Since Alina was about 7 to 8 months old, I have been taking her to Baby Gym every Tuesday mornings and sometimes Friday mornings, as well. It was our first experience in an organized Mommy and Me type play group and Alina very much enjoyed being around other babies. The sessions start with open play in the Red Room, where the babies are free to climb, crawl and move about on a variety of equipment. The room is quite large and has all sorts of cool stuff for the kids to navigate around, or in, or through, or on. You get the idea. We then move onto the blue area, where the instructor leads us in the “Hello” song and some games with the parachute. After the parachute, we head to the trampolines and foam pit {for the adventurous parent} where the babies and moms have more time to interact freely before heading back to the parachute for the “Bye Bye” song. The whole session is about 45 minutes. The word “gym” definitely relates more to gymnastics as opposed to the type of gym I should be getting my behind to, but it has served another purpose for me. The classes have really helped my child develop her gross motor skills through play and imitation.
{As a complete side note: I was so descriptive about the sessions because it sounds so much cooler now when I say that Alina and I do all this fun stuff for FREE! Cha ching! I love free! For my Las Vegas readers, visit the Desert Gymcats website for more information. Free Baby Gym classes are until about 18 months.}
When we first started attending Baby Gym, Alina would be content with just sitting and watching all the babies crawling and lounging and pulling up. And although it brought me pleasure to know my child enjoyed with this kind of exposure, it made me even more concerned that she was, well, just sitting.
Alina sat up unsupported a day before she turned 5 months, and to say I was proud is an understatement. But she still was not rolling over or getting into a sitting position from her back at 8 months of age. And that flat out worried me. I try my best not to freak out over every little thing my child does or does not do, but I’m a new mom and freak outs are bound to happen. My good friend, Jessica {who’s baby girl is only days older than Alina}, was a huge support for me. She told me that Alina was perfectly healthy, how rolling over isn’t really considered a milestone anyway, or that Alina was right on track for average development. But, Jessica’s kid was walking at like 9 months, so most of her loving comments, and those of other supportive friends, fell on deaf ears. At about 10 months, we handed Alina a walker that was meant to be a Christmas present, and immediately I started seeing improvments in her gross motor skills at Baby Gym…
Now that Alina is a crawling and walking like a pro {she started doing both, ON THE SAME DAY!}, I wonder why I wasted so much energy worrying about her gross motor development to begin with. Her pediatrician never voiced any concerns. She had not one single sign of delayed development. My little girl was just going to do things in her own time, not mine. Here is Alina, just this past week, anxiously awaiting to get into Baby Gym after a month off for the holidays and her birthday…
Not only is it a waste of exerted energy, but I have become increasingly more aware that not all Moms have the same experience. Sometimes their baby really is delayed, not just “delayed”. I am SO blessed to have a healthy, on track, little girl and I should remain grateful of that good fortune. In the future, I will try to keep things in perspective, and try not freak out without warrant… even if that means that I have to come to turns with the fact that my baby is not “advanced”. Ha!
ADORABLE pictures Vanessa!! Alina, I can’t wait to love you up next week!!!