Baby's Got Rhythm!

Now's the time to get bouncing with your baby to a variety of music! Just like language perception, the ability to hear culture-specific rhythms is something that narrows focus as your child gets older. 

Music is fun and brain-building! Get your mom and baby friends together to share music from your heritage, whether it's Hungarian, African, or Scottish! :)

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/03/0308_050308_rhythm.html

The Lina Lamont Fan Club: Halloween is Really a Christian Holy Day

The Lina Lamont Fan Club: Halloween is Really a Christian Holy Day: Some people falsely say Halloween is the Devil's holiday. Others say it is a Pagan celebration. But the truth is that Halloween origi...

Mother and Infant Bonding

I really should type more, but in my free time (such as that is!) I am consumed by research. It's my own fault for being way too curious!

I have been following my latest rabbit trail, trying to find the early origins and therapies for autism. I actually found a very fascinating article that has a great clue-- they theorize that interruption in the infant-mother bonding can be an early cause of autism.

http://www.jungny.com/carl.jung.284.html

This isn't a tree that has been barked up very much, but I know I am going to try to make sure I pay good attention to my infant and our interaction.

No Honey, Not Even Cooked!

As my youngest explores the world of solids, I am always learning the revised rules for feeding children. I knew that honey, which can contain botulism spores, was a no-no for infants-- but what if it is cooked?

Here's the answer:NO. No honey, not by itself, not as an ingredient in cereal or crackers, or any other place. The botulism toxin that can harm infants survives cooking!

Read more about it:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/505464-can-an-infant-eat-honey-nut-cheerios/#page=1

Get Professional Help

Expect the unexpected. Kids are individuals, and when they get sick, it seems they have not read webmd to see how their illness is supposed to present. Additionally, they somehow manage to develop symptoms at night or on the weekend when you can't get ahold of the doctor. 

That sends me and tons of other parents scrambling around the Internet looking for help.

Of course, if there is danger to life, limb, or sight, you should immediately call 911 or your local emergency number.

It's those other situations that are tricky. Thankfully, most hospitals offer a nurse line that can help you assess how serious the illness is and what to do. 

So, please, if you are looking at your kid and thinking, "hmmm, he doesn't look so good but I don't know if he is sick enough for the ER," look up the nurse line for your hospital ( or call their info number to get connected) and get professional advice. Make sure you have as much info to give them as you can-- child's temp, onset of symptoms, and any meds your child has taken, for example.

Utilize the training of these medical personnel and don't get medical advice from blogs like this or other websites that cannot address your situation.

Mr. Rogers-- an oldie but goodie

My two older kids are nine and six years old, and although we don't watch a lot of TV, they did spend their earliest years watching shows like Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Yo Gabba Gabba. 

Recently we moved and decided not to get satellite TV. Instead, we get Netflix and Amazon streaming video and we have an RCA antenna. We spend a lot less time channel surfing when we only get around ten channels! 

I rediscovered Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, which I had not watched since I was small and Mr. Rogers was still alive. What has struck me is the slow pace of the program. The host is anything but rushed! It feels very safe to be in a quiet and slow-paced neighborhood after all the noisy and incessant programming that seem to be on most of the kid stations!

This show might be a good way to introduce new situations to kids, especially our autistic kids who can be apprehensive about changes. Some of the show segments, such as when Mr. Rogers goes to eat at a restaurant, remind me of the social stories we sometimes use to prepare the kids for something new.

I hope to hear from others who may have watched Mr. Rogers with their kids. 

Learn Something New

I'm always reminding my kiddos, "you should try to learn something new everyday." It's something I take to heart-- I am a learning addict.

I have almost two hundred hours of college credit, but no degree yet. I fully intend to complete my bachelor degree someday, but I will never complete my education. There are just too many fascinating things to learn about!

Like most new parents, I started consuming baby care manuals as soon as I found myself expecting. Add to this books and articles on baby psychology, education, discipline, and all other media that promise to help people to not screw up their kids.

Probably the saddest and funniest thing is that so many of these methods directly oppose each other. Soon you find yourself in a world of mama bears who are preaching their breast feeding, ferberizing, babywearing, toileting, and whatever expert-advised child rearing method is trending. 

Rather than encouraging more mommy wars, I take the " whatever works" approach. You want to purée organic veggies, fine. You want to potty train a newborn, go for it! If something isn't going as planned, Sempre Gumby!

At the end of the day, I am going to kick back with a Dr. Pepper and a sleepy baby and say, "Sleep training... Maybe we'll try that tomorrow."

In any case, books will carry you part of the way, but experience is the real teacher. This is why we need the "Mom Blogs." Experts may tell you,"Autism usually affects boys," but then you find that your little girl has Autism, and suddenly you see there are Autistic girls all over the place! Our eyes are opened a little bit everyday, and we learn so much from those we meet.

I hope to connect with and learn from some others who are on the journey... But for now, there's a busy baby to chase!