Why so serious?

*Yawn*

Ah, the life of a Bella...

Just eat, sleep, wear nice clothes, and have a sugar daddy (and mommy) take care of all your wants and needs. It must be nice! 😃

This is the first time in the last week or so that Belle's lifted her head like that.

Nothing brings us more joy than to see her developing, progressing and getting stronger!

Lately, though, we've been concerned about her neck and shoulder strength. She rarely seems to want to work during tummy time, so we've been thinking, "Has she hit a plateau? Are we doing it wrong? Are we encouraging her enough? What else can we do?"

As parents, sometimes we feel like we're doing something wrong, or that we're the ones holding her back in some way. 

It's the same story with bottle feeding. Are we to blame for her feeding aversion? What are we doing wrong?

It's frustrating for Belle, and sometimes it's frustrating for us, but at least we're in this together 😄

Kiera and I try our best not to take things so seriously. It's not always easy, though. 

Some things are worth fighting for, and some things you have to learn to let go...

Some things just need more time, and some things will never turn out the way you want them to. That's all there is to it, right?

The ups and downs of parenthood will never cease. Every concerned parent has to deal with this emotional roller-coaster. We're on this ride for the rest of our lives now - there's absolutely no turning back. And when Arabella is a teenager we'll still have the same thoughts and feelings, I'm sure. "Are we encouraging her enough? Are we spoiling her too much? Are we promoting enough confidence in her?"

The endless questions and self-doubt will always be there.

Sometimes I feel like we take things a little too seriously as parents. We get too wrapped up.

But then again, we have to, don't we? "It's our duty!", we all say. "We just want the best for them!"

I'm starting to think that maybe it's not good to get overly wrapped up. Maybe it's not healthy to be so focused to the point where we start getting frustrated ourselves. Because how long can you go with that kind of attitude? How long before it starts to affect your relationship with your spouse or daughter?

Yes, we want the best for our little one. Yes, we want to give her the best possible chance. Yes, we want to do everything in our power to help her along...

But sometimes doing everything can mean doing nothing at all. It can mean taking a pause, a break, a breath. It can mean taking a step back, letting things go, and not getting too worked up. 

It's all about finding that right balance, I guess. And often times we just need a little fine-tuning, that's all 😊