One of my favorite baby philosophies to ponder with parents is when a baby is no longer a baby?

It usually comes at me like this:  ”She’s growing so fast!” or  ”Does she look different to you?”  Sometimes a mom just sighs and says, “Ohh, he’s losing all his baby fat since he started walking.”

I tell parents that just as babies grow across diverse developmental domains, they also grow up in several observable ways.

“We’ve got to get her walkin’!” was Don’s battle cry upon hearing that his 14-month old granddaughter Lynn didn’t seem destined to begin walking any sooner than her mother or her uncle Rick had started — at the ripe age of 16 months.  Lynn’s mom (Don’s daughter) had just casually explained that little Lynn’s playgroup peers were already walking.  And snatching Lynn’s toys, then walking off with them.  The 14 month-old was helpless to do more than protest.

Visions of fifth-place finishes, runner-up trophies, and being picked last for teams swirled through Don’s anxious mind as he considered the future implications of his granddaughter’s missing milestone.  That Don’s own children has begun walking a little later then typical did not calm his fears.  Nor was his patience assisted by his medical training.  On most days Don, a doctor, understood (on an intellectual level) the wide range of normal human development.  But at that moment, Don was in Grandpa mode.

Sure, motor development milestones are important.  But parents can stress less, and enjoy their babies more if they use milestones to navigate, not rush the journey.