Is my baby normal?

This is a question I find myself asking recently. I know that my baby is adorable, and that the doctors say he is developing normally... and to me of course he is perfect, but its a worry that I think comes along with being a mother.

We mothers begin the worrying as soon as we decide we want a baby, before the baby even exists. We worry we won't get pregnant, we worry we can't get pregnant... then we finally do and the worrying that our pregnancy is abnormal begins. We worry that every little new thing going on in our body is a sign something is wrong and seek reassurance in doctors and family members. Then the labor becomes a worry, hoping that everything will go ok, the baby will be delivered ok... that he will be healthy and there won't be any complications. The fact is worrying doesn't change anything, but we all do it and its the nature of being a mother.

For some reason, after the baby got here, all healthy and beautiful, I still worried about him. But it was the kind of worry that made me want to keep him sleeping in our room until he was 11 or so, just so I could see for myself he was breathing through the night. Or that bumps on his head meant permanent damage, or accidently getting shampoo in his mouth meant that I had poisoned him. Its been almost a year, and these normal worries of a first time mom have gotten much better. I am a lot calmer about the obvious things that if they don't hurt me, then he is probably going to be ok... but now a new set of worries are kicking in.

He's at the age where development becomes the forefront of our daily thoughts and activities. He's crawling, but its not on his knees... its more of what we jokingly refer to as an "army crawl"... I didn't think he could hold his own bottle, until I caught him doing so when I wasn't looking. As soon as he saw me he dropped the bottle like it was stolen merchandise. This is when I realized that I may be coddling him a bit too much, but at least I discovered his is ABLE to hold his own bottle. He isn't waving, like the baby in our mommy & me class... and he only has 2 teeth. We just started on solid foods, that he seems to be doing great on... but he doesn't pull himself up (at least when I am looking) and isn't standing on his own... like other babies he is friends with.

So, out of fear of my baby being under-developed, I did some research on normal development in the first year... and here is what I found... this is for 7mths to 12 mths

but if you are curious about your baby and they are in a different age group click on the link below... its from Baby Center, a website I highly trust:

http://www.babycenter.com/baby-milestones

Child's Age	Mastered Skills (most kids can do)	Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)	Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
7 months	Sits without support Drags objects toward herself	Lunges forward orstarts crawling Jabbers or combines syllables Starts to experiencestranger anxiety	Waves goodbye Stands while holding onto something Bangs objects together Begins to understand object permanence
8 months	Says "mama" and "dada" to both parents (isn't specific) Passes objects from hand to hand	Stands while holding onto something Crawls Points at objects Searches for hidden objects	Pulls self to standing, cruises Picks things up with thumb-finger pincer grasp Indicates wants with gestures
9 months	Stands while holding onto something Jabbers or combines syllables Understands object permanence	Cruises while holding onto furniture Drinks from a sippy cup Eats with fingers Bangs objects together	Plays patty-cake and peek-a-boo Says "mama" and "dada" to the correct parent
10 months	Waves goodbye Picks things up withpincer grasp Crawls well, with belly off the ground	Says "mama" and "dada" to the correct parent Indicates wants with gestures	Stands alone for a couple of seconds Puts objects into a container
11 months	Says "mama" and "dada" to the correct parent Plays patty-cake and peek-a-boo Stands alone for a couple of seconds Cruises	Understands "no"and simple instructions Puts objects into a container	Says one wordbesides "mama" and "dada" Stoops from standing position
12 months	Imitates others' activities Indicates wants with gestures	Takes a few steps Says one wordbesides "mama" and "dada"	Walks alone Scribbles with a crayon Says two wordsbesides "mama" and "dada"