We Have No Idea What We Are Doing (Either)

A friend of ours recently wrote in to her baby's blog indicating that she and her husband are "winging it" with their near 13-month-old about 85% of the time. For the record, we are too! I just read that Eladia should be drinking out of a cup "without a spout" (_What to Expect for the First Year_) and feeding herself with a spoon. This book also indicates that she should be playing patty cake and waving bye-bye. Of course I read this aloud to my husband who just rolled his eyes and figured it was another "school psychology thing." This comes after Eladia's nine-month appointment where the nurse asked Brad if she was taking only one nap a day. She seemed to roll her eyes at Brad when he replied, "No, two naps a day."

There is a LOT of advice out there; in books, on TV, from friends, from family members (sometimes unwanted). The bottom line for first-time parents is this: FILTER EVERYTHING! If your child isn't dead (on account of you committing purposeful harm), abused, neglected (I mean for several hours without a diaper change, not 5 minutes while you use the bathroom), then you must be doing SOMETHING right. If you love your child, you will know what is right for her. That means that if you are up at 4:50AM typing your frustrations into your baby's blog because you will need to pull her into bed with you yet again (for your own sanity and sleep), then that's what you need to do. The rest are just "guidelines" and we all know what to do with those....