mat.

And lastly, the time that she started grabbing her toes.

All of these things make me realize that she really is growing. And then I question myself, "Why the heck do I want her to do things that will just equate to her growing up faster??"

The only baby I need to compare Eloise to, is Eloise from two weeks ago, yesterday, or last Thursday. She is growing and learning SO many things, that it took me being envious of one mom's post about her daughter rolling over to realize it.

I love Eloise Esther Memmott.

And she is my best friend.