Small Victories

Before I was a parent, I heard people with kids say things like, "Billy is eating solid foods now" or "Susie smiled at me yesterday". My ignorant thought was, "So?" What was the big deal? I cleaned out my closet yesterday. No one is giving me an award. However, now I know what they are talking about.

We made the decision recently to move Riley from his very comfortable (though awkward looking at times) position of sleeping in his car seat to sleeping in a crib. Pre-parent Ryan would have listed this about as significant a move as finding an M & M under the couch cushion (why is it always an M&M or a piece of popcorn? Why can't it be a $100 bill?). However, Ryan the dad (and his wonderful partner in crime Missy the mom) devoted an ENTIRE WEEKEND to this endeavor. We approached this adventure with the fear and trepidation. We developed a shift schedule - one of us would be on call while the other slept then we would rotate. We prayed. We stressed. We begged Riley to adjust quickly to his new sleeping environment. Once again, we felt like we were on the eve of D-Day.

And you know what? We survived. Riley had a few cries here and there but he slept for the most part right through the night. A small victory in the Delp household. Now, while I deem this to be worth mention to the entire world wide web community, those of you reading probably wish you had the last 3 minutes of your life back. But once you have kids you realize - those small victories are enormous triumphs in the world of parenting. The fact that I have heard my son LAUGH for the first time is huge. The fact that he can hold his head up and not look like Stevie Wonder all the time is incredible (though if he had put on some sunglasses and a braided wig - that might be worth regressing his development for a little while).

So our son now sleeps in a crib. Now that that hurdle has been crossed, I can only see one more in front of him - getting a job.