Babies Driving Robots!

My dear friend Linda recently sent me a link to an article about "babies driving robots" of all things! Linda and I used to work together treating lymphedema patients and she recently took a position as a teacher assistant in the U of MN Physical Therapy Program. Currently she is teaching the Human Growth and Development class, and I have made her promise to forward her notes to me. Included in her first batch of notes was this article about researchers at the University of Delaware who have "outfitted kid-sized robots to provide mobility to children who are unable to fully explore the world on their own."

I was a bit skeptical when I first read the heading, but found it to be a fascinating concept after I read the article. As we all know, providing a stimulating environment for babies promotes brain development. When a child is limited to explore their surroundings due to mobility issues, they potentially miss exploration opportunities that "typical" children enjoy. This would include not only missed independent learning experiences, but also social interaction with peers.

“Infants with limited mobility play in one location while their peers or siblings go off on distant adventures all over the room or playground,” Galloway said. “With the robot, they become the center of attention because their classmates want to try it. We predict that this increased social interaction alone will provide an important boost in their cognitive development.”

Here is the link to the article: http://www.udel.edu/PR/UDaily/2008/nov/robot110907.html

*The little boy in the article is adorable!

Quick Update

Man, how do all the blogging moms out there do it? Everyday I think of something that I just MUST blog about, but it never reaches my blog! I have started a notebook where I jot down quotes, web addresses, articles, and ideas that I want to someday blog about....someday.

Quick update on Sylas: Had a speech eval last week. His therapist is passionate/informative/bright and I think she will be a great fit for Sylas (and me :)). She will be working on Sylas with feeding issues as well as early speech development. I asked about ideas to decrease the amount of cereal Sylas pushes out of his mouth during feeding. She suggested using the spoon to push down gently on his tongue, and then tip the spoon to the side and let the cereal fall off into the side of his mouth. This does seem to be working better, however, yesterday he started "sucking" on the cereal once it was in his mouth. It was like he was nursing but without the breast! I am guessing that this probably is not an effective way to eat cereal, so I am ready with yet another question for the therapist.

Cardiologist: We trekked over to the other side of the island for a visit with the cardiologist who comes to our island only once every 4 months. I was lucky enough to secure a spot for Sylas, and I guess I was expecting Sylas would have an echocardiogram or something time consuming. The doctor came in and asked how Sylas was doing, then proceeded to listen to his heart and lungs, said that everything sounded good, and that was that in less than 10 minutes! We need to follow up in 6 months.

Hairy no more

As you all know, Sylas was blessed with enough hair to share. Today on two separate occasions, I heard "Ooohhh, SHE is so cute!". Of course, I thought they were directing the compliment at me, but then reality set in hard and I realized they thought Sylas was a girl! Thank goodness Sam did not hear this, as he surely would have set them straight. Now Sylas was not even dressed in green, but a very boyish brown surfboard onsie. We determined it must be his long locks. Although I had previously thrown around the idea of cutting his hair, I just had not been able to do it. He was just a BABY, with baby hair, no need to cut baby hair! But I guess today would be the day. I put him on a towel, found the scissors and comb, took the "before" picture (see above), and then slowly started to trim. At least he was still smiling after....

Flying by at Five months

Sylas turned 5 months last week! These months have been flying by so quickly, I really can't describe how I feel about that. Happiness and excitement for all he has accomplished, love for his sweet smiles and giggles, anticipation for what lies ahead, desire to enjoy every moment and for time to slow down, hope that I am doing the best I can as a mom....I could go on and on. I look into Sylas' deep blue eyes and I smile while thinking about how lucky I am to have him.

You may be wondering what Sylas is up to these days. Well, let me tell you!

*He is smiling, laughing(I hope you saw my post on that), not just hee, hee laughing, but outright "I can't breath!" laughing.

*He seems to be taking in everything around him. He loves to listen to books, sister/brother talking to him, music, ect. He is amused by Sam/Sophie dance parties and when the dog licks his face (gross, I know). He is tolerable of going in the pool and always sleeps well after.

*His neck and trunk strength is making huge gains lately. When he holds up his head in sitting, he usually has a big smile on his face because he can see things from a different perspective and must like it. The picture is of Sylas in his stroller, I just recently changed it from the fully reclined position. Not a newborn anymore!

*He is still rolling over occasionally, but in the past few days he has been initiating it more on his own. He tries to propel himself forward when he is on his stomach by lifting up his bottom, but that heavy head just gets in the way!

*He is a LOUD talker! Every morning at 5am he wakes me up with his very loud "oohing, gooing, and ahhooing". I try to ignore it, but seriously, it is too disruptive to sleep through. Nursing him of course quiets him, but I do believe that is considered positive reinforcement. :)

Hmmm..I wonder what I will be posting for month 6?

Laugh With Me!

I was getting Sylas to belly laugh tonight, so I called in the kids to see. Sam said, "Let's get the video camera!". Here it is:

Shots and Smiles

Sylas and I made the unpleasant trip to the doctor a few days ago for immunizations. I squeezed in my monthly visit to Cosco and Walmart before the doctor appointment, so Sylas was probably ready to head home...poor thing! I was very anxious for the shots (you'd think I was getting them) because it is the hardest thing watching your sweet baby get unexpectedly stabbed in the thigh with a needle. He started to cry but as soon as I swept him up in my arms, he stopped. RELIEF! In the smiling picture of Sylas, you can see his little bandaid.

Yesterday, we volunteered to help http://www.9thlifehawaii.org/ with it's Spay/Neuter day. Everyone got up early and headed to the meeting spot. Sam and Sophie helped us load 20 cats from various owners into our van, then Brett made the hour trip up to the cat sanctuary. They were fixed, and following recovery they were reloaded and Brett drove them back. Let me tell you, this was quite the experience for Brett. About 400 cats (both feral and household pets) will be spay/neutered over 3-4 days. A generous vet donated his time, resulting in a huge impact on the island's crazy cat population!

School Days!

I should have posted this a LONG time ago, considering the kids started school mid-August. Things have been really busy, I know everyone is busy too, but goodness I really need to find more hours in the day. I need time to do blogging of course!!

The first day of school was a success. Sophie off to kindergarten and Sam to 2nd grade. Sophie pretty much pushed her way out of the car past Sam.

Sorry about the last post with my Smilebox slideshow. It takes forever to upload, I guess I won't be doing that again. I would still encourage you to try out the website, but use the email option.

Sam is 8!

The years go by so quickly, my first baby is now 8 years old. He was born 9/12/2001, the day after the traumatic event of 9/11. I will always remember the joy that we felt waking up that warm sunny morning of 9/11, so excited that this might finally be the day that we would be blessed with a baby. I had an appointment at the clinic to have my cervix "gelled" by my nurse midwife. I was overdue and anxious to get this huge baby out of me! She came into the treatment room and asked us if we had heard the terrible news. She then told us. We were of course shocked and after we left the clinic we had no idea what to do or feel. Many conflicting emotions. Souls leaving this world, a new one arriving.

As the day progressed, my labor did too. I checked into the hospital late afternoon and they broke my water. I was a bit worried about delivering on 9/11, so I tried to hold off until after midnight (I had absolutely no control over it, but I like to think that I did!). Sam arrived at 1:36am on Sept 12th. He was healthy and adorable. I remember one of his tiny ears being folded over. I also remember getting him dressed to go home, and I was hesitant to put him in his "going home" outfit. Prior to Sam's birth, we did not know what sex he was, so I had bought both a pink and blue outfit. The blue outfit had 4 little airplanes embroidered on the front of it. We had the TV on while we were gathering everything for the car ride home. Obviously all of the channels were showing nonstop footage from 9/11. I pulled out the blue outfit and noticed the airplanes...hmmm...airplanes. I was hoping not to appear insensitive, but it was the only outfit I had brought for him (other than the pink, of course). I put it on Sam and the hospital took a picture of him in it. Every time that I look at that picture I remember all of those who died that tragic day, and just what a blessing Sam is.

**Notice that Sam is attempting the "shaka" "hang loose" with his right hand. He must have known where we would end up.

I recently found this fun website called Smilebox, you can make slideshows, photocards, tons of stuff with your downloaded photos. I put a few pictures from our bday celebration together in a slideshow. We were so busy that day that we did not take too many pictures, but it was a great (exhausting) day!

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Make a Smilebox slideshow