Of fishes and kids

This past Saturday we took Oath and L, our nephew, on a day trip that ended up being our first sleep-over. Hooray! 

Oath and L spend many afternoons together at my in-law's, and they are best friends as well as cousins. They love each other dearly and are always asking for each other's whereabouts. So, when it was L's 5th birthday last month, we decided we'd give him something more meaningful than a toy or some soccer-related stuff (which is his favorite thing ever): we would gift our time and Oath's presence, and take them both to the Aquarium.

The day, rainy and grey as it was, started later than we wanted for several reasons, and plans had to change a bit, but we all rolled with it. In the end, we picked L up at late in the morning and had lunch at my in-law's, where Oath had spent the night (there's been quite a lot of plan-changing, this weekend!). After lunch, we got in the car and off to see fishes we went!

They were very well behaved most of the time, and even if Oath kept having meltdowns for one reason or another (we still haven't worked out why, but my guess is he was too excited about the whole thing), L weathered his cousin's tantrums like a pro. The time we were in the Aquarium, though, they had so much fun they forgot about it all and kept laughing, pointing and squealing all the time. We have some videos and they are just like two caffeinated chipmunks, going from one tank to the other and gasping in delight at every new animal they saw.

Honestly, I had a blast too. I expected something much smaller, having been to some pretty huge aquariums in my life, but was pleasantly surprised. From sturgeons to turtles, all through sharks, nautilus, and penguins, there was plenty to be seen. They loved the sea-horses and the big shark tank where turtles bigger than them seemed to wave us hello. I was in awe at the shark eggs, where you could clearly see the tiny shark-embryos moving around, and the jellyfish in their blue-lit tank. Partner unexpectedly got all attached to each and every kind of starfish there, and it was so cute!

But the big hit? The big hit were the otters. Sadly, they were too sad for my photographer abilities, so all I've got is a bunch of pictures of a big blur of fur and bubbles. Oops!

Once we were back home they also had a blast playing and turning Oath's room upside down while we adults laid down to rest for a bit. I take my hat off at the parents of two closely aged kids: managing a 5 and a 3.5 year old just for an evening was exhausting!

There were pancakes for dinner and strawberries with milk for dessert, three books before bed and giggles up until nearly midnight.

All in all, it was a blast!

Oath's mom

Life goes on

How are you all doing?

Here, life has been hectic. Exams, cleaning that didn't get done, colds, teething, new crafts... Off-line life has been so intense, so packed of activities and worries, that I haven't been able to add yet another thing (blogging) to it.
Now that it is slowly coming back to normal, I hope I can come back and keep posting: blogging keeps me accountable, it keeps me doing things, be they part of our much needed routine of new activities that look worth trying. I can promise, though, because this summer seems to come with plenty of stress and hardly any quiet time.

Whatever happens, though, I'll check in every once in a while to see how you're all doing, and to tell you we're still alive!

Oath's Mom

10 activities you can do with your baby

So, you are a motivated parent that want to help your baby learn... but you don't really know how. That little being is so little! There are many doubts that can come to your mind, but the most usual one is a literal "What can I do?". This is not a school aged kid that you can teach the science behind baking some muffins, nor a toddler who you can play ball with. No maths, no reading, no running or walking or even crawling (some rolling, maybe), no talking. What can you do, educationally talking, with a kid that age? There doesn't look like there's much, does it?

But the truth is that train of thought is wrong. 

You can do everything. With minds that young, everything is an educational experience. Breathing, eating, listening, watching... all those things they've never experienced before are things your baby learns from. It will never be so easy to plan an educative activity for your little one.

Want some ideas?

1. Give her different foods to eat. Even something so simple as a sip of water can be mindblowing for a newborn and, lets be honest, we're probably talking more about 6 months olds than newborns here, so no need to stick only to water. Of course, follow always your doctor's advice, but some drops of clear, pure water (boiled or bottled, so there are no nasty bugs at all) won't do any harm.
2. Help him smell flowers, herbs, a perfume... No need to go all fancy here either: when you are cooking pass the oregano close to his nose, let him smell a rose when you come close to one, wear a soft perfume while cuddling him... anything will do. If you want to plan it a bit more, search contrasting smells: minty, sweet, flowery, spicy, soft and strong, good and bad: you can let him smell a clove of garlic first and then a lavender sachet, and see if he reacts differently.
3. Tickles! Soft feathery tickles for the younger ones, closer to a massage than anything else; giggle inducing tickles for an older baby. Kiss the palms of her hands, gently scratch the soles of his feet, pass a lock of your hair through her face. Oath loves it when I try to eat his chin!
4. Sing songs, and not only nursery rhymes: your favorite song, some mindless humming, a childhood favorite... the more varied the better. Sing some loud and others whispering, some more monotonous and others in full tune. And do not be afraid to get it wrong! Your baby loves your voice and it's different inflections, and doesn't care if you miss a note or got the words wrong.
5. While we're talking about music, we shouldn't forget dancing. Dance in front of your baby, so he can see you, and dance with your baby. Different tunes, so he gets to experience the simpler rhythm of a vals and the not so rhythmic bouncing around you do when you're just being silly.
6. Show her some simple colorful figures or things. A red ball, a yellow flower, a striped jacket... look for bold colors in big blocks at first (red, black and white are a good starting point) and get her attention to subtler things when she's older. Extra points if you tell her out loud what she's looking at (lots of "Look! There's a lamplight down there, Oath, isn't it pretty? And the green of all those leaves makes you happy, doesn't it?" have been heard a lot around here while looking through the window)
7. Sensory books are a whole world worth's experiencing. You get the whole package with many of them: colors, shapes, sounds, textures... even smells! And a book is a great toy to get your baby used to.
8. Lap games, as in games you play with the baby sitting (or laying) on your lap. Bouncing him up and down are the most common ones, but there are many others, popular in different countries. The one Oath loves more is to grab my hands, lean close to my face and then throw himself back until he's upside down, giggling.
9. And, of course, reading! We covered that in another post, already, so you can go here for more details.
10. Last but not least, a complete sensory experience that many kids love: bathtime. The warm water, the trickling sounds, splashing, soap bubbles and soap smell... and all the cute toys you can toss in the bathtub to play with!

Those are only 10 of the many that have come to my mind today. I'm sure you can find many more that you are already doing with your little one! Remember, anything can be a learning experience for them, so do not be afraid to show them new things!

 Oath's mom

10 things you can do to teach your baby to read

What do you say? That babies do not read?

Well, then. You are right. Not even the most intelligent babies can read, just the same as they can't perfectly understand cultural customs or follow pedestrian laws.

But babies can learn to want to read. And that, my friends, is the biggest step towards learning to read. But how do you make a baby want to read? With older kids and toddlers, it seems difficult (even though it doesn't have to be), but doable. But a baby? Isn't it too soon to try to teach them.

The answer is yes (it's an age to learn, not to be taught) and no (but babies learn through imitation, and it is never too soon to introduce them to good behaviors, like reading). You can kindle your kid's curiosity towards reading as soon as he starts getting interested in things. How? Try these:

1. Read. Who does your baby look up to to learn new things? He learns to smile when you react to his smile smiling back; she learns to talk when you respond to his babble. The things you eat, he wants to try... the books you read, she wants to read too. Let your baby see you read: maybe a novel, a magazine, a letter... Let it become part of what he usually sees you doing, and soon he'll want to do it too.
2. Read to him/her. Even when she doesn't show much interest, read her aloud one short baby book, some fragment of what you are reading, some verses of the Bible/Quran/your religious book of choice (if you are religious). Maybe just sit with a picture book and explain her what she can see on every page. It doesn't need to be for long.
3. Have books on display. While it isn't as important as #1 or #2, seeing books around will help your kid see them as something normal, usual, a part of daily life.
4. Let her/him play with books. Of course, keep the most fragile ones, the ones you want to keep perfect away from his grasp, but let him play with the others. He will bite them, try to tear the pages, drool all over the covers... Gently stop him breaking them, show him how to turn the pages (even if he won't learn for a long time), how to treat with respect the written words. And do not worry if he keeps trying to eat them: it's his way to show he's interested!
5. Set a book-reading time. With Oath, we read before bedtime. After the bath, I put him in his crib and sit on the bed by his side. I give him one or two of his baby books for him to explore and I grab a book for me (a novel, or one of my university text books if an exam is coming up). I read while he plays, and every once in a while I help him turn a page, read a bit to him or show him the colorful pictures. When it's clear he's tired of it, he nurses and goes to sleep, but every day we have our reading time together, and he seems to like it more and more every time.
6. Go to the library or the bookstore, let her "choose" some books to read. At first she will be drawn only to the colors, but as she grows older your baby will learn new ways to choose: big books or small ones, books with animals on the cover or books with real photos... Also, she will get used to going there, and you can forge a habit that will last for life.
7. Change things up in his baby library. Have different kinds of books (albums, photo books, plastic inflatable ones for the bathtub, cloth ones...) and rotate from the beginning, so your baby does not get tired of always seeing the same, or overwhelmed because he has too many to choose from. Bringing back an old favorite, or adding a new one, can spark his curiosity again.
8. Show him older siblings/cousins/friends reading. Kids like to copy other kids, so if there's an older sibling reading the baby is more likely to want to try it.
9. Read some more. Because you can never read too much around a child and it's the way of sparkling their interest. And it's also good for you!
10. Never force reading, or a book, on him/her. Does that one need explaining? Babies are stubborn, and they change their minds a lot. What they love today, they won't want to have anything to do with tomorrow, so breathe deep and go with the flow.

Have I missed something? What would you do to encourage your baby to love books?

Oath's mom

Oath's first treasure basket

Do you remember my last (and completely unrelated to anything) 10 things... list? I managed to achieve 5 out of 10 (numbers 1, 2, 6, 8 and 10), so it wasn't that bad, but not a huge success either. But I'm not here today to talk about this. I am here to talk about number 1. Do you remember number 1?

1. Start a treasure basket for Oath.

A treasure basket is a basket (duh!) or other open container full of baby-safe things, interesting for their colors, textures, materials, sizes... They can have an ongoing theme (nature baskets, made only with things directly out of nature, like rocks, leaves, shells, pinecones... for example) or not, and depending on the items they are suitable for babies up to 2 years old (or more, as everything, it depends on the kid!). As soon as they can sit unassisted they are ready for treasure baskets.

Oath has been sitting unassisted for a while now, but Christmas and the exams period got in my way and I didn't start the basket until late January. But once I started, it was so fast! First, I got the basket:

I plan on changing it as soon as I get my hands on some multicolored balls of chunky yarn. This one if wooden and not of the best quality, so I am afraid it can break if Oath gets rough, and don't want to risk it. For now it works, with the cloth lining and under my constant supervision, but I hope I can crochet a new, rainbow-y basket, soon and change it.

All the things I put in I already had around. There is:

• A natural sponge
• A plasticky fake lottery ticket
• A black small bag
• One of his spoons
• A wooden spoon
• A button bracelet
• A red crocheted bin
• A plastic telephone with a bell inside
• Two metallic jar lids, one yellow, one red (the red isn't in the pic because he was playing with it at the time)
• Comb
• Two big corks (one plastic, one real cork)
• Felt ball with a jingle bell inside
• A crocheted brown arm-warmer (it appears as black, though)
• A plastic Nutella lid
• Two sheer fabric bags
• A train-shaped teether
• A crochet owl
• A wooden blue E letter
• A baby brush
• A plastic measuring spoon
• A wooden articulated snake/crocodile
• A small mirror (the unbreakable kind, of course)
• A small Tupperware glass/cup/measuring thingie.
• A maraca.
• A crocheted gecko bookmark like this one (not pictured because he was playing with it.)

There's a lot of space still left, and I'll keep my eyes open looking for new things, but for now I am glad to say it is kind of "finished". And such a success! He loves sitting there taking things out and (at times) putting them back in, biting, looking, touching, hitting, throwing them around. Win!

Oath's Mom