If you can dream it, you can do it!!

As many of you know, Ava has been struggling with her sleep lately. She's been crawling, pulling herself to standing, and I suspect we have some more teeth on the way.  She's also been demonstrating signs of separation anxiety which is typical of babies her age.  In an effort to be flexible and give her lots of extra cuddles, I inadvertently began to slack off a bit with the schedule and her sleeptime routine. Before I knew it, our perfect sleeper had developed some poor sleep habits and was no longer getting the rest she needed. (...and of course by default, neither was mama - hence the delay in posting).

So, thanks to a good friend who offered to share her daughter's sleep-training plan along with her words of encouragement, we embarked on a sleep-training journey. We chose the "stay in the room, seated in a chair" method so that Ava would know we were there but, by not picking her up, she would have the opportunity to learn to put herself to sleep.  The first several times were very hard, I often broke the rules, or was inconsistent which actually are it much harder on both Ava and I in the long run. However, once I started sticking to the plan and being consistent, Ava began demonstrating just what a smart little cookie she was!! I couldn't believe how quickly she learned to talk and coo to her bunny, then lie down and close her eyes. Her naps are much much better and we've now had two straight nights of 12hrs of consolidated sleep!!

Not sure if you see the analogy building here or not, but as I sit here, in Ava's nursery in my chair, "shhing, I am realizing how Ava's sleep-training parallels my own fitness training. It was very hard at first, but I had to have faith in the plan and trust that my consistency and dedication would eventually lead to results! I may slip up, miss a workout or cheat my diet here and there, but I won't give up if I want to reach my goal. Baby steps!

Just like we encourage our children to learn to crawl, fall asleep on their own, take their first steps, and get back up if they fall, we also need to encourage ourselves to be consistent with the healthy choices that will get us to our goal! Whatever that goal may be!! I started this journey to be a better role model for Ava and I'm finding it fascinating that, in many cases, her and I are learning the same lessons together. 

As you head into another work week, I encourage you to make a plan and stick with it, no matter how hard it is at first. All your efforts will payoff!! If you can dream it, you CAN do it!!