The first... (Anna)

In baby books, you're always asked to enter the date that babies did things for the first time. First time sitting up, first time rolling over, first time walking, first meal, first word.

But the thing about babies is that it's so gradual I'm never sure how to measure it.

For example, Emma is kind of sitting up by herself. That is, under certain circumstances, we can take away our hands or support and she doesn't fall over. Maybe it's for 5 seconds or maybe it's for a few minutes. It depends on how tired she is, what she's absorbed in doing, and what kind of surface she's on (i.e. she can do it on the flooor but not on the bed). Each day she gets a little better at it. So what date would we record? The date several weeks ago when her back muscles first seemed strong enough that she didn't slump over? The date in the future when she can sit up by herself for an extended period of time (whatever that means) no matter what the context? The date when we walk away, confident that she doesn't need our help (by which time she would have been doing it for months?)

Same with first roll over. She can now arch her back and roll over like a pro. She pushes herself up on our arms and adopts lizard pose, which she can hold for quite a long time, looking at us mischievously, as if she's tricked us. But for months she was practicing the moves and figuring out how to do it and there's wasn't one particular day when suddenly she went from lying on her back furled up as a newborn to rolling over. Again, impossible to measure. We just realised, one day, that it has become normal for her to do that.

Other milestones. She is now sleeping in her cot, instead of her co-sleeper (when she's not sleeping with us). We have been gradually transitioning her over for the last week or so because the co-sleeper was too small. We have passed the co-sleeper onto a three day old baby - a significant indication that our baby is growing up!

And today we are starting her on solids. We don't expect her to be able to swallow the food today - it takes practice. So is today her first meal? Or will that be the day that some of it ends up in her stomach? (How much?) Does a single mouthful make a meal? If not, then exactly how much does she have to eat before it counts?

And when she utters her first "word", what happens to our perception of all the "language" she is already babbling?

In the meantime, look at her go!