New Phone For Mommy

I have joined the rest of the world and will be using the blogger app to update from my phone from now on!! Husband bought me the new iPhone 4s wooohooo and surprised me with it! Thank you honey! I love ya!

first giggle

This morning Emmy did her first giggle when I was talking to her and tickling her belly. Not a full out belly laugh but it was the cutest little giggle. Kim brought her home a green BeBe Pod last night. When we sit her in it she just tilts to one side or the other a bit so I think in a week or so she should be able to sit up in it like a big girl with no problems! Has anyone tried using the bebe pod in the bathtub? I'm interested in knowing if it works good or if it kinda wants to float and not be secure. Of course you never leave a baby unattended in the bath....duh, but I think it could make bath time splashes alot of fun!

BABY'S FIRST SEAT - The ultimate in infant positioning and support!
An essential tool for babies learning to sit.

Baby’s own body weight helps ensure a safe and comfortable seating position without the need for uncomfortable straps. Lightweight, durable, non-toxic, and easy to wipe clean. Available in three colors.

Revolutionary infant chair is designed to fit a baby’s posture; once babies have head control, they can sit upright in the chair

Helps develop trunk control they need to sit up on their own; gives you more interaction with your child

No uncomfortable straps or fasteners; designed so baby’s own weight keeps him or her in place

Recommended by pediatricians, orthopedists and physical therapists

Ergonomic design provides optimal support in helping baby learn to sit

Helps ensure Baby is comfortable and secure

Non-toxic & easy to Clean

3 mth - 14 mth

4kg - 10kg (9lbs - 22lbs)

signing time

Just wanted to share this with all you wonderful mommy's! When we were pregnant with Emmy we got the Signing Time DVDs 1-3. I have begun to show volume one to Emmy now and again. I'm not too sure how much she's getting from it but persistence is key, right? We gave them to our niece Bethany as well and she started watching them at age 13 months old and a week into it she was signing for 'food' and 'more'! How exciting! I first learnt about baby signing when I worked with a woman who's 2 1/2 year old was shyly refusing to talk and she was having speech therapy and part of it was learning American Sign Language so she could communicate her needs better. Of course she learned the signs and used them but what I was amazed at was her little sister who was 8-9 months old was sitting in on the sessions with mom and sister and was just exposed to it but was not being direct taught and she started signing at home without being asked to sign. How amazing!! Babies are so smart and really know and understand more than we give them credit for. Go HERE for a video on the importance and research of Baby Sign Language.



Here's a baby that is super good at signing!




Here's the link for the Signing Time DVD Website!

Here's a baby that has been giving all the language tools from birth and she's amazing! With both parents being speech pathologist they knew the importance of offering alternative was to communicate and used sign language along with reading to their child. She's 17 months old and can talk well and READ!! How cool!





Today I dug out all of Emmy's books that her grandma Betsy got for her and put them in a basket beside our rocking chair. We're going to read her a book every time she has a bottle. I would be thrilled if she could read at 17 months and I don't see why she couldn't. She's already one smart cookie.... she picked Kim and I for parents didn't she?!?

dunstan baby language

I just wanted to share the Dunstan Baby Language System that my sister in law shared with me. I completely believe this system has had a huge impact on how happy Emmy is. It gave us the tools and the understanding to look for the sounds and take care of the issue before she had to cry about it. Emmy didn't have her first real cry until she was 2 weeks old and that was because we upset her by inking her footprints into her baby book ha... poor thing! Below is a video that gives a brief description of what the system is all about. It's worth buying the DVD and then passing it on to another mother when you're done with it. Knowledge is power but only when applied and this definitely helps make confident powerful parents!

great products

I'm in love with the Happy Baby Steam'n Go Soother! It' s nice and flat on the side that sits against Emmy's face so it doesn't leave her with silly clown lines around her mouth and it looks like it's much more comfortable for her when I have her slinged against my chest, and it's also a better fit up against me too. The even neater feature of this binkie is that it comes in it's own microwave sterilizer carry case all in one. This is definitely a must have!


I think I'm gonna start a list on the right had side of my favorite products as suggestions for all you new mommy's out there. If there's anything that you have found that works great please let me know!

emmy is now BHA Free

After my mom sent us some information about BHA Kim and I have decided to switch to Glass Bottles. If you are here in Australia we found a great online source for them at a good price at Payless Chemists. The bottles were only $2.95 a piece for 240 ml compared to NUK brand for $11.95 a piece and if you recommend 3 friends you get free shipping. Can't beat it!

We Love the Happy Baby Glass Bottles!

Parents Concerned Over Potentially Toxic Baby Bottles

Report Stokes Parents' Fears About Potentially Dangerous Bottles

By GIGI STONE

Feb. 7, 2008—

Over the summer, it was lead paint in toys that had parents on edge. Then, the recall of 1 million cribs raised further red flags. Today, baby bottles may stoke even more concern among stressed-out parents.

Click here for a guide on how to find a plastic-free baby bottle.

Click here for a environmental, health and safety information about bisphenol A (BPA).

Read more about BPA and other potentially dangerous chemicals here.

"It's just so heartbreaking for moms," says Mary Tyler Johnston, a new mother who lives in Manhattan, "to have to worry about these things, and to feel like you might be harming your child."

Dozens of environmental health organizations in the United States and Canada are calling for an immediate moratorium on the use of a chemical, bisphenol A  or BPA  in food and beverage containers, including baby bottles. They say a new study found that, when exposed to heat, baby bottles release a chemical that, researchers say, has been linked to obesity, diabetes and developmental problems in lab animals.

Some say the jury is still out on the risk of BPA.

Click here to read about some parents who are playing it safe with glass bottles.

"When bottles are used extensively over time, and when they're heated, higher levels of this chemical leach out, exposing young infants to elevated levels of this unnecessary toxic chemical," says Mike Shaade at the Center for Health Environment and Justice.

BPA is used to make plastic in 95 percent of baby bottles now on the market. But it is up for debate whether it is harmful or not.

"Polycarbonate plastic baby bottles have been safely used for decades, says Steve Hentges of the American Chemical Council. "There's an extraordinary amount of science that supports the safety of those products."

The Food and Drug Administration, which approved the bottles, agrees and says it is "reviewing BPA's safety," and maintains that its "adverse effects occur in animals only when they are exposed to far higher levels of the chemical than possible from a baby bottle."

BPA is already in most of us: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found BPA in the urine of 95 percent of people it tested.

Dr. Maida Galvez is a pediatrician at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, who studies whether traces of BPA found in children's urine is harmful to them.

Click here for some tips on how you can avoid ingesting BPA.

"We know the animal studies raise concerns, but there aren't human studies showing effects yet ... so, when we don't have the evidence, what we recommend is that parents try to err on the side of caution," she says.

Galvez recommends parents consider the use of glass bottles, or bottles that are advertised as BPA-free.

Already this year, nine states have introduced laws to limit the use of BPA in containers. Suzanne Steward is a new mother who uses them.

"As adults, we can take a few licks, but a small body is something you want to be very careful with, and I just want to take every precaution I can within reason," says Steward.

It's a struggle for so many parents who are trying to make the right choices to keep their children safe.

Copyright © 2008 ABC News Internet Ventures

breastfeeding

I've had a few of you asking me how the breastfeeding is going and I must say it's not going like I thought it would. When Emmy was first born she actively attempted to suckle and did so for an hour or so. That first night we spent together she just wanted to sleep but the midwife had me try and feed her at midnight, 2 am, 4 am, 6am and they kept an eye on her blood sugar since I had the GDM. She went down to 2.8 which is the lowest in the normal range they wanted her to go, so we then gave her some formula. We tried all day, the following night, and the next day to get her to latch on but she makes a tiny attempt and then falls asleep. She's really too tiny and too lazy to take on my amazon sized nips. So I started out with a manual breast pump and felt pretty hopeless that I was ever going to be able to pump enough to keep her on all breast milk regardless if it's bottle fed. Kim being the awesome husband and daddy that he is went out and bought me the Ameda Purely Yours Dual Breast Pump.



I now am pumping every 3 hours to try and keep up with her demand and also to encourage my milk to fully come in.... I'm feeling like a Jersey Milk Cow.. MooOOoOOoO! Our hope is that she'll get a bit bigger and she'll want to latch on. She tries, but it's just not clicked yet.