11 months and counting

We are in the final month's countdown to Noah's first birthday. It is hard to believe what all has transpired in the past year for our family and how different life was just one year ago. Not only did we not have a baby yet, but we were living overseas in a very small apartment as well as in completely different careers, teaching school. What a year it has been for us and for Noah. Our little Nicaraguan citizen flew on his first airplane at only 3 months old (and did great!), moving to a new country and a new home.

As parents, Jason and I have grown in many ways! We are still newbies at this whole parenting thing, but we have learned a few things along the way. A friend in Nicaragua, Marilyn, told me soon after Noah was born, "you'll have to figure out what works for you and your family, and just do it." And it is true. Many well-meaning people give advice or make suggestions about baby-raising, just trying to be helpful. But ultimately we've figured out several things that work well for our family.

A few tidbits of things we've figured out about Noah and our family so far:

• Pacifiers work wonders to put Noah to bed & in the car


• Breastfeeding is great, but bottles are not evil. In fact, formula feeding works well for us.


• Naps do not always have to be 2+ hours long, despite what everyone says (though it is sure nice when they are!)


• Noah went to bed at 10-11 pm for many many months, so his long stretch of sleep was during our sleep too.


• We travel after 8 pm so Noah sleeps through car trips.


• Cloth diapers work great for us during the day, but we prefer disposables at night and for nurseries.