Why do I think I still have a newborn?

Is this what baby of the family really means? Not only is she the youngest, but in my mind incapable of doing anything on her own, ever. Something about a second child makes you refuse to believe that they will be anything but your little baby.

In the past several weeks Natalie has changed so much. She started sitting up without immediately folding over. She slowly but surely started crawling around the house. In the past week she can now sit herself up and go back to crawling. It is just so weird to watch. During that week she started working on pulling up. For the most part she would get to her knees or she would get her legs straight and do an awkward bending pose. As of today she wants to pull up on anything and everything. (including the bath tub while her sister dumps water all over her while I, as a good mom, am collecting the 500 shoes around the house. Go me.)

Not only do I refuse to believe that she can do these things, I am completely oblivious to what she can already do. For instance last month I finally switched her in her bath tub. As it occurred to me I read the labels and she was still on the 'newborn' side. Now she sits in the bath and usually with her sister. Then today at a restaurant it hit me that I should try her in a high chair. Umm...yeah. She's 8 months. I think I was stuffing blankets around Molly at five months so I didn't have to carry her seat.

While eating she kept reaching for my plate. I thought hmm...why not cut off a tiny piece of tortellini and give it to her? She devoured it and then had three more.

I'm not sure if it's just me or if all moms of second babies feel this way. With Molly everything was so pushed and watched over. Her milestones were encouraged and we were so ecstatic at the earlier she did things.

With Natalie it doesn't even occur to me that she can do anything, because in my mind she's my little baby. When she does do something I think NOO, slow down! I want her to stay my squishy newborn, but she's not. She is growing so fast, and I guess I better get with the program, because whether I want to believe it or not she isn't going to stay little forever.

Or... I could refuse to believe it and secretly feel that she will always be my little baby even if she is only five seconds younger than her sister.