nine months for life

Three months before my little one was born, I bought the Baby Einstein 20 DVD set on Ebay. I was so convinced that I would need them. There was no reasoning really. Just that I had “heard” a lot about them. I did not question myself much at all.

Out pops my baby and something happens…I start to question EVERYTHING.

E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G. I hear that having babies does this to us ( amongst other things ;))

And so, I questioned Einstein. Baby Einstein.
I questioned it quietly though …within the confines of my brain and my home. I did not want to engage in any debate before I had the Einstein experience myself. I watched a couple of dvds and had Savi watch them too. She just stared. She was mildly captivated. She did not coo or laugh when she watched them. It did not seem like a big deal. I was secretly relieved …;)

As the weeks pass, my little one is less and less interested in the Baby Einstein dvds. (Oh no! she is not going to be a genius ;)). She loves watching the dogs and the cat instead. She bursts into laughter when the dogs get close to her. She is all smiles when I enact her nursery rhymes ….

So, I had forgotten all Baby Einstein until I talked about it with a friend a couple of nights back. I googled all around and found a pretty thorough article on the Mothering website. It is a great read. While(unlike the author Ann) I am not set one way or the other about my kids watching TV, I do believe that my child does not yet need to watch TV since there is plenty she can learn just by interacting with us on a daily basis. I have no justifiable NEED for Baby Einstein.

So for now, I choose to shelve the Baby Einstein DVDs. But I would like to hear from folk who think their babies actually benefited in definite ways from watching these DVDs and why? I wonder if there is a way to give my little one the minimum amount of time with Einstein to make sure that she will be a “well-rounded genius” ?? Okay, that is an oxymoron …but you know what I mean ;)
Or do people out there think I should shelve these DVDs forever and forget they even existed???

Savi signed her first sign less than an hour back. She “said” MILK! Since her sign vocabulary is pretty limited, her less than perfect hand “pronunciation” does not seem to bother me ;)

Sweet Joy!

“We” officially have our second cold as of this morning …yes, that is the second cold of our life!
Not so bad, we are just a little better than in average of 10 colds per year since it has almost been a month and a half since we had our first one :)

Here is a toast to “developing more immunity” ! Now, do we have a choice ?? I say, let us just smile and drink it up!!

Ah, yes, and wish me luck ;)

It has happened too many times for it to be a coincidence anymore. Way too many times.

Almost every milestone that Savi has reached was first reached when she lay butt naked on the bathroom floor (don’t you worry, there is a playmat under her butt). Is there a hidden lesson here?

Couple of nights back, Savi finally rolled over from her back to on to her tummy for the first time. And then, in the next half hour, she had done it at least ten more times. Watching her made it seem obvious that her bare bottom had a hand in it … I wish someone was there to watch ! ( I am telling you there wasn’t anyone else …just in case you comeback and ask for proof ;) …except Lucky …but then, cats are big liars :)) . It seemed like she needed to put the technique into action just once and then it was all about perfecting it.

I suggest all we parents do a little research study here …give all newborns some “bare butt time” everyday and then track their development. We might actually see that they reach some physical milestones sooner merely because we are not tasking them with doing things in their lives, for the very first time, wearing what seems to be a space suite around their already somewhat chubby bottoms ;). Seems obvious when I word it that way, doesn’t it ?

Bottom line.? Savi is going to have a lot of “bare butt time” going forth…since I am fairly convinced that I have a point here. She might have a bone to pick with me when she gets older ….but then, she’ll have plenty of those and hopefully I will have learnt how to deal with her by then ;)

Now that we do more than just lying around, the weekends are getting more “active”. With it being the coldest weekend of the season so far, it has been up to mother goose (yes, that’s me) to get creative and figure out what all this “little person” can do over the weekend.

Now, you have got to remember that unlike babies, “little people” don’t get fooled. You cannot make fleeting baby sounds and get away with it. These activities have gotto be the REAL STUFF.

So these are what I came up with …and the reasons I think they work.

1. Fold the laundry: Put the washed and dried clothes about 5 feet from baby. Fold them high up in the air. If possible wave them around making different shapes in the air. Narrate what you are doing at every step.
Pros:
- Laundry gets folded ;)
- Hopefully, “folding laundry” gets wired into the baby circuitry and your child will willingly do/fold her laundry for the rest of her life ;)
- Improvising and adding activities such as Peek-a-Boo into this activity is extremely easy
- Clean clothes can double up as teethers
Cons:
- It does not work unless you narrate every single step …animated is even better ;)
- You have to be ready to face reality …If it absolutely does not work, it could imply that your wardrobe sucks ;)

2. Read the Sunday Paper: Pile up Sunday ads on your side. Put baby on your lap,facing forward. Read one ad at a time.
Pros:
- You get your window shopping done
- You save money and learn to tell yourself that you are just so happy to be fitting into your old clothes that you really don’t need any new ones.
- Baby reads the newspaper …you might be instilling a great habit in your baby ;)
- Ads are bright and the paper crackles … babies love that
Cons:
- Colorful ads do NOT double up as teethers
- The house is a big mess …it is a lot harder to recycle little bits of paper strewn allover the bed/floor.
- You do not have the luxury to check any ad i any greater detail since stopping for more than 10 seconds on a page might really irritate the baby.

3. Dance to the music (baby music and nursery rhymes, that is):
Pros:
- Your daily workout!
- I would love to think that babies get a sense of rythm when you do things like this ;)
Cons:
- Itsy Bitsy Spider???? C’mon!
- Things like this might kill the little social skills or social life you have left ;)

4. Pet the pets
Pros:
- You come to remember that the animals walking around in the house used to be your babies at one point.
- You throw your touch-and-feel baby books away.
- They love this activity - baby, cat, dogs and all!
Cons:
- Tufts of hair in little baby hands? Hmm, not good!
- You throw your touch-and-feel baby books!

5. Check email

6. Watch the news on TV

7. Stare baby in face

5,6 and 7 are really not recommended. Seriously. While they might work, guilt is almost a sure side-effect ;)

Any fun activities I can add to this? Do let me know :)

frus·tra·tion
–noun

1. what Savi feels when she tries to sit up these days (more like “ab crunches” …)

2. what Savi feels when she tries to crawl these days (more like “swimming on the spot”…)

3. what Savi feels when she tries to “catch” a flowing stream of water these days (bathtime means that I continually pour a mug of water on her tummy, so she can hold it…)

4. what Savi feels a LOT these days

4. what Mom feels when she cannot get even an hour of sleep at night (Yes, I know that I did not increment the count at No 4 …moms really don’t count, you know… )

5. what Iris feels when she cannot get her tennis balls from under the couch every single day

6. what Charlie feels when we lock him out of the baby room these days (separation anxiety;))

7. what Lucky never feels (duh, he is a cat …’frustration’ does not exist in the cat dictionary ;))

7. what Dad feels when he is sick and cannot hold little Savi for days ..( not only does dad not count, he is also always “last” ;))

One happily frustrated family. I love it!!!

This article in the NewYork Times talks about how women in politics today (Pelosi, Clinton etc) are wearing “motherhood to work” and how doing that could actually work for them.

And why wouldn’t it, I wonder? The truth does always work …in my limited experience at least. Projecting the image that reflects the truth should work for anyone …at home, at work or in Washington. Infact, being a mom has helped me assert myself better at work, I am more disciplined and in some ways I am a lot more unforgiving and understanding at the same time. I really hope that the publicists that these politicians (actresses etc) work with get that simple fact …

Men and women are different for a reason. They have different things to offer to the family, to the workplace and the country. I think we should quit trying to be like the other gender and offer, in whole, what we can offer to the world at every step of our lives. And “different” does not, for even a second, mean that we are less or more capable.

If tables were turned and enough men wanted to be treated like women and do the things that women do ( ah, imagine that ;)), I do believe that men would have the same issues that women do … Men probably feel discriminated in a number of ways as well. Is there pressure on them to be employed all the time? Is it okay for them to shed tears in public? Are they percieved as “fluff” if they show their sensitive side? I wonder ….

Sara Schaefer-Munoz (The Juggle) talks about something I constantly worry about in her post today. I wonder if it is really possible for children who are born into households that have everything to relate to all the hard work it took to make that possible in the first place? As a result of having everything they need, will such children have no motivation to succeed financially? While what we define financial success is totally subjective, I wonder if children that have everything growing up will even understand the importance of saving for retirement?

I was lucky to learn from my parents’ hardships. Year after year my dad struggled with setting up his own business. I saw my parents give up so many little things in order to be able to afford things for us. I was truly blessed to be able to learn the value of money without having to give up too much as a child . So all that struggle my parents endured until the very recent past wasn’t for nothing ;)

Very well, then. If I cannot simulate a financial struggle to teach my children the value of money, I hope to at least, by example, teach them what to do with the money. I think kids should see and constantly be told about how much hard work it takes to bring a paycheck home. They should be spoken to…about financial decisions we make (as long as we make responsible ones ;)). It is never to early to expose them to the world where people are less fortunate and instill in them a sense of responsibility.

I think teaching kids the value of money is like teaching them the value of just about anything else …through example. Kids learn to respect, kids learn compassion, kids learn to be hardworking and kids learn the value of money …ALL by example. They do unto you as you do unto them. That is the bottom line. Am I making any sense?

Ahhhh…what have I gotten myself into! I hope I am up for this job as a parent!!!

Until this morning I was sure Savi needs a haircut. Honestly, there is no way a child would want a head full of THAT much hair! It was time to bring out those shears and give Savi her second haircut in four months.

With the idea of creating some before and after haircut shots, I brushed Savi’s mane down and put some *things* in her hair. I took her pics, downloaded them and now I am ALL confused!! Should I cut her hair at all? If I am say so myself, she does look adorable!!!

Should I just grit my teeth and try my best to get past this awkward period when her hair is running down her ears and stands up in tufts here and there so that she will have pretty and manageable hair in sometime? We all know about that most uncomfortable stage when hair goes from short to long, don’t we? Most importantly, how do I manage the hair from getting into her eyes? Any ideas for some funky hairdos? (ALL under the assumption that she will let me cut her hair if I decide to cut it OR that she will tolerate me putting things on her hair if I decide not to cut her hair !)

Why so much thought into this? Mostly because I have the luxury to ponder on something soooo utterly meaningless at this point … With time I am afraid I will have little time or energy to worry about her hair … and yes, it is plenty of fun!

I think my parents did a faily good job (if I am say so myself ;)) for not having read articles (as opossed to working on Friday afternoons;)) …. I found a couple of really good articles ..

For one, compassion is key …

“But with so much hatred and turmoil in the world today, it seems more important than ever to raise kids who can understand and be kind to other people. Teaching this doesn’t mean lectures or visits to soup kitchens. It’s part of day-to-day life: how you answer your child’s questions, how you solve conflict at the park, how you nudge his or her growing capacity to understand and think about other people.”

And here is a look into my future … I really really hope I can manage to handle her when she asks for a new mommy ;)

Have a great weekend!

NOW, if Savi does not keep me sufficiently entertained over the weekend … I might just be back here blogging :)