The cookie cutter baby

I am about to throw away all of my baby books because they all seem to be manuals for one thing: control. I have come to the conclusion that babies are not science projects, nor dogs, nor things and that no manual will convince every single baby to fall into a simple category, as in, if I do that, baby will turn out this or that way.

Feeling guilty because my baby has bouts of crying and obsessing about scheduling him is not helping neither one of us. I also would like to end the comparing games of, "my baby should be doing this 'cause so and so's baby already did it."

I think that eventually every human being figures out that sleeping through the night is a good idea, anyway.

Like my friend Mary says, it is all a good developmental phase, no matter which phase a child is going through.

So here is a questionnaire I made to myself to remind me I don't have to be perfect, when every other book says I should.

- is baby growing? Yes.

- is baby's urine clear? Yes.

- is baby pooping? Yes.

- is it a normal baby poop? Yes.

- does baby smile? A lot.

- does baby like momma and is comforted by momma's touch and voice most of the time? Yes.

- does baby seem curious about things, shapes and sounds? Yes.

- does baby sleep a lot, no matter what time of the day it starts and ends and where he does it? Yes.

- does baby seem to want to explore what he wants to do with his body, like trying to stand up and grab things? Yes.

- does baby want to eat? A lot.

- doctor says he is ok? Yes.

Then that's it. The baby books and best selling baby manuals can go flip themselves.