So Proud!!!

As I woke up this morning I noticed the sun was starting to come up…when I leaned over to check my phone I noticed it was 6:58 am. Berkley had slept through the night (STTN)!!! I couldn’t believe it! B had STTN before, a lot actually. But I have been doing some “retraining” because she was sick for a week plus she had a little mini growth spurt after that. So when B would wake up in the middle of the night, I would just feed her instead of letting her cry it out (CIO).

I had only been working on the retraining for three nights and ta da; she did it! She STTN! The night before last, I was sick and Geoffrey was planning to get up with B in case she couldn’t go back to sleep after CIO for 15 minutes. He said she woke up around 4 (which is usually when she wakes up) cried for 15 minutes and then just stopped. She stayed awake looking around for about 20 minutes before she went back to sleep on her own. Which we were happy with that too! But then, the very next night, she sleeps through the night seamlessly! I never heard her on the monitor!

Now I have been told progress is a spiral. And B is textbook when it comes to this. She is able to grasp something new when I least expect it. Then she will revert back to old habits…take two steps forward, one step back. But I am so proud of her. She has come a long way. Plus she has bounced back well despite a few set backs that really were out of her control (and mine).

I then looked at our video monitor this morning (if you don’t have one, get one! They are amazing and take a lot of the guess work out of knowing when to go in to comfort your baby because you can see your little one) and noticed she was still asleep! She actually stayed asleep for about 15 more minutes; which was shocking. I figured she would be getting up around 7 starving!  The last time she had eaten was at 11 pm. Once she did wake up (about 7:15) she just laid there in bed looking around; didn’t make a peep. AMAZING! She woke up happy! So I let her lay there for about 5 minutes before nursing her.

To say I am proud of Berkley for learning how to sleep through the night is an understatement. It doesn’t matter how small or grand the accomplishments are, I am ALWAYS so proud of her! I delight in seeing B learn, make connections and begin to understand the world around her! It’s incredible! And as a parent, the patience is just built right in. She is going to learn at HER own pace. (Good reminder for me: don’t compare her to other babies and expect her to do exactly what they did). I’m just there to coach her along, encourage her, love her and teach her. Plus, I am her parent; therefore no one else knows what is best for her than me (and Geoffrey).

I think it’s safe to say I am beginning to catch a glimpse of Father God’s love for His children. We are His pride and joy! He delights in us, even when we fail. He is patient, slow to anger and abounding in love! Father God is such a good daddy! And when He’s teaching us or stretching us, it can be painful. A lot like when I let B CIO. No, I DO NOT like hearing her cry and I know she doesn’t like crying. But I see the value in teaching her to self-sooth, plus I know what is best for her. (I’ll post more on sleep training in a future post). Father God knows what is best for us. He sees the end result; the bigger picture. So we have to keep that in mind when God allows things that might be painful or difficult. I mean He wants us to grow. And growing isn't always easy. Sometimes it's a growth spurt and it happens all of a sudden. And sometimes markable growth seems to take F.O.R.E.V.E.R.!!!! But the goal isn't to stay a baby our whole life! And Lord have mercy as much as I love my baby B, I don't want her to stay a baby her whole life either. There are so many good things I want her to enjoy and experience that she can't handle as a baby. So, as her parent, I am feeding her (real food and brain food) because she has got to grow! Therefore Father God's goal is to grow us into strong, mature believers because there are many good things He has for us; we just might not be quite ready for them yet!