The Mysteries of Growth

We're constantly enthralled by the complex and mysterious nature of the development of our daughters. Every synapse firing off in their brains brings them one step closer to a "milestone". (when I see that term I always picture the babies hiking in the woods somewhere with a map and a compass looking for milestone markers on the path of progress, but anyways) Last night, we experienced another one of those small but important milestones.

Let me give you a little bit of back story before the big reveal. Recently, Madeline had begun waking up in the middle of the night. What is so unusual about that you might say? Well, Erica and I are overwhelmingly grateful to have babies that pretty much slept 6+ hours at night since they were a month old. I'll pause here a moment for all those parents out there who are not so lucky and that wish to shout something at their computer screen...... ok, let's continue. I must say that I sympathize with you because after a few nights of this we were already beginning to search online for what might cause this behavior and what we could do to help her sleep soundly again.

Erica came across a very informative article on sleep regression. To summarize the article briefly, it simply states that at certain key points in a child's development their brains are furiously working on new skills. So much so that it causes them to either have trouble getting to bed or stir from a deep sleep. How many times have you laid awake at night staring at the ceiling going over stuff in your head that was causing you anxiety? The same basic principal applies to infants and when those skills are mastered their normal behavior pattern will typically return. Whether or not this applies to my story is up for debate, but it certainly does seem a rather strange coincidence as you will see.

Now that you're all caught up, let me tell you about what happened yesterday. Erica and I arrived home from work with the girls like any other day. The evening activities continued much the same as many days before... feeding, tummy time, reading, playing on their activity mat. You first have to realize that up to this point Maddie and Lizzy have not shown great interest in toys. While they LOVE to look at mommy and daddy (and lights and ceiling fans) there has never been a great attraction to play things. It was getting to a point where Erica began to worry if they were a little behind in their advancement. Her job is to worry, she is the mommy.

Just for a change of pace I picked up Madeline, sat her in front of me on my lap and grabbed what I thought to be a particularly fun toy. I wiggled it in front of her and you could almost see the wheels beginning to turn inside her head. Out of nowhere she grabbed it with both hands and stuffed it in her mouth. It was no fluke, she did it over and over again with different toys. We were ecstatic and cheering at Maddie! Erica described it perfectly when she said, "It was like a light switch being turned on." Elizabeth tried the same thing a little later, but she's not quite there yet. I know we'll be just as excited when her turn comes.

I think everyone who has kids can relate to the experience of those small victories and celebrating them with your child. It's moments like these that you realize what an amazing journey you are on as you look forward to the next milestone. Each moment creates memories that will last a life-time.

The best part of the story... Madeline slept straight through until this morning.