Tracking Growth

Bruce and I have had a full week to watch our 5-month old granddaughter. The first year of life is truly miraculous. Being an educator, I have just enough knowledge of brain development to catch most new, little skills that Kaya is acquiring.

At two months she couldn't track a toy as it moved across her field of vision. Now she watches the dog run past her and laughs in delight when its fluffy tail brushes her face. She turns her head and smiles when we call her name. She inspects her hands and can reach forward and grab an object. When we put her on her tummy on a blanket, she begins to push herself forward. Her babbling continues to grow in varied tones, inflections and complexity and she watches our faces, in fascination, as we talk and sing to her.

In a couple of months she'll be pulling herself to her feet and "coasting" along the furniture. Kiri is a little nervous about this time in Kaya's development. I call it the "bruised forehead" stage. Unsteady on their little feet, toddlers easily and unexpectedly pitch forward and bump their noggins. This stage takes constant parental vigilance. The baby wants just enough help, but not so much that his/her developing independence is thwarted.
I would love to see a brain scan of a baby from week to week. It'd be fascinating to get an inside peek of the chilod's development.

I'm a child, too, in a sense. My spirit, as a believer and worshipper of Jesus Christ is being nurtured, instructed, and trained by an ever vigilant and incredibly wise Parent. Sometimes I wish I could track my own growth on a visual chart. It'd be nice to know if I'm moving in a consistently northeast direction on the chart. Hopefully I wouldn't see too many dips, valleys, or even worse, backward movement.

We know our babies are developing normally by comparing them to growth charts. And child development experts know that at approximately six months a child learns to sit unaided, walks at about a year, says it's first words at about the same time.

I would love to meet or exceed my spiritual growth charts. I guess my husband, children and friends are my best "chart." How would they track my growth? Have I grown this year?

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." (Galations 5:23, NIV)