Its Just Gas
Posted at 6:30 am on September 9, 2010 by Tara
If I hear that remark one more time, I just might scream! Well, not really, but I do get quite annoyed. I now have a 6-week old baby, and among meeting many of his developmental milestones, like holding his head up and tracking things with his eyes, he also is smiling! Of course, it takes a lot to get him there, but he does do it and it melts my heart every time.
The first time it happened was 1 week ago while I was giving him his bath. My eldest son was playing with Daddy in
the bath tub and I was bathing the baby in the tub on the counter. I was making googly eyes over him and talking to him like he was responding. He was intently watching me as I washed his hair and the next second I see a wide open-mouthed smile. Ahhh!! I was so excited. I ran to grab the camera, and came back to attempt a repeat. Of course, I never got one during bath time, but I did a couple of days later!
Unfortunately, as I was sharing my joy with friends, I kept getting the response, “I bet its just gas.” Ugh! No it wasn’t!! Now, believe me, I know what gas “looks” are…my poor little guy is having horrible gas problems and its interrupting his sleep. On top of it, my eldest son also smiled early at 6 weeks old, and I received the same remarks then too. What can I say, we are a happy family! I know I shouldn’t get so aggravated, but I feel like people are discounting me and/or stealing my joy.
What do you think? Are they jealous? Are these people so dedicated to the developmental milestones calendar that they can’t fathom some of those milestones being met early? I don’t know about you, but I do know that each child is different and reaches milestones at different times. Those calendars are just used as a reference tool.
Anyway, thank you for letting me rant…but if I do say so myself…and I may be biased, but doesn’t he have an adorable smile?
Tara, I’m totally on your side! Those are obviously “real” smiles. Plus, my second born was smiling at just a few weeks (like two!) and my Doctor said “oh, look at that beautiful smile!” and I said “but I thought they ‘couldn’t’ smile that early” and she said “well, he is.”
But of course, whenever i would tell people how much I was loving his smiled, they would say “well, its just gas smile but soon…” Sigh.
So there!! Pediatrician’s confirmation for you.
I am convinced Ellie was smiling from near birth. I have a picture I took of her at 12 days old, several in fact… and I KNOW those were smiles. Trust me, that girl didn’t have any issues dispelling her gas! I’m with ya, however, I did get a similar reaction from many people.