I read this article last night that you “shouldn’t” (using that word loosely) end every word in “Y” when you speak to your baby.  Another words, use baby talk with your baby, in the hopes that it will encourage your child to have good grammar while growing up. So, toying with a new years resolution, one of my resolutions this year was to try not to end every word I say to Reagan with a “Y”. Every parent I am sure can understand the use though of using “Y” after every word.  You have a baby and suddenly poop is “poopy“, touch is “touchy“, dog is “doggy“, and so on.  It was a ridiculous resolution to make given the fact that my daughter is so adorable and saying words that end in a “Y” is…well…so adorable.  I made a mistakey. 🙂  So that resolution was tossed out the window the second I saw her in the crib this morning and I said “good morning, who’s the cutest girl in the whole worldy?”.  Yep, tossed out the window…just like all the other resolutions I have ever made were.  I still curse.  I don’t have the body of a roman god.  I still eat chocolate…lots of eat.  Nevertheless, every article I see online is about resolutions so I feel as if I have to make at least one!…My top new years parenting resolution this year is to have a little faith and confidence in myself as a father and not care so much about what others think of me or say about me when it comes to the way I parent.  Don’t get me wrong…I don’t think anyone is saying anything negative about the job that I am doing with our daughter.  However, I think that others have strong opinions or advice on how to raise our child and I need to try to not let that get to me.  To take a step back and take a look at the child we’re raising and know that she didn’t get to be the way she is all by herself.  That I had involvement in the way she behaves and the good baby that she is.  Having said that, on the flip side, I am also not going to let anyone put me down.  I will indeed protect myself and my family…in the most respectful way of course.

I would also like to try to be in the moment more.  After all, life does unfold in the present.  But, when your a parent, that is hard to do.  Reagan is finally able to play on her own a little more  and I can finally sit and read a book without being interrupted (not a novel of course …more like a leaflet…or a recipe card, but hey we have to start somewhere!).  So another way of living in the moment would be to take more date nights or to shut off my phone when I am playing peek-a-boo with our daughter.

I wish cleaning would be a resolution but for anyone who knows me….    😉

2013 was a year filled with waiting and a constant reminder for patience to be observed.

We were chosen by the Birth Parents on January 30th, 2013 and we waited a very long seven and a half months for Reagan to be born.  Looking back on it, most of those months were not easy for me.  However, it most certainly helped that others around me had to observe their patience as well….because we were also waiting for 2 nieces to be born. It was nice to share the anticipation with family members who were going through something similar.

I hope that 2014 comes with it a year filled with lessons for our child.

I hope to model to her how proud I am of her; how wonderful she is and how much she is loved. Our child is our gift. She needs to know we aren’t holding on to power, territory, or authority. She needs to know we trust her and love her. My partner and I need to begin practicing how to take initiative to help, mentor, and guide her. Give her the confidence in who she is so she isn’t so apt to change to make someone else happy.  These lessons can most certainly begin today to set the foundation of her bright happy future.

A very happy healthy new year to you all.