The Lily Effect

Sometimes I can be unfair. Though I’m completely in love with Dizbaby, I catch myself sizing him up against his cousin (and my niece) Lily, who is 4 and a half months older than him. Lily had my heart from the moment I held her. She was born just shy of 7 lbs and felt as delicate and precious as you’d expect a baby girl to be. Then Dylan came with his 2 by 2, two pounds bigger and two inches longer. Uhm…way to shorten those itty-bitty-baby days kid. That’s when my hyper comparing tendencies started. 

Lily is an expert at setting the bar. She practically began sleeping through the night at one month old. And while Dylan was barely lifting his head, Lily was sitting up. When Lily was crawling, Dylan was a vegetable. And when Lily started walking, Dylan was hardly discovering mobility. And now, Lily has all kinds of over-achieving qualities that make Dylan look like a chump. Like when she talks. 

At the zoo, Lily referred to her goldfish snacks as “fish.” She even used sign language when requesting “more,” and when she was thirsty she said “aqua.” Then, at Dylan’s birthday party she asked me for a “balloon.” Meanwhile, Dylan’s vocab bank is maxed out with “doggie, doggie, doggie.” 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m extremely proud of my little boy and the things he’s come to learn. And I’m well aware of the fact that each child develops at their own pace. But if he didn’t want to be compared to a baby who has 4 months on him, he shouldn’t have grown big enough to be mistaken for the older baby. Sorry son, but you make it too easy to say, “HEY! Why aren’t you doing that?” It may be an unfair standard for him to live up to, but it's the Lily effect.