Jessica's Parenting Journal

  At my daughter's 12-month checkup, the pediatrician asked if she was waving bye-bye yet. She wasn't. That single "no" sent me down a rabbit hole of midnight Google searches and milestone anxiety that lasted weeks. The Problem with Milestone Checklists Here's what those milestone charts don't tell you: the ages listed are averages, not deadlines. When you see "waves bye-bye at 12 months," that doesn't mean every baby does it precisely on their first birthday. Developmental milestones represent when most children achieve a skill—but most doesn't mean all. A milestone that says "walks between 9-15 months" means babies anywhere in that six-month range are developing normally. Yet somehow, new parents (myself included) see those numbers and panic if our baby isn't checking every box. What Milestones Actually Tell Us After calling my pediatrician in a worried frenzy, she asked me one question that changed everything: ...