October 28, 2008
· Filed under Baby stuff, Product Reviews, Uncategorized · Tagged ASL, baby shower present, baby sign language, Dr. Garcia, produce review
Our family decided several months ago to introduce sign language to our baby and we are so glad we did. She just celebrated her first birthday and is signing like crazy, showing us signs for ‘nurse’ ‘more’ ’eat’ ‘all done’ ‘daddy’ and ‘mommy’ (which she also says). We think she’s even given us signs for ’sleep’ and ’bath.’
DB was about eight months old when we first introduced signs to her, and it has been a fun and exciting process. She returned her first sign within about two weeks! We used the “Sign With Your Baby” book and DVD set by Dr. Joseph Garcia. It was VERY easy to do and we learned the signs right along with her. Dr. Garcia’s method, which is based on ASL (American Sign Language) encourages you to start out with a few of the most common and easy signs for a baby — eat, more and nurse or bottle. By doing this gradually, parents don’t need to have a sign language cram session or become experts. You learn right along with your baby, a few signs at a time. We were surprised at how quickly DB learned to repeat the sign for more and nurse. And if you’re worried about whether signing delays spoken language, Dr. Garcia addresses this concern in his book. He states that “A considerable amount of research supports the fact that children exposed to several languages early in life achieve higher levels of language competency later on.” And, he cites research indicating that babies who use signs learned to talk more readily than their non-signing counterparts.
We have “living” research right on our own cul de sac. We heard about baby sign language from two of our neighbors who used it with their children. Both families having young children who learned signing as infants and who talk just fine and spoke right on time. The selling point for us was the idea that giving DB a way to communicate with us before she had spoken language would ease the frustration that all babies feel when they can’t communicate their wants and needs. Plus, our older children are so excited when they also can understand what she is trying to communicate.
Even more exciting is to watch DB apply the signs we’ve given her to use in one situation (such as ‘more’ for more food) to another situation. A few weeks ago, DH was letting DB pull the cord to our ceiling fan and light, and she was delighted to see the light go on and off. When Daddy set her down to continue folding laundry, she gave him the ‘more’ sign and pointed to the light. Of course, DH reinforced the behavior and endulged her for several more minutes with the ceiling fan. Since then, she’s used ‘more’ in several additional situations. It’s adorable.
I’m obviously endorsing this process. And I’ll add that I think Dr. Garcia’s signing “kit” would make a great baby shower present. Additional resources from Dr. Garcia (such as a Yahoo group, news clips and even a clip from the movie “Meet the Fockers” in which baby Jack uses his sign language to communicate) are available here.
October 24, 2008
· Filed under Baby stuff, Uncategorized · Tagged baby pictures, baby's first birthday
Where has the time gone? I swore I’d cherish every moment, and I really did my best to keep that promise, being the older, wiser mom who knew perfectly well just how fast it would go.
Of course, this baby made it easy. She sleeps 11-13 hours a night. She naps every afternoon for 1 1/2 to 3 hours. She smiles ALL the time. She cries if she’s hungry, or hurt, or really tired. Lately, she’ll cry alligator tears if you block her way when she’s trying to get into something. But if she’s crying and it’s not hunger, sleepiness, an “owie” or a roadblock, the nwe KNOW something is wrong. She just doesn’t fuss or cry for no reason. She also has been extremely healthy — one real fever in 12 months and three minor colds that lasted a few days and didn’t result in those croupy coughs that my other two suffered from so often.
Okay. I should stop bragging. I bet there are sleep-deprived parents out there who would string me up if they happened across this post. Back to my bitter-sweet day. It’s all about me, of course, even though it’s her birthday. 
We had her pictures taken today at Portrait Innovations. That place is AMAZING. I’ve had all her pictures done there this year and I’ve never been unhappy. One time, we had to wait a long time (but it was a Saturday). I learned my lesson and we only go during the week now. The prices are more than fair and the pictures have been awesome, as you can see herein.
I was way better about writing letters to my first two children, although I have managed to keep up with DB’s scrapbook. Here’s a quick “letter” post for her:
Sweetheart — Mommy loves you more than words can say. I am enjoying making memories with you everyday. You are a treasure to your Dad, sister, brother and I. We can’t wait to see the big things you discover as you enter your second year of life. Your smile lights up our world. Happy first birthday.
Love,
Mommy
October 23, 2008
· Filed under Work · Tagged freelance writer, marketing
Probably the best advice I’ve ever received regarding marketing myself as a writer was to make sure that I share with my clients the nature of the work about which I am passionate.
It’s easy — especially when you’re desperate for work — to present yourself as passionate about whatever work a given client or editor is seeking. But I’ve found that clients and editors appreciate knowing what you LOVE to do. I returned to my freelance life as a writer and communications consultant about one year ago (I freelanced for about 10 years, then returned to the work force for two years, and am now back to freelancing). This time around, I’m admitting a few things to my clients and editors up front: I prefer writing work over media relations (although I’m good at media relations and will do media relations). I enjoy engaging in internal communications strategic planning and writing for my clients’ internal communications channels. I LOVE writing for newspapers and magazines, although the pay doesn’t compete with my corporate work.
Although I accept and enjoy lots of projects outside of my “passion” areas, I find now that I get to do more work in my “passion” areas because I’ve been more forthcoming about those passions. If you’re seeking a freelance writer or communications consultant, check out my Web site at www.michellemcox.com.
October 22, 2008
· Filed under Uncategorized
I’ve got five whole minutes before I have to leave the house to attend a meeting with a client, but I just had to share this adorable picture. My baby was a much smaller “pumpkin” this time last year.
She looked so cute I had to take her shopping. She got lots of attention.
October 18, 2008
· Filed under Older children, Swimming · Tagged Blueseventy, high-tech swimsuits, Ozark swimming, Swimming, USA swimming
Ozark Swimming, our swim club’s Local Swim Committee or LSC, voted today to adopt the same rules regarding high-tech swimsuits (aka Speedo LZR, Blueseventy) as USA Swimming. Here is the wording that was adopted by USA Swimming at the 2008 House of Delegates:
Swimsuits worn for all 12 & under age group defined competition shall not cover the neck, extend past he shoulder, nor past the knee.
You can read this new rule, as well as all the other legislation passed by the USA Swimming 2008 House of Delegates last month here. (Insomniacs, this is a potential cure).
I’m pleased by Ozark Swimming’s decision. It supports the restrictions adopted by USA Swimming, but it leaves room for older swimmers to wear these suits. My 13-year-old daughter wore one of these suits at a competition in August, when no rules had been adopted and FINA, the international governing body of swimming, had approved the suits for competition. We were reassured that she hadn’t broken any rules, since our LSC had yet to comment on or vote on the suits. But now that our LSC has ruled on the suits, it turns out she would’ve been within their regulations either way. I wrote about the “controversy” here. I’m glad it’s over.
October 14, 2008
· Filed under Baby stuff, Nursing, Uncategorized · Tagged baby, sleeping
My baby is less than two weeks from her first birthday. She’s very busy these days — crawling, playing, babbling, pulling up, taking a few tentative steps, laughing, exploring, getting into cabinets and drawers, reaching for outlets, pushing buttons . . . the list goes on and on. She seldom has time to sit still in my lap. She is almost never cradled in my arms unless she’s nursing, and she is doing that less and less. But today, she nursed herself to sleep in my arms for a brief, unexpected nap.
It was so sweet. I tried to take it all in. The pink of her parted lips. The quiver of her tongue that was still doing its part of the nursing motion. Her warm breath that I thought was coming from her open mouth, but then realized she was nose-breathing. The small capillaries in her eyelids just above her lash line. The wisps of her pretty red hair that is growing long enough now to curl over the ribbon that I constantly have tied around head. The length of her completely relaxed legs that are so much cuter for those fat little feet at the end. The rise and fall of that “turtle belly” that hangs over her diaper. The sharp fingernails that are always too long because she hates having them trimmed.
It’s gone too fast. It’s going too fast. I’m so glad we did it. She’s made our family complete.
October 8, 2008
· Filed under Baby stuff, Work · Tagged child care, stay-at-home mom, work-at-home, YMCA
As a stay-at-home mom who is also a freelance writer (see my Web site), I am always looking for creative ways to get my work done without having to put my DB in daycare. Sometimes, I hire a nanny to come to my home for a few hours here and there to meet a deadline. Sometimes, I work while DB naps in the afternoon and after she goes to bed at night. Sometimes, I work when my husband gets home, since he’s home most afternoons. Sometimes, I combine all of these approaches.
But this week, I found yet another, albeit limited, option — my wonderful YMCA!! At my Y, childcare is included in the cost of membership. I work out most days, either with DB in a jogging stroller, or on the treadmill while she’s at the Y nursery. But I just found out my YMCA is WIRELESS! Whoo hoo! And I can put DB in the nursery for up to two hours as long as I’m on the property. So, yesterday and today, I did a 4-mile run on the treadmill, then fired up my laptop and got some work done. In all, DB was in the nursery for about 90 minutes. It was a perfect system. She likes the nursery. I can see her. She gets some socializing time, which is good since she doesn’t have any siblings who are close in age. And I got a jump on my afternoon work by checking and answering emails.
The email thing worked great. And I think doing some writing would work. But today, I made the mistake of doing a phone call with one of my clients while there. The place was quiet when I initiated the call. But before I was done, some kind of kiddie gym class began and all the moms with youngins were surrounding me and making me appear very unprofessional to my client. My bad. That’s what the Y is for, and I cannot expect it to be a quiet-client-calling-atmosphere. So, I’ll probably have to limit my work to the kind done electronically. That’s okay. I’m excited to have found another option.
Anybody else out there found other child care solutions for work-at-home situations?
