5 Months! {how to sleep train your dragon}

This month has been so much fun! Lyla is growing and growing- which we LOVE. We feel like she has changed more this month than any other month. She has started giggling, rolling over, squealing and babbling, and she has even made a few crawling attempts! She loves to kick her feet up in the air and put her toes in her mouth. Every day is a new joy with our little Belle.
We have started sleep training Lyla. We tried when she was 4 months, but we decided after a few days she was a little too young and it was so hard for us to listen to her cry and cry :(. So this time we took a little different approach and followed the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Marc Weissbluth. It is a really good approach to sleep training. Before when we were trying to help Lyla learn to self soothe, it felt like torture to listen to her cry. This book pointed out that you shouldn't let crying prevent you from doing what is best for you child. (It gave an example that when your 2 year old cries because he doesn't want his diaper changed, you change it anyway, even though he is crying). After looking at it this way, it was easier for me to just relax a little and know I was doing what was best for my babe. And so far it is working SO well! We will put her down for the night, and even though she still sometimes wakes up before feeding time, she will cry for a few seconds and then go right back to sleep. And she is so much happier now! It is like we had to endure a little bit of crying at first, but now we have much less crying while she is awake, which is so fun. I highly recommend this book. One thing I have definitely learned is that you have to do what is best for your own child. No one knows your child like you do, and I feel that parents are blessed with inspiration to know what is best for their little ones. I'm just so glad that we have found something that works for us to help Lyla sleep better.
Stevie and I started a health challenge a few weeks ago. We are not so much focused on weight loss- as I'm still exclusively nursing and can't restrict calories, but we are just trying to get healthier habits. It includes drinking 64 oz of water each day, not eating after 9 PM, 2 fruits/day, 3 veggies/day, 30-45 min of exercise 5 times per week, and no sugar/sweets 6 days a week, and journaling what you eat. It has been fun and we feel better about our eating habits. Lyla loves the jogging stroller, and I love all of Georgia's beautiful scenery. (still not sure how I feel about running in this heat and humidity though!)
My little craft this month was something I made for my sister- It was something she found online that I just recreated. It was fun, but I think I'm a little too OCD for somethings ;). I used a pattern and painter's tape for my chevron lines, but they weren't as crisp as I wanted... maybe if I use spray paint next time? I don't know- any tips are welcome!! haha
We have an exciting trip ahead of us- 3 weeks back home :) I'm sure next month's blog will be much more exciting!