Challenges for Kira

It's so difficult to hold back comparing other babies to Kira.  For inexplicable reasons, I expect all babies at the same age to have the same developmental milestones, despite many sources citing all babies grow and mature differently.  Maybe I will get over it in time, but here is what I'm stressing about at the moment:

1. Crawling.  Friday and Saturday I took Kira to an indoor playground at the Atrium Mall where lots of other babies and toddlers were playing on colorful structures.  We were there because I was looking for activities while Trevor was out of town for the weekend.  (Let me tell you, it's not fun being a parent without a partner!  Trev, we missed you.)  HERE are some pictures.  There we saw another baby girl with her grandmother, and we found out that the baby was about to turn 10 months old in a few days.  Kira turned 10 months old three days ago, so they are very close in age.  The baby girl was able to crawl much faster than Kira, and with greater assertiveness!  I was very impressed.  Then she crawled right up to me and put her hands on my shoulders, as if to say, pick me up!  The grandmother said I looked like her daycare teacher.  So, I then started wondering, is this baby more assertive than Kira because she's socialized more at daycare?  Or maybe it's because daycare provides her with more space to hone her skills whereas our condo limits Kira's movement.  Besides her outstanding crawling I was also impressed by her standing without holding onto anything!  Kira can't do that at all.

2. Clapping.  A few months ago, Kira and I visited a friend of mine who also recently had a baby.  Her baby girl was 10 months old at the time.  She is so clever!  She could say "hi" and "bye" and most of all, she could clap on command without a visual prompt!  My friend says the teachers at her daughter's daycare claim the baby's ability to link the word "clap" with actual clapping is unprecedented in 10-month olds; it is more typical of 18-month old toddlers!  Kira can clap now, but she does it when she wants to do it.  She does not respond to a verbal or a visual prompt.

3. Reading.  It's everywhere: "read to your children" or "it's never to early to start reading".  I dread reading to Kira because she doesn't pay attention.  She usually wants to grab the book and flip it over (for some bizarre reason), or to crawl away and do something else.  She has a very short attention span.  When we visited the clapping baby (mentioned in concern #2 above), she would help her mom turn the pages as they read!  However, my friend did say that her daughter would only sit for short books.  Some of Kira's books have fewer than 5 pages; she will act out by the second page.  It's very frustrating, but I try to read at least 3 books everyday.

So here is a list of things that I deliberately want to work on over the next few weeks.  This blog entry is aimed to remind me to play and learn with these goals in mind.

 - blow on command (so she can blow out her candles on her first birthday)

 - point at objects

 - hold her own bottle

 - stand on her own

I know I shouldn't be comparing Kira to other babies, and I know she will definitely be able to do all these things and more in time.  But I can't help but feel some competitiveness; healthy competitiveness, I hope.  Maybe without the stresses and pressures of a paying job, I worry over things like this of which I wouldn't normally.  Whatever the reason behind the concerns, I'm glad I took a minute to reflect on Kira's development because now I have renewed focus for activities.  I've been bored over the past few days (or weeks).  

I hope I don't sound like a pushy parent.  I would hate to be one of those parents who can't accept anything less than a Harvard acceptance.  Honestly, I don't think I am becoming that parent.