Lydia's First Year in Review

Just as everyone told us, our little girl's first year passed more quickly than we could have imagined! She grew and changed so much, and learned so many things. By her first birthday, she had traded in her bottle for a "sippy" cup, was eating basically the same food as Daddy and Mommy, had taken her first steps (although she continued to get around in her own unique way more often than not), and could say at least 15 words in an understandable way. She has been such a happy baby who adapted well to almost everything we introduced to her. She was sleeping about eight hours per night by two months of age, and by four months, she slept twelve hours (and has continued to do so)! We credit this foremost to a lot of prayer for her and God's blessing us in this way, but also to maintaining a consistent schedule with her from the beginning. We basically followed the plan suggested by the authors of BabyWise (making adjustments as needed) and would recommend this to any new parents! One of the authors is a medical doctor, so his expertise is incoporated, and the other author bases his premise on his Christian faith, suggesting that teaching children self-control from an early age, will pay off greatly for the child and the parent in the end. For newborns, the only elements in their lives that can really be controlled are eating and sleeping, and by doing these things in a structured way, children respond accordingly. It was (and continues to be) so helpful to know why she may be upset (even though those times are pretty rare for her) and not really have to guess. We are thankful for friends who shared this idea with us and encouraged us along the way!