Why is my baby doing everything so quickly?

Posted November 24th, 2008 by Anonymous

Parenting

My baby is only 20 days old today, and she seems to be moving along very quickly. We had a nurse tell us the other day that she would not be laughing until about 3 months, but just a few days ago she started making a weird "huuuh" sound constantly, and breathing very quickly...next thing you know, she started laughing today. She stopped the weird sound now that she has had a full day of practice, but isn't this much too young to laugh?

Also, she has been able to push herself up (but not hold herself there for more than a second) since 3 days out of the hospital, looking in the direction of sound since about a week, and following objects with her eyes since two weeks. Asking nurses has only resulted in "Awh, how cute" responses, and we haven't had time to go see the doctor yet. Google hasn't helped much either...

Is there any explanation as to why she's developing much quicker than what we were told is normal?

Kryptonite

On November 24th, 2008 JohnGilroy says:

Place a chunk of Kryponite beside your child and see if the behaviour continues.
Honestly I think 'normal' covers a wide range. It sounds like your baby girl is alert and doing fine. Enjoy the ride.

10 fingers and toes and healthy, be thankful

On November 25th, 2008 Albyonfloats says:

Despite all our medical knowledge, we still don't know exactly how aspirin works or why. Given that we can use DNA to identify parents, and all types of scans to look inside our bodies to find out what's wrong, it seems odd that we can't figure out why aspirin works, we just are glad that it does and we move on.

You might consider that approach with your baby. No matter how spectacularly large or small, coordinated or uncoordinated the child is at any stage in development, sooner or later the law of averages catches up with them. They seem less and less different than everyone else and you can start to relax.

My advice is simply this, enjoy these extraordinary moments, for they truly are special. If at a year old your daughter is fluent in 3 languages, then I'd proclaim her EXTRAORDINARILY GIFTED. If however she is just pooping in her diaper, refusing to eat her green bean formula, and laughing at your silly faces and noises, I'd say be thankful you have a happy, healthy little girl.

And remember, a normal member of society is someone who pays their taxes, doesn't break the law, and lives a largely unremarkable life. Think of all the people you know who fit that very vague description and realize that for you, those are "normal" people. But they are still no less diverse and doubtful that any two of them are remotely similar for the most part. So as John Gilroy said, "Normal covers a lot of ground."

Making it look difficult. Living the dream.