ahead or behind?

This post can be subtitled as "using sibling as a benchmark". I guess it is inevitable.

I have never thought that g was precocious. She was always such a responsive little kid. She liked flashcards and being read to. Though s really liked being read to as well. she thinks flash cards are a form of big confetti that were meant to be strewn about.

At this age (17 months), g knew how to put on her socks, spoke more than 20 words pretty clearly and "reads" to herself. One very clear memory I had of her was one early morning on a Saturday. She had awakened and I wasn't ready to be awake yet. So I took her out of her crib and just allowed her to roam around our bedroom. She typically picks up a book or climbs around the bed. On that day, she took her polar bear book and read loudly to herself. It was so cute. It came out as "po bear, po bear, wat you 'ear?" (translation: polar bear, polar bear, what do you hear?). My favorite is when she got to the part about the bo-sicker (translation: boa constrictor).

Little s seems content to have her small collection of sounds. Though a quick check of developmental milestone chart revealed she is even a little ahead of schedule on everything, it is hard for me to not expect her to be at the same level as her sister at this age.

I have to keep reminding myself that they are different. That they are unique and as such will take their own paths.