Babies and Comedy

What do you do to make yourself laugh? What do you do to make your baby laugh? Life really is all about being happy. For me that is, and I hope for you also. I know this is not true for everyone. And a big part of being happy is laughing. So I say, but I could be wrong.

I hope to die with a smile on my face while doing a big belly laugh. I mean it has got to happen (dying that is), so why not be laughing when it does.

You are probably wondering, "What does this have to do with me, and my baby."

This whole "being happy thing" starts early. Being happy starts when you are a baby, I think. So get your baby started laughing early. Beat the rush. 8)

My mother-in-law always said that our daughter was a happy baby. I had never thought about it until she came into our lives. Our daughter that is, the mother-in-law is a lovely lady and she often makes me laugh too. And as our daughter has grown into a young lady I have noticed that she is a happy person, like my brother (and like me). She smiles for no reason and loves to laugh. And I love to hear her laugh. It is infectious, her laughter makes me want to laugh too.

Cultivating a sense of happiness and laughter in your baby, will serve you well later when you are old and jaded like me. You will have this young vibrant happy person to make you laugh.

So in today's post I just want to remind you to laugh, and make your baby laugh.

Here is the site of a baby who is going to be a comedian when she grows up. Baby Pinja, man she is a cutie. I hope she makes it with some of those tough crowds that are out there.

Of course when I think of babies and laughing I think of toys. One of the things that made our daughter laugh the hardest was when I would take out the pots and pans and let her bang on them with a wooden spoon. You may not want to do that, but I think the best ways to get your baby to laugh is to use what ever comes natural for your child to laugh at.

My wife and I have many stories of our daughter spending more time playing with the box than the toy (the memory of that makes me laugh). I tried to be the parent who would get down there on the floor and play with the boxes too. My wife usually laughed at us both.

So to wrap this up, enjoy your baby, and laugh with them. Laugh at them and let them laugh at you. It is time well spent.

File this under;
laughter
baby

Research Tools For Parents

One of the coolest gadgets that you have and use is your computer. Not only can this tool help you in more ways than I can describe (new ones are being created everyday) but it can be an indispensable tool in helping you find needed information for your children. Baby care, toys, clothes, breast feeding, parenting, baby names, medical advice, info for Dads, it is all there and so much more. You just have to know where to look.

And in today's post I want to show you a couple of ways to use your computer to find information about babies and other parenting issues that might arise. You can use the links that I will provide to find all kinds of info.

One of my favorite sites to search for things is called Del.icio.us it is a social networking site among other things. It allows you to keep all your links to information on the internet in one place and to share them with others. It is the sharing that makes this site so powerful. You can share your links between your work and home computers for instance. This way you have your list of favorites readily available at all times.

And you can do what I am doing in this article you can share your links with your friends and family;

For example, if you click on this link

Fitzgerald's Del.icio.us Baby Links

You can see many of the links I use to do research for this blog.

The really cool thing about the link above is that it is also easy to remember if you type del.icio.us/kfitzgerald/baby you will be taken to this link. And if you know the user name of anyone that has a delicious account you just type delicious and their username and then you can see their links. Very simple and very powerful.

The next feature of delicious that I really like is the tag feature. All links in delicious have tags associated with them and if you want to see information on a certain topic, all you have to do is type del.icio.us/tag/baby

http://del.icio.us/tag/baby Delicious tag for baby.

http://del.icio.us/tag/parenting Delicious tag for parenting.

http://del.icio.us/tag/preganacy Delicious tag for pregnancy.

The links above actually go to technorati which I cover below. I include them just to tag this post.

And I could go on, but you get the idea just enter a word that you want to know something about after "tag/" and you will be presented links to web pages about that tag.

Another nice tool is Technorati. Like Delicious it has tags and these tags lead to some very interesting blogs.

The format of technorati tags is;

http://www.technorati.com/tag/baby

And to ad tags to your own blog you use this format;

< href="http://technorati.com/tag/[tagname]" rel="tag">[tagname]< /a >

http://www.technorati.com/tag/baby#taglink

Well I hope that this brief introduction to delicious and technorati shows you a few of the possibilites that are open to a parent who knows how to use the internet to research topics of interest.

Some Recent Trends in Baby Gear

Transitional Baby Products

According to the trend watchers out there on the net. One big trend this season are products that can grow with your baby's needs and interests as she develops. Theses products feature several activities that teach letters, numbers, and colors, as well as small motor development. These products help with all your childs learning activities for beginning stages, from their sitting and crawling stage to cruising and standing.

Examples;
Baby Einstein Play Gym
Baby Einstein Play Gym

• Soft, padded mat featuring animal friends in bold colors


• Padded bars are removable


• Teether, toys, mirror and cushy book engage Baby


• Activity Star features lights and music by Bach and Beethoven


• Machine wash

Tot Wheels Activity Center
Tot Wheels Activity Center

• Well-designed and versatile "lowchair".


• For babies in the 6- to 18-month range.


• Three rubber feet around the square base help keep the chair motionless.


• There's a tray for meals and games.


• Complete with a see-through panel.


• Attachable electronic activity center.


• Has a mirror, lights, steering wheel, and sound effects.


• Washable cloth seat snaps on and off.


• Height is adjustable. Adult assembly and two AA batteries required.

Table Topper - ABC - with crayons
Table Topper - ABC - with crayons

• Conveniently portable place mats for on-the-go parents.


• Available in tamper-evident zip-lock packs of 20 mats.


• A new diaper bag essential!


• Wonderful designs that are fun and educational.

Thumb Sucking - My thoughts.

I have been wanting to write something about thumb sucking because it is a habit that seems to run in my family. On my wife's side her niece sucked her thumb and our daughter sucked her thumb. I have to admit that I don't think that I handled this properly. We had several dental attachments made by our daughters dentist with the hopes that this would stop her, but it did not.

So in today's post, I want to give some advice on this problem, but admit that it was probably me who needed to change.

So why do kids suck there thumbs anyway?

Small children suck their thumbs because it makes them feel good. It is that simple, it's comforting and calming. Many of us probably practiced this habit while we were in the womb and some go on to make it a full blown habit as infants. When your child is bored, scared, sick, tired, or just not having a good day he or she may find comfort in sucking her thumb. I seem to remember it was occasions like when our daughter went to preschool and even when she was playing a game that she found challenging that she would suck her thumb. Watching TV could even be a trigger. She would often times suck her thumb while sleeping. And I imagine that it would bring her comfort when she woke up sometimes in the middle of the night.

At least that is what my reading on the subject leads me to believe, but I know it did comfort her.

Now what can you do to stop it.

I truly wish that when I was younger and our daughter was smaller I had not worried about it so much. Because none of my fears came to be true. She did not damage her teeth, which I had always figured that she would. Her dentist kept a close watch on what was happening and as I mentioned we had attachments to stop her from sucking her thumb place in her mouth.

But according the American Dental Association until your kids permanent teeth appear which is around 5 years or so, you should not worry so much. For one thing all children do not suck there thumbs the same way. Some place there thumbs against the roof of their mouths and others do not. Some do not put the whole thumb in, while other kids get as much of their hand in there as they can. I had a childhood friend who, did not suck his thumb, he actually sucked both his index finger and his middle finger. Strange but true. I mention this to point out that all kids are different, and it is really the intensity of the sucking and the tongue's thrust that deforms teeth and makes it necessary for your kid to wear braces. Our dentist told us that our daughter was putting her thumb in her mouth in a passive way but recommended that we use the attachment anyway.

If I had it to do all over again, I probably would not have nagged or punished our daughter for her thumb sucking, because I now realize that she may not have really known when she was sucking her thumb. And as I said there were other children in our family who sucked their thumbs. I think that our trying to get her to stop, may have made her want to do it more. But the really sad thing about trying to get your kid to stop sucking their thumbs is that they do it for comfort and security and it is difficult for most parents to deny this to their kids.

According to pediatrician Suzanne Dixon who was quoted in an online story about thumb sucking, you could try to wait it out. Your child will probably give up thumb sucking when they've found other ways to calm and comfort themselves. Small children may suck their thumbs when they are hungry, but an older kid my know other ways of getting food, like asking mommy or daddy, or even opening the refrigerator and looking for a snack.

Another method to minimize thumb sucking is to figure out when your kid is mostly likely to suck their thumbs and try to preempting it with some other activity. I know that this is easier said then done, but for example if your child sucks her thumb while watching television, you may want to give her a toy that can keep her hands occupied. If you child sucks his thumb when he is tired then it might be easier to give him more naps. The main point of this is to notice when the thumb sucking happens and then diverting your child's attention by offering an alternative.

And finally except that your kid does this and will hopefully outgrow it. That seems to me to be the most healthy attitude to take. Again, I came to this mind set after our daughter became older.

Tips for Newborns from MSN

MSN Family offers the following list of tips for the first days of your new borns life. These tips are great for new parents or for those who advise them.

Your Newborn: 30 Tips for the First 30 Days

Some Tips and Links for Parents.

A group of interesting links that parents can use;

The Baby Name Wizard's Name Voyager - This is a very interesting tool to look at the popularity of baby names over time.

ipod my baby - A cute little suite for the modern gadget baby.

Talk To the Hand; Teaching Your Baby Sign Language - An interesting look at the benifiets of teaching your baby

Sleep and Settling Strategies For Babies - An often needed list of tips to help your baby sleep. Which means you will also get more sleep.

Interesting article from MSN: 7 Pregnancy Myths Exposed

On the front page of MSN.com was an article that many mothers will find interesting. 7 Pregnancy Myths Exposed

I found this interesting because I had not heard all these myths. Check it out.