moments with melissa

I have had my baby, now what?! I remember when I was at Indigo in the parenting section. I found so many different books. It became overwhelming because all of these books just seemed like a long list of things to expect and the things you need to do...or not do. I remember just looking around, trying to skim through a few to see if one would actually help me but instead I just ended up saying "screw it, honestly how do I know if these books are going to relate to my baby, I mean to whose standards has this book been written". I knew if I went down the rabbit hole of reading all of these parent books, I would end up questioning my ability as a parent, and constantly worrying if there was something wrong with my baby.

Long story short, I walked out of Indigo without a single book in hand and I think it was the best decision I had made at that time.

Once I started to join some mom groups, I started to talk to moms about things I was observing about my babe and if they had seen the same. Soon enough they started to talk about "The Wonder Weeks" and I had not clue what they were talking about but sort of just sat around listening. I finally asked them what the heck they were talking about and I was in awe of this without even having yet read the book and immediately headed over to Indigo after class.

Honestly guys, I am not one to preach about much when it comes to any sort of reading material that is some form of a guide, advice, etc. only because I know it could come off as unsolicited advice. I also know that one resource is not going to be great for a multitude of people so it is important to always find what works for you and not worry about anything or anyone else. But I have to actually put a halt on that for this one thing. Call it what you want, unsolicited advice or me trying to "shove resources down your throat", this is one book that I highly recommend to everyone!! It has honestly saved me from going in the path of being a helicopter parent.

I will not tell you too much as I am not doing some sort of write up, or review, or advertising for the book, and I am surely not being paid to write this for them, I simply loved this book so much and have seen a multitude of moms using it which comes to show how versatile it actually this. This resource is actually gold and it is a book that I highly recommend to absolutely EVERYONE. Especially if you are a brand new parent, or a parent who waited a few years between having kids and needs a little refresher!

Alright, I will not be going into any specifics or into deep on this resource, but I will share a little bit about the book with you. "The Wonder Weeks" is a book that looks at the developmental leaps a child has. I know, if you're like me when I first started reading this book, I was like what the heck is this! I had only previously read about growth spurts. Along side the growth spurts babies all go through developmental leaps which in hindsight seems pretty obvious because we know that babies grow developmentally, I mean if they didn't that would be weird; just think about it, being an adult with no skills....weird! Okay back on track here! So, to start you go on their website and you essentially type in your babes due date - it doesn't matter if they were earlier or later than the due date, you MUST use the actual due date of the baby (I won't go into specifics of this but they explain it all). Once you have done this, it will place your baby on the developmental leap schedule. You can get reminders of when your babe is close to reaching a new developmental leap. Why do you need a reminder? Well usually before they start the leap there is always a "stormy" phase that they go through which could help understand a lot of your baby's behaviours. See this is where it gets interesting and where the information truly SAVED my life as a new time mom.

As each leap started with a stormy phase, I would be sure to read about the upcoming leap before everything started so that it all made sense to me ahead of time and I could make a plan to best support our babe during her stormy phase. I say this because prior to purchasing the book when she was super crabby and fussy I didn't know why it was happening or what was causing it. I was literally playing a guessing game with her, trying to figure her out and all the moms out there know how impossible that is to do! As I got more into the book and read it, the information is so thorough but simple, and it really puts things into perspective so that you could better support your babe. I really enjoy finally having some sort of understanding of her behaviour. I mean when she seems fussier then usual, I go into my book and I see where she is at and then instantly I am like "oh okay I get it, she is going through a stormy phase".

What is also cool is that if you do not want to purchase the book, they have an app that you could download and it gives you a shorter version of what to expect. It also has the schedule for you with dates for when they are to be going through a stormy phase and when they are close to achieving or getting through their developmental leap. I use both! Usually the book for more in-depth but then the app to just refresh if I read the chapter too early and to use the calendar to see where she is at.

Guys, for anyone who knows me, they know that I am not one to push anything on anyone as I believe it is important for everyone to just do what works for them but when I come across an amazing resource, it is so hard to NOT share it; especially if I have gotten really great outcome from it!