Our State Fair...

We have done quite a bit of fair visiting lately...this time it was Kelly & Co and Flora that joined us.  The difference of the state fair is that it was Chiara and Asher's first ferris wheel.  There is not a bit of fear from any of these kiddos.  I didn't bring my big camera to this one, but our phones caught some of the action!

The fair feels like fall...can't wait to enjoy them all again next year!

For now in Mama's tummy...

Just in case you have missed out on the news...

We are having a baby boy in December!
Because of the myriad complications we never had an official announcement, but with only a few weeks left it's really obvious :)

Father in Heaven Has Sent Me to You

Thanks to this little girl for making me a mama:

We had a pretty low key day...Stuart sent me these beautiful roses and Kiki and I took a much needed nap!

Dreaming

Sometimes, I really wish there was more of this around here:

Of all the rights of women the greatest is to be a Mother.

Many people start new beginning at New Years. Well, that has never worked for me. My birthday is right after the new year and I'm not in the mood to be my best on MY day. But this Mother's Day, I felt that maybe this would be a good day for me to make a new start. There is something about being appreciated as a mother on a day when my mind turns to the amazing examples of mother that I have been blessed with that humbles me to the point of wanting to try a little harder to be a bit better.

Before I had a child of my own I didn't realize the significance of every woman receiving a gift on mother's day. Not until I donned the slightly chafing robe of motherhood did I realize that mothering is not a cloak slipped on easily and seamlessly, neither can it be set aside or discarded on whim. Motherhood already resides within each woman. Birthing a child simply gives me one more very precious incentive to learn to use the untried legs of Motherhood that I possess.
Even now I hesitate to articulate my feelings on motherhood because my legs are often unsteady, and the walk has the the most breathtaking moments of joy and pain so far in my life.

I can't believe how humbling it is to make a life. To literally make one flesh out of the eternal family my husband and I began. I also never anticipated how physical the sacrifice would be.

Finally the miracle arrives. My Chiara was born and I thought I could do this a hundred times more. But I was unaware of how much more I would need to sacrifice and how much more I would be blessed to love. How my capacity to nurture the life of this tiny person would develop something I had been so unaware of in myself. I am only beginning to feel like a mother. It happened sometime between the pain of nursing (hey, there is really a reason the scriptures use that example of a mother not being able to forget her suckling child...can you say PAINFUL), the first smiles, the midnight, one, two, three, and four o'clock awakenings, and cuddles, airplane, a giggle, sobbing, and a story.
Chiara called out in her sleep and I went to her. She calmed as I rocked her and as she lay in my arms I promised that I would always be her mama, I would always help her in anyway I can. I would do anything for her to be happy. She didn't ask that of me, she never manipulated or coerced. But I made her and she needs me. And I am Mother.

Learning to walk is never easy and is accompanied by painful falls. That's why for me Mother's Day still means MY mother. It means Eve, Hannah, Mary, and Marjorie Pay Hinkley. They learned to run and jump and dance as mothers. So every woman on Mother's Day can accept her gift and, regardless of muscle definition, stand leaning on the Mothers of the past. And for me Mother's Day is a new start to becoming the mother I wish to be.

And it doesn't hurt that a very sexy man woke me up with this...Nothing like unconditional love and true appreciation to sweeten any journey :)

Week 17: I Got Rhythm

Babies often bounce or clap to a rhythm when they're less than a year old. But scientists were unsure whether they learn beat perception early in life, or whether they're born with it.

To find out, a team led by István Winkler from the Institute for Psychology in Budapest, Hungary, and Henkjan Honing from the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands tested beat perception in newborns using EEG. This can measure their electrical brain responses to sounds, even when the babies are sleeping.

The team played a rock drum rhythm to 14 sleeping babies two or three days old. Sometimes the sequence skipped a sound without disrupting the rhythm, while other omissions made the rhythm stumble.

When a missed note broke the rhythm, the babies had a key brain response indicating that their sensory expectations were contradicted. This suggests newborns can sense a rhythm and know when to expect the next beat. "Beat perception is there right from birth," Winkler concludes.

In the womb, fetuses rock out to the beat of their mother's heart, 40 weeks on the hit parade. And as early as seven months after birth, babies show a preference for rhythm patterns similar to the way they have been bounced on their parents' knees (one, two, three, four).

It has been suggested that rhythm plays a vital role in the development of speech and language. It has also been shown that the development of musical ability leads to greater skills of logic and math. Furthermore, early childhood is the time where preferences begin and children begin to create mental "boxes" for different subjects. Studies have suggested that without development of a "music box" in the brain, children may be less able to develop skills such as keeping the beat, or singing in tune.

This game will help baby develop her budding sense of rhythm and improve her eye hand coordination. It is her first step to sitting on the kitchen floor, happily banging out the beat to Wipe Out, or playing her first piano recital. :)



Clap your hands in a 1-2, 1-2 rhythm. Does Baby listen? Take baby's hands and attempt to clap them together. Exaggerate the sound. Take two spoons and tap them together in the 1-2 rhythm. Do this until Baby appears to listen and watch. Get a container (such as an oatmeal container, or #10 can with a plastic lid). Prop Baby in a sitting position and set the can in an upright position in front of Baby. With your hand, tap on the top of the plastic lid in a pattern or rhythm of 1-2. Repeat several times and encourage Baby to use her hand to tap. Do not expect Baby to make a pattern yet, but if you repeat this often enough Baby will make the rhythm when she is a little older. If you have a piano or keyboard, sit with baby on your lap. Play middle "C" in a 1-2 pattern. Say 1-2 as you play. Encourage Baby to mimic you. Let baby have some free play time with the keys.

This activity develops:
An awareness of sound
An awareness of rhythmical pattern
Listening skills
A sense of touch
An awareness of the origin of sounds
An awareness of cause and effect

Our Virtuoso:

Week 14 Tummy Time

With babies spending more time on their backs, pediatricians have noted an increase in cranial asymmetry, or misshapen heads. Babies' skulls are still somewhat soft, and constant back positioning with no break can sometimes cause a flattening effect on the back of the head.

Tummy time literally gets babies off their backs. It provides a break for the occipital area, or back of their heads, and gives babies a chance to strengthen their neck muscles to prepare them for crawling. It also helps them to get ready to push up, roll over, sit up, and eventually stand.

There are multiple forms of tummy time:
Hold Baby on your chest while you're reclined or lying flat.
Place Baby on a firm, safe surface, such as a blanket on the floor.
Hold Baby on your forearms (as opposed to a traditional cradle hold).
As your baby gains more head control, try using a nursing pillow or blanket to prop her up on her tummy.
Try using an exercise ball to help make it more fun: Place Baby on her tummy on top of the ball. While supporting her with your hand on her back or bottom, gently roll the ball lightly forward and backward.

The Benefits of Tummy Time
Tummy time helps with both fine and gross motor development:
Once on their tummies, babies tend to kick and flail, working their large motor muscles. Later, rolling onto their tummies will help babies strengthen neck and leg muscles.
Babies on their tummies tend to grasp at a parent's shirt or blanket, encouraging fine motor development.

What Tummy Time Looks Like




How Much Tummy Time and When
The current recommendation for time on the tummy is approximately 30 minutes a day, either all at once or broken up into short segments ranging from a few minutes to longer. Engage Baby in tummy time when she's content and alert. It is important not to insist on it if she's fussy: Forcing the issue will cause Baby to negatively associate this tummy time with being unhappy. Try again later when Baby is calm and willing.

My baby is always fussy when it's tummy time, however, so this game is what to do with a tummy time hating tot.

Take a ball or other easily mobile toy. Roll the ball encouraging baby to watch as you roll it. Does baby wiggle slightly to grasp the ball? Make sure the ball is in clear sight of baby. If baby attempts to reach for the rolling ball move it away slightly as to encourage baby to wiggle forward. You want to stimulate baby enough so she will attempt to stretch her arms, legs, and move towards the ball. Let baby explore independently for as long as interested. The idea is to motivate baby to attempt to grasp at the ball. It helps for you to lie down on your tummy and interact with Baby. Talk to, play with, and be silly with your child! A common tummy time problem is that Baby becomes frustrated with being simply placed on a blanket on the floor. So instead, make faces, sing songs, play with toys—you'll have more fun and this will keep Baby from getting fidgety.
These are baby's beginning attempts at crawling!

This activity develops:
Baby's body muscles by using a stimulus to initiate stretching and grasping.
An awareness of movement through the sense of touch
Motivation to move forward
A round head :)

Week 13: Peek-a-boo

I have been a Mommy for 13 weeks...Go Me! Now that I have passed survival mode and moved into a semi-comfortable level of Mommyhood I have started to wonder what to do with Chiara now that she is awake for longer periods of time. I found an awesome book called Slow and Steady Get Me Ready with activities for every week from birth to age five...the only thing is some of them are way old-school (like using spools from thread). I decided to adjust some of them and also start posting one game every week on this blog along with what it helps develop as a way to track what I'm doing with Chiara (and to use as a reference for baby #2). If anyone has suggestions on any of the games or has tried them let me know what you think. Also, just so you know...everything that I have read says that repetition is the key with babies so just know that these are games that can be(and should be) played over and over...sometimes many times a day...just because you are sick of it doesn't mean baby is! Additionally most of the material here is not my original idea...because let's face it, I am not the most creative person...this is just a chance for me to motivate myself to play with my baby and for that Mamarazzi part of me to have more opportunities for cute photo shoots!

Researcher Jean Piaget coined the term "object permanence" (also called "object constancy"), but parents have long recognized it as what puts the fun in peekaboo. Babies who've developed object permanence (typically between 4 and 12 months) look for a toy or person hidden under a blanket because they have come to realize it still exists even when they can't see it.

There are many ways to play peek-a-boo. The classic version is to cover your face with your hands for a few seconds and then open your hands and cry, "Peek-a-boo!" The full-body version involves hiding from a baby (by ducking under her crib or behind the door) and then popping out and yelling, "Peek-a-boo!". Blankets can be put over baby to teach her to pull it off (a safety plus to fight suffocation) or over Mommy's face. Another favorite is to walk around a sitting baby making silly noises increasing volume when coming into baby's vision.

Babies love peek-a-boo for a variety of reasons. First, who wouldn't like seeing a grown-up act so smiley, energetic, and ridiculous? The peek-a-boo-playing adult turns his whole attention to a baby, and all babies love receiving undivided attention. Babies are also naturally attracted to human faces, and peek-a-boo puts your face close to his. Babies also love smiles, which are a large part of the game, and babies love the sound of a grown-up's voice. That sing-song "peek-a-boo" is fun for them to hear. Additionally, peek-a-boo is fun because of the element of surprise. A baby doesn't know exactly where or when a beloved face will peek through closed fingers.

There is something positively thrilling to a baby about being surprised in this way.
Understanding this concept, also known as object permanence, is an important milestone, and signals that your baby is making leaps in cognitive development — both his memory and his ability to think abstractly are growing.

This week's game uses all the best parts of peek-a-boo. Draw a large face on a paper plate. The face can be funny and should only be on one side. Show baby the face. Turn it over and show the baby the blank side. Turn it back over (from left to right) and say "Peek-a-boo! I see (baby's name)." as the face gradually comes into view.



This simple game is making baby aware of the front and the back of an object. Also baby's eyes follow the movement of the face, thus visually training them from left to right (reading skills at 3 months!)

This activity develops:
More awareness of a face
Awareness of the concepts front and back
Motivation by initiating a purpose for observing
Visual tracking left to right
Awareness of name
SMILES :)