Labor Day

Fun & Games

Here is Isabel in a couple of things mom bought her. A Nike onesie, that I picked up during the Black Friday sales last year at the Nike store, and some Gymboree tights (aren't the little bows around her ankles cute.)

I can officially say she is sleeping completly through the night. She sleeps 10-11 hours a night. It's nice. But she is lucky to get in some decent naps. She doesn't like long naps so much. She gets 3-4 hours of naps. She is much happier when she gets 4 hours combined, but shedoesn't always stay asleep that much.

Homemade Stuff

I was reading in this book about all these different things you can do to help "enhance your baby's natural development" (quote from the cover.) They recommend a lot of products that the author created in coordination with the book, which is kinda annoying, but it also tells you what kinds of generic toys or things you can create or things around the house that you can use. So, that information is useful. The ideas are for each of the five senses. I just pick & choose what seems interesteing to me and what we have the resources for. It only gives you ideas for the first 6 months, after that I guess you are on your own. It goes month by month and these are some things from month 4. A B&W (most described in this book is everything is black & white) checkerboard and her name are above the changing table. I put these there because it will give her something to look at on that side. She seems to like looking at them breifly, whereas before she never really looked at that wall for more than a half a second to see that there was nothing special there. Then there are the homemade flashcards with some letters & numbers & pictures. But all B&W and all simple. I try to do those every day once a day with her. It doesn't take long and she seems interested. If she doesn't like something or wants something else she will fuss. And finally is homemade rattles. These weren't exactly in the list of things to make, but I noticed she doesn't really hold her rattle much because I think they are either a little heavy or awkward to hold. So, I kept witht he b&w thing and took some white pill bottles and put a few beans inside and then used black electrical tape to add the contrast and also make sure the lid stays nice & shut. She hasn't picked them up to rattle, but watches as I rattle them, but she does like to knock them over and hear them make the noise. Will any of this help stimulate her development any more and make her smarter? I don't know. But it gave me something to do and gives us something different to play with and didn't cost a lot of money -- just some paper & ink & clear contact paper (which one roll will last me a LONG time.) There is also a lot of other useful information in the book as well.

Other things it encourages that don't require purchasing anything (because we already have these things) is:

• breastfeeding (if possible)
• listening to and dancing to classical music
• talking/reading to your baby
• holding (skin to skin contact) & massaging & carrying
• Other b&w drawing & images (complexity increases as baby gets older)
• items to smell (mom's perfume, dad's aftershave, essential oils of kitchen herbs - oregano, basil, cinnamon, vanilla, any foods you are eating etc.)
• bells sewed onto ends of socks
• yarn tied to fingers (very supervised!)
• mirror toy
• Other things common in a household: rolled bath towel, pencil, smooth brookstick, variois textures of fabric, blanket, spoons, tupperware containers, cups, apples, pots & lids, boxes

It tells you how to use things and how long to do it for. It's kinda a neat book.