Playing Catch-up?

Either we’re on the cusp of having to be conscious of not over-indulging baby – or we’ve spoiled her for life. If she’s anywhere near developmental normalcy, then we have nothing to fear; nine months is a perfectly appropriate age at which to start teaching the word no. But if, as I both hope and fear, baby’s a little ahead of the curve, then the last few weeks’ worth of cry signals may not have all been alerting us to needs.

This morning, for instance, baby didn’t take kindly to the fact that I removed her spoon from her mouth and the vice-like grip of her right hand. When she cried, I couldn’t keep from laughing. Then I felt guilty and confused, and comforted her. The baby book we consult the most frequently said the thing to focus on when it comes to disciplining a child is knowing that child as well as possible, understanding what makes him or her tick. I just hope my beloved angel doesn’t have a head start on me.