tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87699288827507231862024-03-13T10:59:36.106-07:00Milestones & MiraclesMilestones and Miracleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18070443324349239634noreply@blogger.comBlogger79125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8769928882750723186.post-87506314218345737692012-07-16T09:35:00.000-07:002012-07-16T09:35:10.236-07:00TIPS TO PREVENT HEARING LOSS & PRESERVE HEALTH<style>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Today, we are excited to share with you a blog submitted by someone who follows us online. John O'Connor is passionate about healthy aging and living a healthy lifestyle. His father and grandfathers along with many other family members and friends suffer from hearing loss, and John feels that there is a general lack of understanding surrounding the issue and that it is our job to spread awareness! We thank John for submitting his blog and are happy to share it with our followers. As HEARING is essential for speech this information is important to adults & children!.<br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt;">Tips to Prevent Hearing Loss and
Preserve Health</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
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</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Exposure to loud
noises can result in hearing loss. Free radicals form when people are exposed
to loud noises for extended periods of time. Luckily, there are some ways to
prevent hearing loss that results from external stressors. Here are a few
prevention tips that will help to preserve hearing health:</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
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</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Schedule Regular
Hearing Exams</span></i></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Physicians can often
catch problems before they develop into full-blown hearing loss. A regular exam
will allow </span><a href="http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/hearing-loss-prevention"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">physicians to make recommendations to patients
about how to improve hearing health</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This may
include avoiding stressors, taking breaks from noise and taking supplements to
fight free radicals. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
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</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Take Supplements</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Vitamin D, manganese,
vitamin A, vitamin B complex, vitamin C and vitamin E all help prevent hearing
loss. Internal prevention is the first stage of defense in the fight against
hearing loss. Poor health conditions such as diabetes will increase chances of
developing hearing loss. A balanced and healthy diet complete with these
vitamins will decrease hearing loss in most people.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
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</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Wear Protective Earplugs</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Protective earplugs
can help people prevent hearing loss. Protective ear-wear should be worn at
work in a factory, on a construction site, at a concert, mowing the lawn, in a
salon or in other environments with prolonged exposure to high–decibel,
noise-producing devices. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
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</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Avoid Loud Noise</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Contact the
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to learn about the safe
decibel levels in every work environment. If your work environment exceeds
these levels, contact the appropriate person to rectify the situation. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
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</b></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Control the Volume</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Harmful noise levels
can affect hearing. Turn the music down on the radio, television and other
devices to prevent premature hearing loss. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
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</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stop Smoking</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">People who smoke are
more likely to suffer hearing loss. Quit smoking with smoking-cessation devices
or patches and improve chances of maintaining hearing.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
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</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Remove Earwax with Drops</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">One safe way to
remove earwax is to soften ear wax with baby oil. The baby oil can be dispensed
into the ear with an eye dropper. Repeat the process for six days, and on the
sixth day, switch to water. Tilt the head to the side, and the ear wax should
be removed with the water. After the water process is complete, follow the
process with alcohol. This should completely remove all earwax and leave the
ears refreshed. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
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</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Blow the Nose Gently</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Blowing the nose too
hard could affect the ability to hear. Blowing the nose gently will not cause
additional stress on the ears that may result in problems. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Protect Your Ears.
Protect Your Health</span></i></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Loss of hearing can
result in depression and dementia. This is frustrating and may affect a
person’s overall quality of life. Instead of taking a risk of hearing loss,
take precautions, avoid wearing </span><a href="http://www.earq.com/"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">hearing aids</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> and preserve your hearing.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
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<br /></div>Milestones and Miracleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18070443324349239634noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8769928882750723186.post-8886465956609386832012-07-06T04:24:00.002-07:002012-07-06T04:24:33.279-07:00Paper Books vs. E-books - What's Best for Kids?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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My husband brought home an iPad last week. My daughter beamed with excitement. I wasn’t nearly as excited. Much to my surprise she not only knew what it was, but she also knew what to do with it. In fact she knew way more about what to do with it than me!</div>
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I admit I have never been one to embrace technology (but I get it honestly, my mom refused to give up her rotary dial phone until the mid ‘90s!). In fact, I typically avoid it until absolutely necessary. My husband is the opposite. He loves any new gadget he can get his hands on. I often refer to his newest piece of technology as the “other woman” b/c he prefers to spend time exploring and discovering how to use it rather than talking to me!</div>
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Because of my reluctance to use technology I have not exposed my children to much of it. It wasn’t until my daughter attended preschool at the age of 3 ½ that she learned to use a mouse and navigate independently on the computer. Sure, she knew what the computer was and occasionally her dad and her would take silly pictures on “Photo Booth”, but beyond that she didn’t know much about the fun a computer had in store for her.</div>
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Part of my reluctance to introduce my children to technology too soon was that I feared they would enjoy being on kid friendly websites, or playing games on the Wii, and they would forget how to engage in creative, imaginative free play. I had already witnessed how easily the television could get them under its spell, and I feared the internet and gaming systems would do the same. I guess this is when I first became an advocate for PLAY.</div>
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Imagine my disappointment the other night at bedtime when my daughter exuberantly requested her dad read her her bedtime stories and not me. Do you know why she wanted daddy? Because daddy had the iPad (and he knew how to use it!). But as I lay there listening to the beeps, dings and taps echoing down the hallway, I wondered if this bedtime iPad routine was such a good idea. Sure, it’s not THAT bad, but bedtime stories in our house are a treasured nightly routine. Knowing the importance of reading to your children, I have been a stickler that 3 books are read every night before bed to each child. A routine my children have grown to love and expect.</div>
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However I didn’t give it much more thought than that and I quickly drifted off to sleep. But the next morning I remembered an article in my recent parent magazine that cited this research study: https://www.temple.edu/news_media/tradbooks.html. It was the proof behind my crazy protective instinct to preserve bedtime story time; the benefits of reading traditional books outweighs reading e-books.<br />
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So thank you Temple University for giving me some proof to back up my stubborn reluctance. Although, I admit I recognize the importance of introducing our children to technology in this fast paced world we live in. I certainly don’t want my kids to be behind on account of me. So I’ll leave that up to my husband. Right now my kids have a good balance of play, technology and structure in their lives. I hope I can keep it that way!</div>
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<u>TRADITIONAL BOOKS PROVIDE MORE POSITIVE PARENT-CHILD INTERACTION ACCORDING TO TEMPLE, ERIKSON RESEARCHERS</u></div>
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<span class="style16" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic;">Electronic books dampen the kind of parent-child interaction related to early literacy</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: yellow;">Parents and pre-school children have a more positive interaction when sharing a reading experience with a traditional book as opposed to an electronic book, or e-book, according to researchers at Temple University’s Infant Laboratory in Philadelphia and Erikson Institute in Chicago.</span> This shared positive experience from traditional books characteristically promotes early literacy skills.</div>
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The researchers presented the findings of their study, "Electronic books: Boon or Bust for Interactive Reading?" on Nov. 3 as part of the Boston University Conference on Language Development.</div>
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The first-of-its-kind study was conducted by Julia Parish-Morris, a graduate student in developmental psychology at Temple University, and Molly F. Collins, assistant professor at Erikson Institute. Parish-Morris and Collins collaborated with Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, the Lefkowitz Professor of Psychology and director of the Temple Infant Lab.</div>
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“It is very obvious from the media, and from toy stores and bookstores, that electronic learning products are becoming very, very popular," said Parish-Morris. "Parents are really buying into the idea that electronic media is essential to their children's development."</div>
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Parish-Morris recruited 19 children ages 3-5, along with their parents, at Philadelphia's Please Touch Museum; Collins recruited 14 at the Chicago Children's Museum</div>
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Parish-Morris said the researchers were looking at four different questions: Do children prefer electronic or traditional books in the context of parent-child interaction; does the content of parental utterances differ between the types of books; is the context of what parents are saying content- or behavior-oriented; and do parents’ comments go beyond the book's story?</div>
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In a quiet room, the parents and children sat in front of a table displaying 10 books (five electronic and five traditional) matched on length and similarity of characters/plot structure. They were instructed to do whatever they would normally do with books.</div>
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"Roughly one-third of the children chose e-books over traditional books, which surprised us a little bit," said Parish-Morris. "But part of that might stem from the fact that, in general, parents and children don't tend to read electronic books together."</div>
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She said that the raw number of total utterances made by parents was roughly equal between the two types of books, but that the researchers saw a significant difference in the proportion of content- and behavior-oriented comments.</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: yellow;">"I was struck by the stark difference between the content-related utterances in reading traditional versus e-books; I didn't realize there would be a two-fold difference," said Collins. "I think this happens because we're more comfortable with traditional books and so we play a more active role in the reading process; but with e-books, we let the books lead."</span></div>
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"It turned out that reading electronic books became a behaviorally oriented, slightly coercive parent-child interaction as opposed to talking about the story, relating it to the their child's life, or even talking about the book's pictures or text," Parish-Morris said. "Parents were under the impression that when you are sitting down with a book, you are supposed to read it," she added.</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: yellow;">"But what was happening with the e-books is that reading was not even part of the process, probably because these books literally read the story to the child. So parents are not needed. The book makes commands and tells the child what to do; it encourages them to play games and reads to the child, so parents are essentially replaced by this battery-operated machine."</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: yellow;">In contrast, Parish-Morris noted that parents who read traditional books made more comments that related pictures or themes in the book to their children’s real lives in a way that might spur the children’s imagination, or their short- or long-term memory.</span></div>
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This is significant because children are more successful in school when they spend their pre-school years reading with their parents. "The parent-child interaction around books and shared book reading is incredibly important to emergent literacy skills," she said. "In the later school years, kids enjoy school more, they enjoy learning more, and there are a whole host of outcomes that are related to this shared reading experience in the pre-school years.</div>
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"So parents who are talking about the content with their child while reading traditional books are encouraging early literacy, whereas parents and children reading electronic books together are having a severely truncated experience."</div>
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"This research does suggest that parents should be aware of some of the limitations of e-book reading," added Collins. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: yellow;">"We shouldn't use e-books to replace traditional books, and we shouldn't expect them to do something that they don't. They're not substitutes for a human being."</span></div>
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The researchers are using this study, which received some material support from Fisher-Price, as the basis for a larger study at the Temple University Infant Lab. The follow-up study features an expanded sample of children in a randomized design. Preliminary data confirm the findings of the current study.</div>
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<br /></div>Milestones and Miracleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18070443324349239634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8769928882750723186.post-36114626593232891272012-06-17T06:47:00.002-07:002012-06-17T06:47:57.145-07:00Daddy = Magic<span style="font-size: large;">My Dad is magic. Always has been. Always will be. I am 35 years old and in my mind, he can still make anything happen. Yes, it may be naive or childish, but for me it's true. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Ever since I was a small child he has been everything I think a Daddy should be...hardworking, fun, protective, playful, creative, and present when it matters. Add those things together and it makes MAGIC.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">On the day I was born, my mother says he yelled at the nurses who were cleaning me up in the operating room for "rubbing me too hard. That protective nature never quite went away. As a toddler I had a terrible fear of people singing happy birthday to me. It brought me to tears for years. In today's age of helicopter parenting, we'd just avoid singing happy birthday at my party. But in the late 1970's and early 1980's this would not be acceptable in my big, enthusiastic family. So they sang. I cried. And magic Daddy took his position of hugging me through it. We have several pictures, each one with me a tiny bit bigger, but each in this same location and position.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikKtMezVyUSmZufmLJ40NxzG1YqpOFHeco05g-5ow0WX6UYEoCGMvelJaQ6YNiiCGuLPSBHyXP1h4WHSwrfYOXq051WO5fvo0XmicLkj5JPvK2mWluFZI3nHhalNvDpcBsuhVc94Pc2x4/s1600/Nicole+and+Daddy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikKtMezVyUSmZufmLJ40NxzG1YqpOFHeco05g-5ow0WX6UYEoCGMvelJaQ6YNiiCGuLPSBHyXP1h4WHSwrfYOXq051WO5fvo0XmicLkj5JPvK2mWluFZI3nHhalNvDpcBsuhVc94Pc2x4/s400/Nicole+and+Daddy.jpg" width="386" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">When I was old enough to question if Santa really came to our house and came down our chimney. He made sure he had proof for me. Christmas morning was magical with gifts but even more magical with child-shocking proof of the big man himself sitting in OUR chair, eating OUR cookies, in front of OUR chimney. Magical. (I'm still not sure how this occurred...I mean, no one can really see Santa, right!?)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">One Halloween, which I specifically remember was a school night. My busy, hardworking teacher of a Mom, rushed home from the high school, picked up candy to pass out, prepped snacks for friends we were expecting, and handed me my K-mart purchased costume to put on. Black cat headband ears, tail that was to be pinned to my dancing leotard, slippers, and some face paint. Great, right? Wrong. In my whimsical, creative mind (OK, and a little high maintenance attitude) I had dreamed up some specific homemade creation, but there just wasn't time. You would have thought the world had ended (DRAMA). I remember being in my parent's room, crying in part from disappointment from the situation, with equal disappointment from myself and my behavior, and part panic that I knew it would be time to leave for trick or treating any minute (How would I go a whole year without my Reese Cups?). In comes Dad, with his "Dad work look" (stained and ripped jeans, boots, and flannel shirt). After figuring out what was wrong and assessing the situation, he did not yell or tell me to get myself together and be grateful for what my mother already gave me (side note: as a parent now myself, this is exactly what I would have done in this situation). He simply said, "You'll be a ho-bo clown." What? He pulled out his clothes and began stuffing them full of t-shirts, painted my face, and promptly got me outside and paraded us around the neighborhood. I remember laughing and finishing the tears at the same time. MAGIC.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">They say you often choose a man like your father (for better or worse, right?). And there are clear differences in my life...my husband is wonderful, but is not nearly as handy as my Dad, and forget my Dad ever doing something as "out there" as spending a morning doing yoga with me like my sweet husband will. But one thing is the same. THE MAGIC. I see it in my husband as he searches out new book series to read with our daughters and makes the library trip an adventure. I see it when he has the patience I don't have to deal with the girl drama in our house. I see it in the twinkle of his eye when they joke and rough house.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpjzI3Wcnrfj3u-m5ynhV3gT1u0DvkuNJc975YWDzG8QX2h_0VyfcKuGAPRva7NknlNwF12Cxuu7TwnijrrCZVGB0MCcyOJHoZVnO_xN3iQce12fhYvUmV-mlUyLqYvbpmX0rqwmjafeA/s1600/daddy+color.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpjzI3Wcnrfj3u-m5ynhV3gT1u0DvkuNJc975YWDzG8QX2h_0VyfcKuGAPRva7NknlNwF12Cxuu7TwnijrrCZVGB0MCcyOJHoZVnO_xN3iQce12fhYvUmV-mlUyLqYvbpmX0rqwmjafeA/s200/daddy+color.jpg" width="136" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFfJsaMkcgLyxiIGuSzrZY_9PoazBophQ2xOAn5ewU1A_T5JRaa6ZED5sKl6AZcV-1-NlCv0lMYtyoXumJsFoKQ1YpCMzNxQ41ZGDxyo5SrcIHQn7o0T9vJvooqZVHP8VDGZsHRzr6Z98/s1600/our+hero+color.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFfJsaMkcgLyxiIGuSzrZY_9PoazBophQ2xOAn5ewU1A_T5JRaa6ZED5sKl6AZcV-1-NlCv0lMYtyoXumJsFoKQ1YpCMzNxQ41ZGDxyo5SrcIHQn7o0T9vJvooqZVHP8VDGZsHRzr6Z98/s200/our+hero+color.jpg" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhryb6pfAsrR5aAkiRUCC-w41OCUf-n2yr1NwFfFeM17TvCrBG1xR92Bx8YIvpr28gkd1ozXJDUgc1yeDXHiXdiOcxuNeDqLBU93YihJbE7Ut2MrznTsoRhnZAefhTahPFRO4-HQ8LCOR8/s1600/is+color.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhryb6pfAsrR5aAkiRUCC-w41OCUf-n2yr1NwFfFeM17TvCrBG1xR92Bx8YIvpr28gkd1ozXJDUgc1yeDXHiXdiOcxuNeDqLBU93YihJbE7Ut2MrznTsoRhnZAefhTahPFRO4-HQ8LCOR8/s200/is+color.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Daddy's are MAGIC. Or at least they always should be. If you are a child, I hope you spend some time today remembering the MAGIC of a Dad (or Dad-like figure) in your life. If you are Grandfather, I hope you find joy in continuing to make MAGIC. And if you are a Dad, I hope you realize the magical powers you have in the important role of fathering, and make some MAGIC of your own today! </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Magical Daddies Turn Into Magical Papaps</td></tr>
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<br />Milestones and Miracleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18070443324349239634noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8769928882750723186.post-5172344493824340872012-06-12T19:30:00.000-07:002012-06-13T04:59:13.377-07:00Every Child Needs "A Place"<div style="color: black; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
When I was a child, my hard working carpenter of a grandfather, would unload the tools from his truck and load in four rowdy grandchildren. My brother and my cousins and I would tumble in to the back of his truck, which had a cap, a carpeted bed, and homemade benches for us to sit on (shout out to 1980 something motor vehicle safety). We'd ride two on one bench and two on the other, facing each other, while our Papap drove the curvy West Virginia roads to the next town over. When he pulled into Bucks Ice Cream Parlor in New Cumberland, WV, we'd squeal with delight and tumble out of the bed of the truck and straight up to the counter. We had arrived at "our place." The smells were familiar, the smiling faces behind the counter were the same, my grandfather joking in his thick Arabic accent unchanged. Even the flavors ordered rarely changed. I can remember mint chocolate chip for my cousin Tania and peanut butter for me. We'd sit on benches outside of Buck's struggling to lick the ice cream off the cone before it dripped on to our clothes, avoiding my Teta's remarks about stains on clothing. We'd finish our treat, hug him and give him a few "Hip, Hip, Hoorays" (usually per his prompting) and climb back into that truck to ride home, signing some repetitive song (Father Abraham...had seven sons....). Bucks was OUR PLACE. We knew what to expect and we liked it. The routine was predictable, safe, comfortable, and happy. </div>
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Why am I thinking of Bucks this many years later? Last weekend as I stood in the field of our neighborhood orchard, I thought to myself, "This is my kid's PLACE" and I immediately thought back to my childhood PLACE. Orr's Orchard is a family run orchard just a mile or so from our home that is a year round business that grows fruit and ships it around the US and the world. When I was transplanted to this part of West Virginia, it was their orchard and their nectarines that I first fell in love with. I adore the hardworking steel town I grew up in, but this seemed so fresh and natural. </div>
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It's funny how 12 years later, this orchard has become my children's PLACE. They know and recognize many of the sweet people who work there and will often say things like "Mom, Miss Katie said the strawberries are good today!" or "Miss Lisa is here today!" They associate fruits with the seasons of our life. Strawberries are the first thing ready after the orchard has been closed for a few months for planting. We pick sweet cherries about the time school is out. Nectarines and peaches are ready in time for a beach trip. Sunflowers and Gerber Daisies are ready to be picked about the time our dear friends from North Carolina come and stay with us during hurricane evacuations. Apples and pumpkins are here at football season. </div>
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They've learned about animals through the many unique ones that reside on the orchard - buffalo, pigs, & peacocks to name a few and have religiously voted each year in the contest to name the new baby buffalo born each spring. Last years winner...Tayor Swifttail. We've been taught about the practice of renting bees to cross pollinate fruit trees and special heaters to keep crops warm during cool nights by the generous family who runs this beautiful place. We've celebrated birthdays there and participated in festivals, hayrides, and local foods feasts.</div>
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So last Saturday morning, as I took a break from our combined efforts of picking 4 buckets of sweet cherries (YUM), I stood back and watched my equally sweet girls energetically climb those ladders and get excited about picking and felt gratitude. In a place I once never imagined could feel like home, my children had their own PLACE. </div>
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So I thought I'd share some beautiful images from our PLACE with you. Shouldn't every kid have a PLACE where they can build memories as sweet as cherries? What's yours?</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Picking our favorites from the bins</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLweSEd-R1ttf0ASNOvwsjlJgBMZOzG_T7-cCcT_wLsKgerMLsktBApLl-r9xT9IMUpW44XrKdsq8FLwnyCvIJysKNCN-i9E3Hthb6OF0fNjMOqWC6Cay8r59I24gbcsiCfNjS7MYpw64/s1600/orchard+apples.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLweSEd-R1ttf0ASNOvwsjlJgBMZOzG_T7-cCcT_wLsKgerMLsktBApLl-r9xT9IMUpW44XrKdsq8FLwnyCvIJysKNCN-i9E3Hthb6OF0fNjMOqWC6Cay8r59I24gbcsiCfNjS7MYpw64/s320/orchard+apples.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Apple anyone?</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bee boxes rented to help pollinate trees </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_aQvxfIYZcjN41gxwpoU986n3aU706StwwQ86Vi8m5NoyMPmZ-p-dW8IOqPpXkJ-8As1IJkrc6jeZJvU_Kie9Ef6aQpfuYjfl5mAKayj1My03ZZEBepEpXkpMrXSB1jd2vkUEEPa1hR4/s1600/orchard+berries.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_aQvxfIYZcjN41gxwpoU986n3aU706StwwQ86Vi8m5NoyMPmZ-p-dW8IOqPpXkJ-8As1IJkrc6jeZJvU_Kie9Ef6aQpfuYjfl5mAKayj1My03ZZEBepEpXkpMrXSB1jd2vkUEEPa1hR4/s640/orchard+berries.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beautiful berries</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Buffalo Buddies</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH5SeQFwV-V6pooawHRWLe52ozKBEBG3j_W2EZ6c9dZeN0Gr58tA8DIX9lMmrUXR5mWKE1F0XGoX9GXl6xyFNFEk5QZIIco9xS-UB_lQt3y9JZDQjPfD75PJa1Y_1NG4DxyDY3y0jVkFc/s1600/orchard+daddy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH5SeQFwV-V6pooawHRWLe52ozKBEBG3j_W2EZ6c9dZeN0Gr58tA8DIX9lMmrUXR5mWKE1F0XGoX9GXl6xyFNFEk5QZIIco9xS-UB_lQt3y9JZDQjPfD75PJa1Y_1NG4DxyDY3y0jVkFc/s640/orchard+daddy.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The greatest dad around leads the way to the berry patch</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My girls and I on a blossom tour at Easter Time</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh580cwXAel6uZaxchgheMYz5L5mCc6dvPy7Bt1jgJ7GobmDG-CDomfoAB2MMl__bbVE63jd0Jt2zPVlShaCZ8dRaA0OJNrEOeAyOlGmtARpv-kbmTw0tbbIu1alNvC7aZM7CkdesDNwGU/s320/orchard+pumpkin.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My pumpkin with her pumpkin</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoVIMS8AOA2QLYc-SQf7F2f3XwAZpu5mL-rrJQsHAIdSEfCWhukbz-5pv6VXpGiGebz-cSI6lQHPQsEICCAfEYr1KQ7X0Yfup17Nf8171zSMfHLBw85_5wRXfYXvSR-M8pUmpgXS7Z_WA/s1600/orchard+running.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoVIMS8AOA2QLYc-SQf7F2f3XwAZpu5mL-rrJQsHAIdSEfCWhukbz-5pv6VXpGiGebz-cSI6lQHPQsEICCAfEYr1KQ7X0Yfup17Nf8171zSMfHLBw85_5wRXfYXvSR-M8pUmpgXS7Z_WA/s640/orchard+running.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Makes me want to be a kid again!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finding the best berries</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1L7eAO-Yicm_UN5-29vN-hYbVBz1badx21N73C-4L337dgv1SpgGp8_h174wXUQr0PfJ3FPYqWhqdBnKHwkyhXJ2MQtX7l-ndAvuVPvRSt27xWnXfTGHh6RZxZ_TwLyLP0XNAZIywonA/s1600/orchard+zinea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1L7eAO-Yicm_UN5-29vN-hYbVBz1badx21N73C-4L337dgv1SpgGp8_h174wXUQr0PfJ3FPYqWhqdBnKHwkyhXJ2MQtX7l-ndAvuVPvRSt27xWnXfTGHh6RZxZ_TwLyLP0XNAZIywonA/s640/orchard+zinea.jpg" width="640" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtXmuqWp6Lfh2eP8f6g4lxdb8kqFNU6SRE8jB2IV6Z7SOY4Mc2FjiHPzT2jBlSx1aWD2EjgBtv5vXDs5-lN0kyQLOnipqdpZ34Lrw629UqOe3xLAI-1UBbUTQUT87kr-Oi5YliGLTyJNE/s1600/orchard+sunflower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtXmuqWp6Lfh2eP8f6g4lxdb8kqFNU6SRE8jB2IV6Z7SOY4Mc2FjiHPzT2jBlSx1aWD2EjgBtv5vXDs5-lN0kyQLOnipqdpZ34Lrw629UqOe3xLAI-1UBbUTQUT87kr-Oi5YliGLTyJNE/s640/orchard+sunflower.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIx-pZqSJfaxFOvj4ONRKMSfzgbKjUtvNeLWGVOHvRt-VW9av5HeHzdKEErbADgciIWNAdCRjNig_T3eE3U-kVgt3aHYLsLudGra272nJ2ISGzdr7vI36fz4xqFEK-uCIoloDEA2TsLJ0/s1600/orchard+hay+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIx-pZqSJfaxFOvj4ONRKMSfzgbKjUtvNeLWGVOHvRt-VW9av5HeHzdKEErbADgciIWNAdCRjNig_T3eE3U-kVgt3aHYLsLudGra272nJ2ISGzdr7vI36fz4xqFEK-uCIoloDEA2TsLJ0/s640/orchard+hay+.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fall fun</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Milestones and Miracleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18070443324349239634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8769928882750723186.post-38241825504347035622012-06-01T09:12:00.001-07:002012-06-01T09:12:36.537-07:00FUN ways to enhance communication - using your EARS not your MOUTH! Introducing Night Light Stories!<div style="color: #0b5394;">
Think about what you hear all day long but don't pay attention to: the air conditioning kicking on and off, the tick tock of the clock, cars outside our window. What do we really listen to? What sounds do you choose to tune into? We have to consciously decide when we want to listen. We hear involuntarily, we listen by choice.<br /><br />Good listening skills can be taught to our children by reading to them. We know they are listening when they correct a rhyme we misread in their favorite book, or catch us when we skip a page! And good listening skills come with practice. Think about all the lectures you had to LISTEN to in school. You first learned those listening skills when you were read your bedtime story as a child! This is why you hear all the time how important it is to read to your child every day for at least 20 minutes.<br /> </div>
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When we ourselves listen, without actually seeing a picture, it forces us to "flex" our imagination muscle. That's why reading a book before seeing a movie is always so much more rewarding! The same happens with our children. When they hear stories, their thoughts run wild with creating their own versions of characters, settings, and events.</div>
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We hear parents, teachers, and therapists speak of language. The first thought that comes to mind with this word is oral or spoken language, but RECEPTIVE language is just as important and is often left out of the conversation! Receptive language is our comprehension of spoken language. Examples include when someone asks a question we understand and respond appropriately, or when we are given a direction to follow, and we know what to do. We often KNOW what we want to say or do but can't effectively SAY it. The same holds true with children. We all know that "uh uh uh" sound coming out of a child's mouth while we dance around providing option after option..."Do you want a drink? Nap? Snack? Play?" And it goes on and on until we guess correctly, but that baby knew he or she wanted our cell phone or keys. Those words just weren't ready to come out just yet.</div>
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Little ones first show comprehension of language when they respond to their name being called and look for their bottle or blankie when they are named. Parents are often fascinated with how early their child can recognized those named objects by looking at them when they hear their names or labels. This often occurs months before spoken language. And receptive language doesn't develop effectively without good listening skills.</div>
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What's one of the best ways to enhance those listening skills? PRACTICE! Beyond enriching your child's day with labeling objects you encounter (yes we are proponents of naming fruits and veggies at the store, even if your baby isn't talking yet! Who cares if people look at you like you are nuts!), routine reading and listening to music are great opportunities for receptive learning. Another wonderful way is LISTENING to stories. In a world so focused on TV, movies, and handheld devices, the simpleness or using our ears to LISTEN and imagine is often and forgotten and the benefits missed.</div>
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Listening to stories on an I-pod was a life saver when my then three year old had bedtime troubles (and troubles is putting it kindly). Allowing her to focus on a story, helped her to forget her fears at bedtime and met my goal of getting she and I both to bed!</div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">We recently were introduced to a very creative couple, Mel and Chris Bugaj. Together they formed <span style="color: #cc0000;">Night Light Stories</span> and they provide incredible FREE stories that they have written and recorded on their website, <span style="color: #cc0000;">nightlightstories.net</span>. They can also be found on Face book and Twitter. We interviewed them for this blog post. Enjoy reading their answers below and have fun learning about and discovering their work. Download some Night Light Stories to motivate your little one at bed time, or even in the car or during quiet times during the day --and let the magic of their imagination grow! </span><br /> </span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">Tell us about yourselves and how Night Light stories began.</span><br /><br /> Welcome to Night Light Stories! We are so happy you found us! My name is Miss Mel. My husband and I are both special educators with twenty-four years combined experience. I have taught all grade levels from preschool to grade five in both general and special education. Currently, I am a Supervisor for student teachers for Walden University as well as a Homebound Teacher. My husband is a speech-language pathologist and founding member of the Assistive Technology Team for Loudoun County Public Schools. He and a co-worker recently were published by the International Society for Technology in Education. Their book is called "The Practical (and Fun) Guide to Assistive Technology in Public Schools". After hours he also produces and hosts the A.T.TIPSCAST, an award-winning podcast about free or commonly found technology that can be used to help students meet their educational goals.<br /><br />My husband and I created the podcast called Night Light Stories where I narrate original children's stories that we've written. Every episode is available for free in audio format on our compendium blog or on iTunes. On this blog you will find vocabulary from the story as well as comprehensive activities that engage the child's imagination. We also produce a weekly visual dictionary called "Lighting The Way With Words" where we choose a vocabulary word and pair it with an original photo. The audience is invited to send in their own pictures to help define the word. Our goal is to promote education and family time. <br /><br />We started the podcast and blog as a creative thing to do together. We thought it would be a fun alternative for families, educators, and classrooms to listen to our stories on car trips, around the house, transition times in the classroom, or anytime. We also thought that since our kids seemed to enjoy the stories, other kids around the world might like them too. We say in the podcast that the stories are "for children of all ages" and it is our hope that families are enjoying the stories together. <br /><br />Besides the blog, you can find us on Twitter and our Face book Page . This is where people can get updates about all things related to Night Light Stories; including what's going on with story development, recent pictures, and more. We hope you enjoy listening to our stories as much as we enjoy creating them! As always, we look forward to watching the glow grow brighter with the many stories we can share together.<br /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><span style="color: #cc0000;">Who/what inspires the stories you write?</span><br /><br />Inspiration comes from a variety of sources. For instance, our 6yo drew a picture of the number 8 as a person with an opossum as a sidekick. Who is this mysterious number 8 man? Why does he have an opossum as a sidekick? This is just one of many ways a story idea may start. <br /><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;">What is your favorite NL story and why?</span><br /><br />Ms. Mel's is "The Watermelon Seed". It holds a special place in my heart because it reminds me of when our daughter was born and how our son reacted to it. A fun fact about that story is it took me about 17x to record the ending without crying. <br /><br />Mr. Chris' is "Alien Pursuit" because<span style="color: #cc0000;"> it has aliens and hip hop. Who doesn't love aliens and hip hop? </span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><span style="color: #cc0000;">Who is your favorite children's author, favorite children's book?</span><br /><br />Ms. Mel's is "The Cookie Monster and the Cookie Tree". My grandfather used to read that to my brother and I whenever we stayed over their house. His voices for the characters were so perfect. No matter how many times I read that story to my children, I'll always hear the voices as the way he read it. <br /><br />Mr. Chris' is tempted to say "The Piano and Laylee Learning Adventure Series" about two dogs teaching students how to become positive digital citizens. But, if he had to pick just one, it would be "Good Night, Good Knight". Whenever I get the chance to be a guest reader in a classroom, I read this book and kids love it. <br /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><span style="color: #cc0000;">How do you want NL stories to benefit/impact children and their families?</span><br /><br />Research shows that listening to audio stories improves the reading abilities of children.<br />It's our hope that while kids listen to the stories they are engaged and entertained with their families. <br /><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;">What are some ways your listeners have tied your stories into their daily routines?</span><br /><br />Listeners have told us that they have incorporated our stories into their bed time routines. They've also used the stories to help pass the time on car rides, during bath time, or before school. What is most heartwarming is when listeners share stories of how a particular Night Light Story helped them through a difficult situation. For instance, one listener listened to the story "Stitches" while waiting in the ER to see the doctor after cutting themselves<span style="color: black;">. </span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><span style="color: #cc0000;">Do you wish to have your stories published into books one day?</span><br /><br />Yes. Currently our stories exist in audio format only. Therefore we would love to see the stories come to life with brilliant illustrations and/or some interactive components. <br /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><span style="color: #cc0000;">What is your favorite thing to play with your children?</span><br /><br />Ms. Mel likes to play Zingo. The kids always get so excited when they beat me. <br /><br />Mr. Chris likes to play dress-up. I finds that they create rich characters and hilarious stories which spark not only their imaginations, but mine as well. <br />
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Thank you to Nightlight Stories for creating FUN resources to enhance family routines and receptive communication skills! <br />
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<br /><br />Milestones and Miracleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18070443324349239634noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8769928882750723186.post-29507527929498390022012-05-13T12:43:00.002-07:002012-05-13T17:06:37.030-07:00WISHING YOU A THURSDAY KIND OF MOTHER'S DAY<style>
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If I were a kid and it was acceptable for me to wear those
super cool socks or underwear that have the days of the week on them, I’m
pretty sure I’d pick Thursday every time. I’ve always thought of Sunday as my
favorite day of the week for all the obvious reasons– church, family dinner, nap, football, but I’ve
really been appreciating Thursdays lately. It’s funny because there was a time in my life when Thursday
was a really fun day for totally different reasons (Thirsty Thursday anyone?)
but here in “Mom-World,” Thirsty Thursdays are few and far between.</div>
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For me, Thursday nights are kind of like my Fridays. My
“official” work-week ends. I tie up paperwork and billing, finish phone calls
and prepare for the weekend (and indulge in Grey’s Anatomy of course). This week was particularly crazy and by
Thursday night I felt a huge weight off my shoulders. It was as if my black,
white, and gray pictures turned into color – sort of like that magical scene
from the Wizard of Oz.</div>
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I felt like I noticed my daughters more, listened more
carefully to their stories and concerns, and generally seemed more present in
the moment. I have to admit that
being present in the moment is a daily goal, but one that I frequently fall
short of. Reflecting on how
wonderful fully “being” with them felt, I found myself wishing I could make a
way to be more intentional about this daily (again, repeat theme – it is a
daily seemingly unreachable goal). But as I thought, I realized that being a
parent, specifically being a Mother, is such a challenging job that the honest
truth is that if we were always “fully present” nothing would get done! So I
decided to allow myself, right then and there in that moment, to give myself a
break. I vowed to no longer feel guilty if I was not engaged constantly but at the
same time, ironically I decided to try to schedule more unscheduled time! In other
words, more “Thursdays” for me.
Today, I’m taking the day as a Thursday. We have no clean socks or
towels and I’m not letting myself care, because I have someone who wants to sit
on my lap and smother me in kisses. And I know one day too soon, she’ll not
want to do that anymore.</div>
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Some of us as Mother’s work full time away from the home.
Others work full time at home. And some, like me, try to balance both worlds
and inevitably feel like we never really get to do anything to the full needed
extent. It’s a challenge to do it all and to find a fit that feels best for
ourselves and our families. But the fact of the matter is, we all need a
“Thursday” or “Thursdays” for that matter.</div>
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So to you mothers out there, the ones that I know – those
who helped raise me and those who help me raise my kids, those who inspire me,
push me, and encourage me in this messy but wonderfully yummy job of
motherhood, and to those who I don’t know personally but who I am connected to
through this important job we are trusted with – I wish you a Thursday -kind –of-
Sunday and a very restful, happy, and fully present Mother’s Day!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfjDERjvAE7Igapdi6G9kqLHEVGvOxoD4j-p1Pv7F_O0BFxhQfI1X6Qys0p8-_oS4eepkVF0SuC0jkAEv464GzI9wJ8TppZ_3pHzcD-bO6SmcEvXXREPzxWBeCi-hpkk-He9FPHHWGvog/s1600/WV.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfjDERjvAE7Igapdi6G9kqLHEVGvOxoD4j-p1Pv7F_O0BFxhQfI1X6Qys0p8-_oS4eepkVF0SuC0jkAEv464GzI9wJ8TppZ_3pHzcD-bO6SmcEvXXREPzxWBeCi-hpkk-He9FPHHWGvog/s320/WV.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view from our Mother's day hike - WV is ALMOST HEAVEN. Hope you enjoy!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhARRDptVp9Qna6SZd3WwUk0uo4JibAl5hgvVHUsB6f61XQ5Htt6BTsLWJoivnDeqALvF3kx_0RWFerie3_Wl6gFrlt4wUYGA0FVyPVEvhQNCiIn4SdXErgoIbUNz52Pr0HuyHMac_jLRA/s1600/554287_10150956065584575_630954574_12219126_713316022_n-1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhARRDptVp9Qna6SZd3WwUk0uo4JibAl5hgvVHUsB6f61XQ5Htt6BTsLWJoivnDeqALvF3kx_0RWFerie3_Wl6gFrlt4wUYGA0FVyPVEvhQNCiIn4SdXErgoIbUNz52Pr0HuyHMac_jLRA/s640/554287_10150956065584575_630954574_12219126_713316022_n-1.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The best gift wrap ever - my flower came in this. I need to read it every day I need motivation to allow myself a Thursday kind of day!</td></tr>
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</div>Milestones and Miracleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18070443324349239634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8769928882750723186.post-87484430366189379302012-05-11T05:13:00.001-07:002012-05-11T05:20:30.242-07:00May is Better HEARING and SPEECH Month!<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">From the American Speech-Language Hearing Association's Website:</span></h1>
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Parents Advised On How To Detect </h1>
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Communications Disorders In Their </h1>
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Children</h1>
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Although more than 5 million children in the United States have a speech, language, and hearing disorder, parents are often uninformed and unsure about what to do when they suspect their child. This May, and every May since 1927, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) has used the May is Better Hearing and Speech Month (BHSM) celebration to provide parents with information about communication disorders to help ensure that they do not seriously affect their children's ability to learn, socialize with others, and be successful in school.</div>
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Speech and language problems can occur at any time in a child's life. They can be caused by accidental injury, illness, or inherited by birth. Child speech and language problems include:</div>
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<li style="list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: square; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Stuttering</li>
<li style="list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: square; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Articulation problems ("wabbit" instead of "rabbit")</li>
<li style="list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: square; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Language disorders such as the slow development of vocabulary, concepts, and grammar.</li>
<li style="list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: square; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Voice disorders (nasal, breathy, or hoarse voice and speech that is too high or low)</li>
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Parents who suspect their child has a communication disorder should see an ASHA-certified speech-language pathologist. These professionals identify, assess, and treat speech and language problems including swallowing disorders. Speech-language pathologists work in schools, private practice, hospitals, clinics, rehabilitation centers, health departments, research laboratories, and other health education settings.</div>
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Fortunately, most children with speech, language, and hearing problems can be helped. Even if the problem cannot be eliminated, an SLP can teach the child strategies to help them cope with their communication disorders, or provide them with the appropriate technology. By promoting Better Hearing and Speech Month, we hope parents will learn about communication disorders, what they can do to help their children, and how speech-language pathologists and audiologists can help with their child's communication disorders.</div>
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Meanwhile, hearing loss, like speech and language problems, can have a negative impact on a child's social and academic development. Communication disorders like hearing loss in children can occur at birth or as a child grows older due to chronic ear infections or exposure to noise. The earlier hearing loss occurs in a child's life, the more serious the effects have on the child's development.</div>
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Typical signs of a hearing loss in children include:</div>
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<li style="list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: square; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Inconsistently responding to sound</li>
<li style="list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: square; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Delayed language and speech development</li>
<li style="list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: square; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Unclear speech</li>
<li style="list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: square; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Sound is turned up on electronic equipment (radio, TV, cd player, etc.)</li>
<li style="list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: square; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Does not follow directions</li>
<li style="list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: square; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Often says "Huh?"</li>
<li style="list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: square; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Does not respond when called</li>
<li style="list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: square; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Frequently misunderstands what is said and wants things repeated</li>
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As a first step, people who think their child is displaying many of these warning signs and think they may have hearing loss or other hearing disorders should see a certified audiologist. These professionals specialize in preventing, identifying, assessing, and treating hearing disorders. Also, they provide treatment for hearing loss including fitting hearing aids and other assistive listening devices, and they can teach children with hearing loss how to concentrate on hearing all sounds.</div>
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ASHA recommends that children at risk for hearing loss, such as those who suffer from chronic ear infections or in cases where there is a family history of hearing loss, be screened by a certified audiologist as frequently as needed to ensure they are hearing well. Otherwise, for children ages 5-18, hearing screenings should occur on initial entry into school and annually in kindergarten through 3rd grade as well as in the 7th and 11th grades.</div>
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Parents who think their children may have a speech, language, or hearing disorder or know of a loved one who has a communication disorder should access ProSearch at <a href="http://www.asha.org/findpro/" style="color: #1e6abc; cursor: pointer; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: none;">http://www.asha.org/findpro/</a>, ASHA's online directory of audiology and speech-language pathology programs, to find an ASHA-certified speech-language pathologist or audiologist in their area.</div>
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<strong>About the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association</strong><b><br /></b>ASHA is the national professional, scientific, and credentialing association for more than 145,000 audiologists, speech-language pathologists, and speech, language, and hearing scientists. Audiologists specialize in preventing and assessing hearing and balance disorders as well as providing audiologic treatment including hearing aids. Speech-language pathologists identify, assess, and treat speech and language problems including swallowing disorders. <a href="http://www.asha.org/" style="color: #1e6abc; cursor: pointer; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: none;">www.asha.org/</a>.</div>Milestones and Miracleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18070443324349239634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8769928882750723186.post-64336899386137110952012-04-30T09:53:00.003-07:002012-04-30T09:53:27.043-07:00Get a GRIP! A picture guide to adapting PLAY for all!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYnSnc7Z0Fod2vUkzxHiAVlbEYaMtXlnKDoy0BhyphenhyphenXTLsGwa5yisqsYwWy21QksQDeBo6fDvxfuAqp5lsf31npCzXxa76vRlFaes1kHGVGMDlV_IAK5i1cvlvSoTGkRgOmea1jwFJkdkDk/s1600/typical+grip+crayon.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYnSnc7Z0Fod2vUkzxHiAVlbEYaMtXlnKDoy0BhyphenhyphenXTLsGwa5yisqsYwWy21QksQDeBo6fDvxfuAqp5lsf31npCzXxa76vRlFaes1kHGVGMDlV_IAK5i1cvlvSoTGkRgOmea1jwFJkdkDk/s640/typical+grip+crayon.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">This is a typical grip on a writing utensils. </span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7bVG3bNooaOhnCCIGd5puv3dMMvKpZ4rjV4jF8YJSUbj6hFCLzqOdHlpeExo0kpWQwhvj2O5AaQCKgO0PwXK2MgVlg2rY6f_5fUtokiANt2CQ4YJ1F4d8Gsl432AlN_dq9N5sqKunT9I/s1600/palmar+grip+crayon.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7bVG3bNooaOhnCCIGd5puv3dMMvKpZ4rjV4jF8YJSUbj6hFCLzqOdHlpeExo0kpWQwhvj2O5AaQCKgO0PwXK2MgVlg2rY6f_5fUtokiANt2CQ4YJ1F4d8Gsl432AlN_dq9N5sqKunT9I/s1600/palmar+grip+crayon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7bVG3bNooaOhnCCIGd5puv3dMMvKpZ4rjV4jF8YJSUbj6hFCLzqOdHlpeExo0kpWQwhvj2O5AaQCKgO0PwXK2MgVlg2rY6f_5fUtokiANt2CQ4YJ1F4d8Gsl432AlN_dq9N5sqKunT9I/s640/palmar+grip+crayon.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Often children learning to write, will hold a writing utensil like this,
called PALMER GRIP. This is often typical in children with atypical
muscle tone as well</span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtZAMbPUmoaq8UDZQgEn5so8mH-ehZ8mn4exR13Z8Z3WNDViW3FaZjm_kFhwDWBYtmKaZQdiDYTLHUz_OP5o8FfEH-Gxf7KL6p3y6RE061dumBPEYct358xwAlehGobJkDipwvvWGgChc/s640/small+crayon.jpg" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Most parents throw out broken crayons, but it's actually a great idea to encourage using them with children who can as it promotes development of the grip pattern progression.</span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj71rXIwRqXGdcU8MKycg6VKUOgxSbqjxSblzFiwfLkscnh7MKC608YGwFg46BM5AFpoHeWTTdY9lS80s7m2aHHTE_XEGSl_O7c9ZzvVD1z6netewiHi03XiGifKp0G7tABNHAveDaTYfg/s1600/foam+marker.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj71rXIwRqXGdcU8MKycg6VKUOgxSbqjxSblzFiwfLkscnh7MKC608YGwFg46BM5AFpoHeWTTdY9lS80s7m2aHHTE_XEGSl_O7c9ZzvVD1z6netewiHi03XiGifKp0G7tABNHAveDaTYfg/s640/foam+marker.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Another option to adapt grips for those who have challenges is to modify the writing utensil to fit the diameter that the child can handle. This is one example using play foam. Play doh also works well and both allow easy modeling to meet the child's specific abilities. </span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKgpxV_TbidAI_Lk0FPOcIYbdxUBnqwJnLdkqr2x0C-SjbaK4CpWsKlZjoRDXJlGJSz53ftd-ofTinJE-9g0WKUGiWd00Ndavlia62jAXSbtdWoicCrET27DqNyBv-prI50CrpWPXRqgs/s1600/jump+rope+marker.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKgpxV_TbidAI_Lk0FPOcIYbdxUBnqwJnLdkqr2x0C-SjbaK4CpWsKlZjoRDXJlGJSz53ftd-ofTinJE-9g0WKUGiWd00Ndavlia62jAXSbtdWoicCrET27DqNyBv-prI50CrpWPXRqgs/s640/jump+rope+marker.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Anything around the home or classroom can be used to change the diameter of the utensil. Here I used the handle of a jump rope. 35 mm film containers with poked holes or PVC pipe pieces also work well. </span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSSUTMW_fsvzK-EBTaHGiSb0U7EuAsa0L_PrWtFPOgfxSVlkirBXiIWeoPZ9Wq3aHl6QTPtvTWrJdqZtkTId0jWlFPNQ6Gm33Ovmf4kD9GC74w9jP5K4LODnpCYZs5S_IkKHMwB-X2Vzo/s1600/floral+foam+pencil.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSSUTMW_fsvzK-EBTaHGiSb0U7EuAsa0L_PrWtFPOgfxSVlkirBXiIWeoPZ9Wq3aHl6QTPtvTWrJdqZtkTId0jWlFPNQ6Gm33Ovmf4kD9GC74w9jP5K4LODnpCYZs5S_IkKHMwB-X2Vzo/s640/floral+foam+pencil.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Ok, so this is extremely big, but I included it to show how versatile floral foam can be in adapting writing utensils or toys. I just wish I had a smaller piece at home!</span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrtaKt-kxwTzh-OzDOreRJUJmsLauR4vhoIezRBPsWUUBS0dXX1sJaeCsDRF2blhEl40Owz5bKykA1-tRQHBWwZk1hRbkSTUC6JfUd9-H62NLpTzKsEon5gblegf1whMR_dnr-0FEQxrc/s1600/tinker+toy+link+pencil.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrtaKt-kxwTzh-OzDOreRJUJmsLauR4vhoIezRBPsWUUBS0dXX1sJaeCsDRF2blhEl40Owz5bKykA1-tRQHBWwZk1hRbkSTUC6JfUd9-H62NLpTzKsEon5gblegf1whMR_dnr-0FEQxrc/s320/tinker+toy+link+pencil.jpg" width="213" /></a> <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDwZAkMx95RQk_Yu3PTqjnflfU37xfOTD9Zo3Va9OIHcgVmvy0E789cBLJ2kwSmDasTqsd4vckouqy07KmlR_KtAsHoWBHJxQ1Xuv-T1slr5rVY0jJbUTThjta6hk0xVnTlFu1k9Xs2cs/s1600/tinker+toy+pencil.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDwZAkMx95RQk_Yu3PTqjnflfU37xfOTD9Zo3Va9OIHcgVmvy0E789cBLJ2kwSmDasTqsd4vckouqy07KmlR_KtAsHoWBHJxQ1Xuv-T1slr5rVY0jJbUTThjta6hk0xVnTlFu1k9Xs2cs/s320/tinker+toy+pencil.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Tinker toys rock! For many many reasons, but they are also wonderful ways to customize a writing utensil.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBfZ94XfwhvL5piN0g7q89E-UeKRWP8xqm3ioTtlvTWxxWLHDxoc7lZcF1sjzxInKJiIApT4WKNqj_VgZbbYfGUEQq006WwlbTVjy1kwZAZ1Sk_Z76j2W4Z5cVwO4p9Ri_rJSD_VvfFz0/s1600/stamper.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBfZ94XfwhvL5piN0g7q89E-UeKRWP8xqm3ioTtlvTWxxWLHDxoc7lZcF1sjzxInKJiIApT4WKNqj_VgZbbYfGUEQq006WwlbTVjy1kwZAZ1Sk_Z76j2W4Z5cVwO4p9Ri_rJSD_VvfFz0/s640/stamper.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Think outside the traditional crayon and marker box. Stampers can be an expression of artistic ability and often have larger knobs.</span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJYtEwh-BdRmQBDcpafgj_niNMKnteXLDzvwY8Gckcybqu05N4kB2pPi3EwPO6coHQtemxAeKg3aGBAUS67dzckp0YDgWRDp19RE8QWOKyG1vhjt015J1RDygjqmWe6S9BTxmzR0jc7E4/s1600/make+your+own+easel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJYtEwh-BdRmQBDcpafgj_niNMKnteXLDzvwY8Gckcybqu05N4kB2pPi3EwPO6coHQtemxAeKg3aGBAUS67dzckp0YDgWRDp19RE8QWOKyG1vhjt015J1RDygjqmWe6S9BTxmzR0jc7E4/s640/make+your+own+easel.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Sometimes it works to think about things from another angle. If a child has trouble with vision or posture, fine motor work may be easier if you bring the writing or play surface to them. Don't have a fancy large easel, use a binder!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA_TObEHF3C3vxClJzGl6Gzo3nZ7-GyiwAcpP5t8kO2VcTbsTLY3YpKfXTPIEbj2ubHA8c_ux963jnbyC3FgqtgKxpsHfpYTKP4p1c6AYLZlAkckHv7Qr2W8Uh4Z-TiAbd7BNJWxOvWHA/s1600/painting+truck.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA_TObEHF3C3vxClJzGl6Gzo3nZ7-GyiwAcpP5t8kO2VcTbsTLY3YpKfXTPIEbj2ubHA8c_ux963jnbyC3FgqtgKxpsHfpYTKP4p1c6AYLZlAkckHv7Qr2W8Uh4Z-TiAbd7BNJWxOvWHA/s640/painting+truck.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Easier time gripping toys? Get those trucks dirty and dip them in paint!</span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaBCSl9XhGr7LZgBCVRB_fJ6_20ZusnFRnWObHeEDeMq5nxGQgCm0FZ_8JAJqwjqKUPuEowdy28qiXRDGCqwdW4HQGwhQSD8xD3KF09EAe7XuSdEhFYi_BljlJ8k574MTiR5LArrvDXSQ/s1600/ring+marker.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaBCSl9XhGr7LZgBCVRB_fJ6_20ZusnFRnWObHeEDeMq5nxGQgCm0FZ_8JAJqwjqKUPuEowdy28qiXRDGCqwdW4HQGwhQSD8xD3KF09EAe7XuSdEhFYi_BljlJ8k574MTiR5LArrvDXSQ/s640/ring+marker.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">A stacking ring makes a great choice for adapting grip as well.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1w58xv6231P5SQhUgy7_6gnqChMhMwWF5HGdtUMT7-CSnAP_z_SBCMfusDkVZIpPW2Lnj3kVtc9ZhPwgjOqa95lT-3vh1xn_eZe6bwqOfj52DIorm6l8D4EuIbHkOwaa0b4nxCq4yuZ8/s1600/adapted+painted+truck.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1w58xv6231P5SQhUgy7_6gnqChMhMwWF5HGdtUMT7-CSnAP_z_SBCMfusDkVZIpPW2Lnj3kVtc9ZhPwgjOqa95lT-3vh1xn_eZe6bwqOfj52DIorm6l8D4EuIbHkOwaa0b4nxCq4yuZ8/s640/adapted+painted+truck.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Wine cork can be added to form a handle if small toys like trucks are hard to pick up.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtLg_8XsPzor9BIVR4LdUVz3UIRUs3Lx-HAVrAX9uS1y-H7fkXiq-k7OVM6UHnIZz5FO9QzMOgOs9mZYVA4u0YPfRXqbI8Gc7BSZXb9ofTlEW_lA09D1lIpZEfe0aqhcOX-8T-6q2ITZc/s1600/typical+puzzle.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtLg_8XsPzor9BIVR4LdUVz3UIRUs3Lx-HAVrAX9uS1y-H7fkXiq-k7OVM6UHnIZz5FO9QzMOgOs9mZYVA4u0YPfRXqbI8Gc7BSZXb9ofTlEW_lA09D1lIpZEfe0aqhcOX-8T-6q2ITZc/s640/typical+puzzle.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Fine motor weaknesses or muscle tone can affect play beyond writing or coloring. Skills like puzzle work can be a challenge. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV_fW_1jOsVTftJ4jjiKlhcwLb4JDqVS4qV0vzB4WJE0VywqN-PbFf5dyik4sMgjm7cGQDvJsCcZNRpakGrcDcVIGNK7Woyw5dOeQToUSrmg9Nb2e-n_Lfu48SN_rbNXDkB8ns83-vPmU/s1600/cork+puzzle.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV_fW_1jOsVTftJ4jjiKlhcwLb4JDqVS4qV0vzB4WJE0VywqN-PbFf5dyik4sMgjm7cGQDvJsCcZNRpakGrcDcVIGNK7Woyw5dOeQToUSrmg9Nb2e-n_Lfu48SN_rbNXDkB8ns83-vPmU/s640/cork+puzzle.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">But even these activities can be adapted. Wine corks can be hot glued to make gripping anything easier and more accessible. Drawer pulls from your local home improvement store also do the trick!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifGcl2z1Y1Jtz5i8MXZ4L5CYl6W9PjD1mZmgM50fuyC7DtnfZ1qHxnJ2tll98TeM-CYnSBCkBsBNiWd8z8ekMCLUu3p0if_hR2Fp90Q11rG7TZW1f73gB-pPe3J7sRLSk_NR8qlhCBybY/s1600/mickey+typical+grip.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifGcl2z1Y1Jtz5i8MXZ4L5CYl6W9PjD1mZmgM50fuyC7DtnfZ1qHxnJ2tll98TeM-CYnSBCkBsBNiWd8z8ekMCLUu3p0if_hR2Fp90Q11rG7TZW1f73gB-pPe3J7sRLSk_NR8qlhCBybY/s640/mickey+typical+grip.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Have trouble picking up small toys like Mickey for role playing?</span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6N08lNNgAf4opD78157s1rslhD-hNayNZwhjymMtcaH7XkGbLSQ5ij99Bx9YpOW0d5NWz8m7e2T901jcBYNlMgiVjUBaob-ONnP0Dmd6_Bn52FqVTz7U18Va0HVLb4IvYXHKkXuse3-k/s1600/adapted+mickey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6N08lNNgAf4opD78157s1rslhD-hNayNZwhjymMtcaH7XkGbLSQ5ij99Bx9YpOW0d5NWz8m7e2T901jcBYNlMgiVjUBaob-ONnP0Dmd6_Bn52FqVTz7U18Va0HVLb4IvYXHKkXuse3-k/s640/adapted+mickey.jpg" width="425" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Simply add a handle! Popsicle sticks work well. </span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1w58xv6231P5SQhUgy7_6gnqChMhMwWF5HGdtUMT7-CSnAP_z_SBCMfusDkVZIpPW2Lnj3kVtc9ZhPwgjOqa95lT-3vh1xn_eZe6bwqOfj52DIorm6l8D4EuIbHkOwaa0b4nxCq4yuZ8/s1600/adapted+painted+truck.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV_fW_1jOsVTftJ4jjiKlhcwLb4JDqVS4qV0vzB4WJE0VywqN-PbFf5dyik4sMgjm7cGQDvJsCcZNRpakGrcDcVIGNK7Woyw5dOeQToUSrmg9Nb2e-n_Lfu48SN_rbNXDkB8ns83-vPmU/s1600/cork+puzzle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">Enjoyed these creative suggestions for play? Check out our website: milestonesandmiracles.com for the opportunity to see a unique product that pairs developmental milestones with fun play ideas like these! Treat yourself to 1-2-3 Just Play With Me today!</a></span></div>
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<br />Milestones and Miracleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18070443324349239634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8769928882750723186.post-43420652460295024782012-04-18T06:29:00.001-07:002012-04-18T19:13:30.185-07:00Mother's Day gift ideas for MEN that will make you look like a superhero<style>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Dear Men of The World, </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Mother’s Day is fast approaching. The time of year when ladies across the world expect much and you men of young children procrastinate decisions regarding just HOW to help their kiddos honor their mothers. Wipe those sweaty palms gentleman. We are here to help. All your child’s mother wants is to be recognized and appreciated. There are simple ways to do this effectively and creatively….here are a few!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="color: blue; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;">·<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>Take over for a day. Completely. A mother often is the planner of the day and this job encompasses more than you likely realize. Making decisions. Packing bags. Thinking about dinner hours before it’s on anyone else’s mind. Making appointments. Making sure the jersey for tomorrows game is washed today. A mother’s job requires pre planning, organization, and energy. Take those responsibilities away for the day and do it for her! I know it sounds daunting but I’m sure she’ll be happy to provide you a handy list of details to make it possible. Don’t forget dinner!</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="color: blue; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="color: blue; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;">·<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>Make spa day appointments. Book her a massage. Or facial. Or pedicure. Or all three. Drive her there and pick her up. Or better yet, surprise her by having her own mother or best friend pick her up and pay for them both to go to lunch!</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="color: blue; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="color: blue; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;">·<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>Leave! Take the kids out for a few hours and leave her with some new bath salts, take out lunch, and a good book. Encourage her to treat herself to a nap.</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="color: blue; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="color: blue; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;">·<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>Hire a cleaning service! Even if it is only for one day she will adore you as if you’ve presented her with Angelina’s new rare diamond. Trust me. Mother’s dream about this.</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="color: blue; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="color: blue; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;">·<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>You can never go wrong with jewelry. Especially something she’s had an eye on for a while. Not sure what she likes? Ask her best friend. She will know. </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="color: blue; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="color: blue; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;">·<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>Write a letter. I know men often have trouble expressing themselves but take your time and let her know how much you appreciate all she does for your family. List details. She’ll love you for noticing.</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="color: blue; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="color: blue; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;">·<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>Have your kids write a similar letter. If they can’t write, ask them questions and fill in the blank for them. This is often sweet and hilarious. “I love my Mommy because…….My Mommy is really good at…….. My Mommy always says……….” You get the picture. You can even frame the answers.</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="color: blue; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="color: blue; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;">·<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>Book a photo session. This woman is the rock of your family. Nothing will warm her heart as much as memories of the people she loves the most.</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="color: blue; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="color: blue; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;">·<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>Truth be told, most women appreciate the effort but don’t like you to pick out clothes for them. I know you don’t understand because you simply go into a store and pick up a pair of jeans in your width and length, but it’s not that easy for us…we have…curves. That being said, we often need new clothes that don’t have baby puke stains, holes, or aren’t stretched out and worn. Buy a gift card to her favorite clothing store, hand her a fresh cup of coffee to go, and give her the afternoon to herself. </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="color: blue; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="color: blue; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;">·<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>Splurge and book a night away. It doesn’t have to be far away or extravagant. And you know whether she’d appreciate going as a family, with just you, or with her friends or by herself!</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="color: blue; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="color: blue; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;">·<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>Finish the “honey do” list without the nagging. We really don’t enjoy nagging, and nothing is more attractive than a guy unloading the dishwasher or fixing something on the list without being asked.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8jaK7N0-JBaSUqYvFl5AwMlfwFDchK6hO0y-cIHen4N-8OmTswHoiKHx6-ewRj7Fq-BP9Dooc8AzrXSnRMTkNr6aOx-xV2cBHy646pXJRotxTOZdKB3MLCkjWHw4YKUNOaPYW2IoBpa8/s1600/superdad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8jaK7N0-JBaSUqYvFl5AwMlfwFDchK6hO0y-cIHen4N-8OmTswHoiKHx6-ewRj7Fq-BP9Dooc8AzrXSnRMTkNr6aOx-xV2cBHy646pXJRotxTOZdKB3MLCkjWHw4YKUNOaPYW2IoBpa8/s320/superdad.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="color: blue; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">There you go! Pick one. Pick a few. You can thank me later, but trust me now. If you let the appreciation you have for the woman in your house be shown in these or other concrete examples of appreciation, you can’t go wrong! And you know what they say….if Mom is happy…everyone else is too! Grab your super hero cape & happy planning! And remember...it's only a few weeks until Father's Day!</span></div>Milestones and Miracleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18070443324349239634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8769928882750723186.post-37313660297512474222012-04-06T18:55:00.002-07:002012-04-07T04:22:28.432-07:00SHOWERING with SMART LOVE: Recommended Baby Shower GiftsThe baby shower. A time to prepare the friend in your life with all they will need to raise a small person. But, what do they really need? I remember my mother and her friends laughing at my baby shower about all the "stuff" and commenting and sarcastically questioning how they ever raised my friends and I without a wipe warmer!? As much as I love new baby gear, I agree that some of it in probably unnecessary. If you fill up a home with gadgets, gear, and too many toys to count, how will you have time or space to fully appreciate the incredible miracle that is a tiny newborn baby?<br />
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As early intervention therapists and mothers, we are often asked for recommendations for gifts for new babies and growing families. So we decided to share some of those suggestions with you in our blog today. These, of course aren't inclusive (there are others that we love), but here is our <b><u>Top 10 Baby Shower Gifts:</u></b><br />
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<u><b>1) Nesting Blocks</b></u>: An awesome "grow with me" toy, these can be progressed from early gazing, to hide and seek games, to stacking, counting, and sorting by color, to kicking, to pretend play homes! A great bang for your buck!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggCXrpL7M7WmDWss9eO9cfuZn23EKn4qkIie81W0iC9nAPIesstyF9SIYE4JsVkQm4EtRYQa3f9vgo13Dca9bJCxE8VBZVR4OHCiiTTZUlFRU6pOYHwetZWVCzxKUUEY1ZT4gkm7rQuo0/s1600/stacking+blocks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggCXrpL7M7WmDWss9eO9cfuZn23EKn4qkIie81W0iC9nAPIesstyF9SIYE4JsVkQm4EtRYQa3f9vgo13Dca9bJCxE8VBZVR4OHCiiTTZUlFRU6pOYHwetZWVCzxKUUEY1ZT4gkm7rQuo0/s320/stacking+blocks.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br />
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<u><b>2) Basket of Classic Books</b></u>: With a personal message to the child from you, a basket of classic books will foster bonding and literacy. I love reading books given to me at my baby shower to my daughters. And at 6 and 7 years old now, they enjoy reading the messages written to them from family and friends!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjStYKpaxAM2Ymf5F8UKn5n68vadqo7O-OSYfj7YOLu_A2ZnfDEavqhZ_sluPH3P1JaJHzXDdsMUG-4mLN40ppN2rvs09wbxXksweClEPMZd7OJwkxrD4AzpfX5Z0yKxqkLBn-iM0ahV9c/s1600/BabyBasket.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjStYKpaxAM2Ymf5F8UKn5n68vadqo7O-OSYfj7YOLu_A2ZnfDEavqhZ_sluPH3P1JaJHzXDdsMUG-4mLN40ppN2rvs09wbxXksweClEPMZd7OJwkxrD4AzpfX5Z0yKxqkLBn-iM0ahV9c/s320/BabyBasket.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<u><b>3) A Simple Ball</b></u>: It shocks me how many houses I work in don't have a ball for play! A simple and inexpensive gift, a toy ball can be used early on to help babies gain postural strength and later on for turn taking and coordination. Every child needs a ball.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXEiBFmVMYHDktyQ-jCDG5jwpj1aVqBJ6gFY0EdMA17pIgX3iKHG_LjU345LsjObEviLNHQ8WC70QHtUuZthFj_1ExcUc7QwMnLwTs08TMn_1tduFa_Afc6SVjzgroamzjrx-paBoz41I/s1600/ball.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXEiBFmVMYHDktyQ-jCDG5jwpj1aVqBJ6gFY0EdMA17pIgX3iKHG_LjU345LsjObEviLNHQ8WC70QHtUuZthFj_1ExcUc7QwMnLwTs08TMn_1tduFa_Afc6SVjzgroamzjrx-paBoz41I/s320/ball.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<u><b>4) Baby Carrier</b></u>: I remember an early realization as a new mom. The baby carrier (otherwise known as my new best friend) was the only way I could grocery shop (ummm, the car seat fills the entire shopping cart!), get anything done around the house, or calm a fussy baby suffering from acid reflux. As a mom, I couldn't have lived without it. As a physical therapist, I love the chest to chest bonding, neutral growth fostered by the close, warm contact, and postural strengthening these provide.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiev4hD_41gnpfznEMkjWb-mP3ldjRVKvWFERgCg83cLiE9QYLu-5aZEXMEbkJsHrVeA65otIX_8b8aDj_SU3Gv5YoH1AOt81bupexc3l4cKBviBxyktxcgxUHRh4k_Rrf7QzStVWsjUck/s1600/baby+carrier.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiev4hD_41gnpfznEMkjWb-mP3ldjRVKvWFERgCg83cLiE9QYLu-5aZEXMEbkJsHrVeA65otIX_8b8aDj_SU3Gv5YoH1AOt81bupexc3l4cKBviBxyktxcgxUHRh4k_Rrf7QzStVWsjUck/s320/baby+carrier.jpg" width="206" /></a></div><br />
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<u><b>5) Black And White/Geometric Mobile</b></u>: My initial response when armed with the powerful "registry gun"was to go for the matchy cute pastel mobile. I'm glad my "therapy brain" overpowered that urge and we went for an awesome black and white geometric option. Simply put, new babies see and recognize these colors and shapes easily and they enjoy them much more.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIQ1trXENPNB47ExNgZAtt8sRuwlXn969K-726cPhc6GqFH70Xbf5x1yQtgJYi9tc0ir7v3rYEoYZTjklViACQ7vcwIFTaHrDzGvOKGi6_FGqxIxHkxkfoFdmakAUpfbKm_WnLcjwAFlM/s1600/diy-high-contrast-baby-mobile.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIQ1trXENPNB47ExNgZAtt8sRuwlXn969K-726cPhc6GqFH70Xbf5x1yQtgJYi9tc0ir7v3rYEoYZTjklViACQ7vcwIFTaHrDzGvOKGi6_FGqxIxHkxkfoFdmakAUpfbKm_WnLcjwAFlM/s320/diy-high-contrast-baby-mobile.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<u><b>6) Baby Mirror</b></u>: So many functional purposes for the baby mirror! These encourage early head control, body awareness, and social and language development and keep baby occupied gazing at their amazing selves!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWhrJTZ2V9O8HEmMPbIAxv35m9o0zkkkmF_2iyFp34W4B6GpEZ7y5TTin_OouYVXUl1PV-VIUH9yXN9hyphenhyphenCp5ng4W4O2FGL4dK4Plr-yknZYEZcHPDM4zNLJscjK_1FMmxIVCdJafkuGjQ/s1600/baby+mirror.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWhrJTZ2V9O8HEmMPbIAxv35m9o0zkkkmF_2iyFp34W4B6GpEZ7y5TTin_OouYVXUl1PV-VIUH9yXN9hyphenhyphenCp5ng4W4O2FGL4dK4Plr-yknZYEZcHPDM4zNLJscjK_1FMmxIVCdJafkuGjQ/s320/baby+mirror.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br />
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<u><b>7) Bumbo Seat</b></u>: I'm generally not a fan of what I like to call "the baby container." You've heard it over and over - floor time is best! But, I also understand that sometimes the floor just doesn't cut it! When that's the case, and when the baby is strong enough, The Bumbo Seat is my favorite as it supports while allowing movement and strengthening.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnouwgBAuRy_KlLUpkakR6zsytiCHshDTKiC2lzh0-c6LIe4kmjO3NpPCU1TC5B7JG2kB5ZC1tzeDx0p-zr4LbkurYxPhFlnHX11RaOWipoVS6OmoBf8gRywsZ7PxuNGeScwRWb7KEkHU/s1600/bumbo" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnouwgBAuRy_KlLUpkakR6zsytiCHshDTKiC2lzh0-c6LIe4kmjO3NpPCU1TC5B7JG2kB5ZC1tzeDx0p-zr4LbkurYxPhFlnHX11RaOWipoVS6OmoBf8gRywsZ7PxuNGeScwRWb7KEkHU/s1600/bumbo" /></a></div><br />
<u><b>8) Links</b></u>: Cheap. Easy to clean. Easy to transport. And most importantly, easy to hold. These are my first choice of an object to place in an infants hand. A great choice for encouraging early fine motor and hand-eye coordination. And there are so many uses for these -- dangling as a mobile on the go, counting or sorting by color as baby turns into toddler... And if you are better and not losing things than I, you could even keep these for early addition practice with an older toddler.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKlnIe35ViXerGrKN0g79fhYrqDmqc7hBL8Vfoj5cXqxAYoT1f3avqe6qetNTqt_fEaenNzOMUh4SAAcWaeiv88CSZXWALU6oRj3vpb-n00KI2nFVFdMGtbQZMwp28sds0dAv2I6srwjk/s1600/links.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKlnIe35ViXerGrKN0g79fhYrqDmqc7hBL8Vfoj5cXqxAYoT1f3avqe6qetNTqt_fEaenNzOMUh4SAAcWaeiv88CSZXWALU6oRj3vpb-n00KI2nFVFdMGtbQZMwp28sds0dAv2I6srwjk/s320/links.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<u><b>9) Gift Certificate for Photography</b></u>: Baby comes. Money is short, but memories are precious. Especially, with a second, third, or fourth child, a gift of photography will be a much appreciated gift. The darling newborn photo below is graciously shared on our website by Bellies To Earth Photography (http://www.bellies2earthphotography.com/).<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvRuMs9M36ajb-TlRLQ48-wVB5k5beOg15ND4qQeuYUHAc4Q7htOfoCCNCEcSVBEoHqrWzE8atEmLtjyYgS9wyLqxjN3IH7SoN_gyKHm0SR8rh4amb3L_5OPdd4Ynz6EWOTlJggZb1mgY/s1600/baby+on+pink+rug.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvRuMs9M36ajb-TlRLQ48-wVB5k5beOg15ND4qQeuYUHAc4Q7htOfoCCNCEcSVBEoHqrWzE8atEmLtjyYgS9wyLqxjN3IH7SoN_gyKHm0SR8rh4amb3L_5OPdd4Ynz6EWOTlJggZb1mgY/s320/baby+on+pink+rug.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<u><b>10) 1-2-3 Just Play With Me</b></u>! At Milestones & Miracles, we believe the most important thing your baby needs is YOU! With over 22 combines years of home based intervention, we have lots of practice being creative with what is in each family's home. We combined those creative ideas with what we know about early development and authored a product that is perfect as a shower gift for new families. 75 beautiful cards and housed in a boutique style box and are easily sorted by color (one for each developmental domain) and placed in order from birth to three. The front of each card lists milestones for specific ages and the back pairs each with suggestions for simple play using simple objects like those listed above along with household items (Tupperware, egg cartons, and the shiniest spoon in your kitchen among a few). Gift a friend or yourself with 3 years worth of knowledge and fun today. Check out milestonesandmiracles.com to view a sample pdf card or purchase today! We ship for FREE! Happy shopping!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh921fK7J6crnkiGcgbaD0mUzN_8lszBb6d3-Za-WW6KOGeKjlD-6KdMLlxJ-qH6h5S7nK7tOaczfTxkgwqSC34kaetJZd6IyoIQG9qVDdDpvqtsCk4iLZh1ZysMn-OLY5J52suCA0R4v0/s1600/box+on+shelf+lamb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh921fK7J6crnkiGcgbaD0mUzN_8lszBb6d3-Za-WW6KOGeKjlD-6KdMLlxJ-qH6h5S7nK7tOaczfTxkgwqSC34kaetJZd6IyoIQG9qVDdDpvqtsCk4iLZh1ZysMn-OLY5J52suCA0R4v0/s320/box+on+shelf+lamb.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Milestones and Miracleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18070443324349239634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8769928882750723186.post-73061181397840320202012-04-02T03:24:00.000-07:002012-04-02T03:24:28.079-07:00Light It Up Blue! to support Autism awareness<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdVKcqe6r51w6l4j_m1AIx03MYn-Iwxrd4R-F0kWubIodGcr6Vprt-ribaVTX6YEHY7qPhKFyHS_tTk5_WxkJnw4o71mYDb5wJ4dsP282izCZH0eDMU1s7zk4IcRhVvS1fSIXAQ4FY6_M/s1600/AS_10-Light-It-Up-Blue-logo-HORZ-e1332182628988.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdVKcqe6r51w6l4j_m1AIx03MYn-Iwxrd4R-F0kWubIodGcr6Vprt-ribaVTX6YEHY7qPhKFyHS_tTk5_WxkJnw4o71mYDb5wJ4dsP282izCZH0eDMU1s7zk4IcRhVvS1fSIXAQ4FY6_M/s320/AS_10-Light-It-Up-Blue-logo-HORZ-e1332182628988.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Today, April 2nd, is World Autism Awareness Day. In an effort to raise awareness of this growing public health concern, Autism Speaks is asking all of us to "Light It Up Blue". The Empire State Building will shine blue lights around its top, the Great Buddha at Hyogo in Kobe, Japan will be lit up blue and the Sydney Opera House, among many other global landmarks, will shine blue. The CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) just recently updated its estimate for autism prevalence to 1 in 88 children (1 in 54 boys and 1 in 252 girls). That is a 78% increase in 6 years (2002-2008). The president of Autism Speaks, the nation's largest autism science and advocacy organization, is now calling autism an epidemic in the US and calling our nation to action.</b></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Autism, also termed Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), on the Autism Speaks website is described as</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"...<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">a group of complex disorders of brain development. These disorders are characterized, in varying degrees, by difficulties in social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication and repetitive behaviors. They include autistic disorder, Rett syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder, pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) and Asperger syndrome."</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #111111; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"> </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #111111; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Symptoms of autism typically emerge between the ages of 2 and 3. Some "red flags" to look for are:</b></span></span><br />
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<ul style="line-height: 19px; list-style-type: disc; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><li style="line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No big smiles or other warm, joyful expressions by six months</span></li>
<li style="line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No back-and-forth sharing of sounds, smiles, or other facial expressions by nine months</span></li>
<li style="line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No babbling by 12 months</span></li>
<li style="line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No back-and-forth gestures, such as pointing, showing, reaching, or waving by 12 months</span></li>
<li style="line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No words by 16 months</span></li>
<li style="line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No two-word meaningful phrases (without imitating or repeating) by 24 months</span></li>
<li style="line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Any loss of speech or babbling or social skills at any age</span></li>
</ul><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #111111; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Your pediatrician can help you identify these behaviors in your child and refer you to a specialist. But it is also important that you, as a parent, be aware of the signs and symptoms and express any concerns to your pediatrician should you suspect that your child is at risk. Awareness of typical development between the ages of 2 and 3 is critical so that you can identify any delays in your child. <i>1-2-3 Just Play With Me</i> can provide you with a guide to follow, tracking your child's development in not only language and social skills, but motor, cognitive and self-help skills as well. Let's face it, our pediatricians are busy people and care for our children in so many ways. Unless we express concerns to them specific to autism, your doctor may miss some signs that you could help them identify. Early detection, intervention and proven behavior therapies improve the prognosis for children with autism. Know the signs, familiarize yourself with typical child development and be ready to advocate for your child should you need to. For more information on Autism visit www.autismspeaks.org.</b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">o</span></span>Milestones and Miracleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18070443324349239634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8769928882750723186.post-80856197837283557262012-03-29T10:21:00.000-07:002012-03-29T10:21:58.446-07:00A Time For Everything! The time for 1-2-3 Just Play With Me is Now!Schedules. Sometimes we yearn for them to make the day seem normal. Sometimes we despise them and long for freedom. Families are busy and children are expected to follow "the schedule." But for all kids, this is not that simple. Every day as early intervention therapists, we are asked questions just like this one, "How can I help my child transition between activities more easily?"<br />
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It's questions like this, that encouraged us to create <i><b>1-2-3 Just Play With Me</b></i>. This product, a card set is a unique product as it combines milestones associated and each stage and in each developmental domain with simple, fun, and interactive play strategies that match each milestone. As mothers, my business partner and I feel it is unique as it it is a quick, all in one easy reference that allows a parent to enjoy each stage and not feel overwhelmed. We were unable to find such a reference that gave milestones AND activities in a simple format when our children were infants and toddlers. As therapists, we believe in the idea that developmental and interactive play is crucial for child development. We also feel the product helps to supplement developmental screens at regular pediatrician check up visits. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here it is! Perfect gift for yourself or others!</td></tr>
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So today, we are blogging to show you just how this card set can work practically in your day. If you had the same question listed above for your own child, the card set would help you understand WHEN difficulty with transitions is actually typical with children and WHAT are some SIMPLE WAYS to work through the stage and make day more enjoyable for your family.<br />
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Our cards are in order from birth to three and each color represents a different developmental domain (gross and fine motor, social-emotional, speech and language, and cognitive skills). For the challenge of transition troubles a parent could pull out card number 56 (a blue card representing social emotional development) and read that transition trouble (along with other skills) are typical at this age. Flipping the card around will reveal a pairing of play ideas and education to coordinate with this stage.<br />
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Here's some practical ideas that are shared on the back of card 56. Tactile or visual representations of the day can be helpful in a child understanding what comes next. Toddlers usually don't understand units of time, but they can learn to understand what is first, next, and last. These are easy ways to reinforce a schedule.<br />
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<b><u>THE START FINISH BIN:</u></b> Place items representing the child's day (plastic food, toothbrush, car, small blanket) in the start bin and the beginning of each day. When an activity has been completed, let the child move the item representing that activity (block for play time) in the finish bin.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk9BzvJIGmOYBlAJjHf7rJURUO-Wq_0Mrb5IucX9Fy_KvcJkWPTBDWayG_AfJP5GM6kEHyD-18E3vX7PDTq6pAsg615En36G5nIAjUos0_2bMmh5SOgNkFM7NDpSPXSos7gwXoOYVeJNU/s1600/start+finish.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk9BzvJIGmOYBlAJjHf7rJURUO-Wq_0Mrb5IucX9Fy_KvcJkWPTBDWayG_AfJP5GM6kEHyD-18E3vX7PDTq6pAsg615En36G5nIAjUos0_2bMmh5SOgNkFM7NDpSPXSos7gwXoOYVeJNU/s200/start+finish.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">START FINISH BIN</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9bpJBSJ7yXQxeAC1yMbxufK8vIdU5sk4LE9Q5Re59kQcTkndMuuWQopvsQHwfmmenPbOY8Roh4hPesesRGAB9jWQNjowbdXUIugJlsC-D9DFquE1K5UL9-E9W8dtYuNPkUIuBXVyBVGA/s1600/start+finish+%25231.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9bpJBSJ7yXQxeAC1yMbxufK8vIdU5sk4LE9Q5Re59kQcTkndMuuWQopvsQHwfmmenPbOY8Roh4hPesesRGAB9jWQNjowbdXUIugJlsC-D9DFquE1K5UL9-E9W8dtYuNPkUIuBXVyBVGA/s200/start+finish+%25231.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">BEGINNING OF THE DAY - LOTS TO DO!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTBlRZ2vnE52Y8u48sfYVpcxdjVSX5OO8u_0Om74GZtqDNjBqcF3AX5f734-j8mDbv_ZbjRq-eWQm7GaheJS6cGuiprymfT8dmKFvgwpC_dhp5qFdGewzs-aN8v-tWj6iLgfc-B1b_Vtg/s1600/start+finish+%25232.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTBlRZ2vnE52Y8u48sfYVpcxdjVSX5OO8u_0Om74GZtqDNjBqcF3AX5f734-j8mDbv_ZbjRq-eWQm7GaheJS6cGuiprymfT8dmKFvgwpC_dhp5qFdGewzs-aN8v-tWj6iLgfc-B1b_Vtg/s200/start+finish+%25232.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">BANANAS! BREAKFAST IS OVER!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX59VbU1K3Aktxgpy3E-bI21M_gYB1pxoQzmahIXjvW_qqtaCmXAxrttbtW-PzR0su-6sbYzMq7jq5cN6xBUhU4IqrddX2QpcaRV4zLbjNWIQz_-J8lnEM5AmrbXG_e4bA0Abq5l-mc1U/s1600/start+finish+%25233.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX59VbU1K3Aktxgpy3E-bI21M_gYB1pxoQzmahIXjvW_qqtaCmXAxrttbtW-PzR0su-6sbYzMq7jq5cN6xBUhU4IqrddX2QpcaRV4zLbjNWIQz_-J8lnEM5AmrbXG_e4bA0Abq5l-mc1U/s200/start+finish+%25233.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">TIME TO GO BYE-BYE!</td></tr>
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If you child likes books, a simple <u><b>photo album</b></u> with pictures of your child doing daily activities. You can "read" the story of the day to prepare your child for what lies ahead.<br />
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This simple <u><b>Velcro schedule</b></u> (made on a piece of card board from the recycling bin) allows you to change the order of your day as your routines change.<br />
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Another option to accommodate changing schedules is using a simple<u><b> plastic pocket sheet</b></u>. This one was purchased at an office supply store as an insert meant to hold business cards in a binder. Printed pictures were placed in each pocket and placed on the side of the refrigerator to mark the main activities of the day.<br />
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A fun way to get your child engaged in their daily routine is to let them move a picture of themselves from activity to activity. How cute is that?!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRmtTPbQ3cLJIKrddQyi587_uSSCIDqIscbIcSZXWfmTkMvZYmdz3r7nAg6-6IunWRIAffdAmNdiGUeH-T27nqbOgdhil4phtO35bqoMxwVwHyo5546NQcknlWBF_6XA77VDKqndeocBs/s1600/kid+in+schedule.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRmtTPbQ3cLJIKrddQyi587_uSSCIDqIscbIcSZXWfmTkMvZYmdz3r7nAg6-6IunWRIAffdAmNdiGUeH-T27nqbOgdhil4phtO35bqoMxwVwHyo5546NQcknlWBF_6XA77VDKqndeocBs/s320/kid+in+schedule.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br />
Whether you use these ideas or your own, remember that empowering your child with knowledge of what to expect in their day helps them to become more effective at regulating their emotions and preparing himself for changes which equate to a more peaceful day for you!!<br />
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Like these suggestions? 1-2-3 Just Play With Me is filled with 75 cards that will educate you on what's happening with your child and encourage you to jump in and play with relevant, simple, and creative ideas just like these. Order three years worth of knowledge and ideas today at milestonesandmiracles.com (click shop and play). Our website also has a pdf example of one of our cards. Want more information? Feel free to contact us on Face book (Milestones & Miracles) or email us today: milestonesandmiracles@gmail.com.<br />
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We believe that the better you understand your child at each stage, the more you can enjoy and cherish each moment of those precious early years! They sure pass quickly! Enjoy!Milestones and Miracleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18070443324349239634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8769928882750723186.post-16836262409031852192012-02-13T18:43:00.000-08:002012-02-13T18:43:34.874-08:00Preparing your baby for the NEW babyThis weekend my kids took part in a sibling class at our local hospital. My 6 year old daughter was in her glory, as I suspected she would be! She could answer most of the instructor's questions, she diapered and swaddled her doll like a pro and hogged most of the time in front of the nursery window "oohhhing" and "aahhing" at the newborn babies. I wasn't sure what to expect from my 3 1/2 year old...but he did surprisingly well too! He participated in the activities and was excited to hold, diaper and swaddle his doll (even though it was girl!). <br />
In about a month, our family of four is going to become a family of 5. Or as some would say, my husband and I are moving from man to man defense to zone! And as most parents do, I am already feeling guilty about how having another child will rock the worlds of my daughter and son. I am confident my daughter will adjust well; she has already been through this once when her brother was born and was so excited about him and helping me take care of him she didn't have time to be jealous. And now that she is older and more able to help out, I will be sure to give her some responsibilities in helping to take care of the baby so that she feels even more important as a second time big sister. I do worry about my son, though. I admit I have babied him for longer than I should've; carrying him whenever he asks, excusing some of his behavior that should be disciplined and conceding when he kicks and screams when I should stand firm. It wasn't until recently that he started acknowledging to others that there even is a baby in my tummy. Up until then he would tell them there was a puppy in there! I do think it was difficult for him to grasp the idea of me pregnant. It was an abstract thing to him until until my tummy got so big it was in his way when he sat in my lap! I also think the pregnancy clicked more with him after I showed him pictures of when he was in my tummy and the day he was born. <br />
So to prepare both of the kids for what lies ahead I have been reading up on the do's and don'ts when it comes to welcoming a new sibling into the family. I'm hoping to ease this transition for all of us, and hope that these tips help your family in the same way too!<br />
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Before the New Baby arrives:<br />
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*Visit the hospital where the baby will be delivered to help ease your child's anxiety about where you will be when you are gone.<br />
*Enroll your child(ren) in a sibling preparation class. Ours was offered by the Wellness program through our local hospital...totally worth the registration costs, in my opinion! <br />
*Read age-appropriate books or watch videos about becoming a big brother/sister. Check out your local library for this.<br />
*Allow the older sibling(s) to help prepare for the baby: make a list of what the baby will need, let them help you decorate the nursery (hanging a picture drawn by the big sibling in the baby's room really helps them feel involved), help mommy pack her suitcase for the hospital.<br />
*Share photos with your older child(ren) of when they were born.<br />
*Help the older child(ren) create or pick out a special gift to give to the new baby.<br />
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After the Baby arrives:<br />
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*Try to keep your old routine up for the older child(ren) as much as you can. The familiarity and predictability of the "old routine" will help ease any anxiety your older child(ren) may be experiencing about the change in your family after the new baby's arrival.<br />
* Provide your child(ren) with a baby doll and props (diaper bag, diapers, blanket, etc.) so that they may care for their baby while you care for your new baby.<br />
*Include the older sibling(s) in the routine of caring for the new baby.<br />
*Don't "blame the baby" ( example: say you have to leave somewhere because the baby has to eat). This may cause your older child(ren) to resent the baby.<br />
*Attach emotions to the baby's cries; she's crying because she's hungry or tired.<br />
*Encourage friends and family to greet your older child(ren) before greeting the baby and to ask the older child(ren) about the new baby. Older siblings will take pride in sharing the news of their new sibling and want to be considered the baby expert by others!<br />
*And lastly, try to schedule some one on one time with your older child(ren) daily. Just 15 minutes a day to play and engage with them will reassure them that are loved and not forgotten about.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijL2P9Va22-_nqWd47cnMk2nU-oYp_fbqpJ35dfs_tY73JeGhMKsOyFb6AGN51txmOAQwEf26zij2QhKwomgVGtYYGcxx9vDOCrjBGV6R5X2aLRrNURAAvNFcu9kq5QXzsW3UhszEQcSs/s1600/IMG_0037.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijL2P9Va22-_nqWd47cnMk2nU-oYp_fbqpJ35dfs_tY73JeGhMKsOyFb6AGN51txmOAQwEf26zij2QhKwomgVGtYYGcxx9vDOCrjBGV6R5X2aLRrNURAAvNFcu9kq5QXzsW3UhszEQcSs/s320/IMG_0037.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
My son, hard at work, diapering his baby.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9T9o8XV8xuTnfnCW2xyoLX-gOOobm2w9LSadaSGFxOzR3JEXiK4kxW2_IFS3fmCku3yYNJ2i-3g4CmxP-i0KXOi8E_s8eQIHOJTttf47mRKvOUN34vskiDt_AKJQx-bFiwgSS1VHmFU4/s1600/IMG_0044.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9T9o8XV8xuTnfnCW2xyoLX-gOOobm2w9LSadaSGFxOzR3JEXiK4kxW2_IFS3fmCku3yYNJ2i-3g4CmxP-i0KXOi8E_s8eQIHOJTttf47mRKvOUN34vskiDt_AKJQx-bFiwgSS1VHmFU4/s320/IMG_0044.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> My daughter, proud of her "Official Big Sister" certificate.Milestones and Miracleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18070443324349239634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8769928882750723186.post-10671286963710173522012-01-28T15:37:00.000-08:002012-01-28T15:37:27.695-08:00It's NOT all about YOU! A Mother's wish for her children to recognize others in the world.<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> <style>
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</style> </div><div class="MsoNormal">From the minute we know we will become parents, we advocate for, make decisions around, and cheer on our children. Give up caffeine and wine. Magically find time for rest, exercise, and excellent nutrition. Make time for doctor’s visits and rearrange or even buy a new house to make room for baby! They come into this world and we instantly revert to no longer having time for rest, exercise, and excellent nutrition because we give that to them – intensely focusing on what and how they eating, the quality and amount of their sleep, and if they grow and develop safely. From the time they say a first word or take a first step to the time they’ll take steps to receive a diploma or down an isle in a church, we cheer them on, become overwhelmed with their joys and their sorrows, and are always there for whatever they need, whenever it is needed. The job of a parent is the most selfless job in the world (well, maybe behind a teacher!) yet miraculously the most rewarding.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I wondered from the time my girls were small, how if I showered them with love, time, support, and affection like I know every child needs (and deserves) and like I naturally want to give to them, they not become self-absorbed. You see, one of my many soap boxes (don’t even get me started on the importance of tummy time, the tragedy of decreased physical activity in schools, and the injustice of the legal system against children) is that so many kids seem to think, “it’s all about me.” It’s really not their fault. I mean, our culture promotes self -obsession through 24-7 reality shows and tweeting and Face booking every time someone in our home blinks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But even as I myself report our family’s “status updates” to my friends and family around the world, I sincerely want my children to think of others before themselves. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">How do we get there? I marvel at the friends that have “gone before me” with grown children who have met this desired goal of mine. I’ve picked their brains…what did they do? How did they promote awareness of others? At the same time I’m not too naïve.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know that children who see parents who are compassionate and aware of others around them have a better chance of behaving the same way – through example. Yet still, it seems like in the never ending days of <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I need milk now-wanted a pony tail not a clip-did you bring me a snack-you took my homework out of my bag-where are my shoes” type scenarios, we may never get there no matter how hard I try.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In the past few weeks, our family has begun to juggle some big changes. Nothing earth shattering or devastating…just life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Arranging to help move and care for an elderly grandparent, possibly changing jobs after a 12 day notice of losing medical insurance (that’s another soapbox for another day!).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just when I think, do my girls really “get this?” Could they not in their 7 and 5 year old selves perceive stress in their exhausted parents and PUT THEIR LAUNDRY IN THE HAMPER?! </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The answer is no. We aren’t there yet, but we’ll get there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know this without a doubt because when I came home the other night I found this taped to my fridge.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">We started selling some forwarded copies of 1-2-3 Just Play With Me last week (the rest will be here Monday or Tuesday!) and my sweet girl had taped this up for me, for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She might not perceive stress or life changes yet, but she does “get it” in a 7 year old way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is my little advocate. My little cheerleader. Just as excited for my joys as myself (if not more).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is proud of me and it makes my heart smile. I left it there this week to remind myself to enjoy where we are right now. Every day. Because even with the stress, and even with the seemingly endless string of self-absorbed moments that my children seem to have, I have hope that they see others as well as themselves. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that is miraculously rewarding.</div>Milestones and Miracleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18070443324349239634noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8769928882750723186.post-23648560682303273582012-01-09T10:37:00.000-08:002012-01-09T10:37:53.527-08:00"Using Toys to Support Infant-Toddler Learning and Development"<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">This is a great article we wanted to share from the National Association for the Educaiton of Young Children. The article explains how simiple, everyday household items can be interesting and beneficial toys for little ones. It reminds us to choose our kids' toys based upon the basic principles of child development and the role of play, not popularity or price. Toy companies want us to think the most expensive toy that sings the most songs and has the most lights is going to be what's best for our child's development. But that is not so. Children often find more basic toys, often homemade ones, more intriguing because their minds are challenged. So read on, and rethink what is in your child's toy box.</span></span><br />
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<div style="color: #dc247c; font: 28.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #dc247c; font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">http://www.naeyc.org/files/yc/file/201109/Using%20Toys_Guyton_Online_0911.pdf</span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My nephew and daughter enjoying the box more than what came in it!</td></tr>
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</span></span></span></div>Milestones and Miracleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18070443324349239634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8769928882750723186.post-67802510514960590612011-12-28T06:07:00.000-08:002011-12-28T06:07:41.665-08:00Somehow we got...here. Reflections on 2011<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Well, here we are. It’s the last week of December.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leftovers stock the fridge. Recycling bins overflow with a gazillion plastic and cardboard pieces. New toys clutter the floor. And hopefully, you are enjoying some lazy mornings in your PJ’s with your children like I am this morning.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">While 2011 comes to a close, I think it’s natural to look back to the past year and look ahead to the New Year. It always gives me a desire to look back and the memories our family has made. I’m working on a 2011 photo book (no time for scrapbooking this year!) and my girls and I will work on a photo collage for our Christmas book of all the beautiful faces we received on Christmas cards. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I find myself also looking back at the past year in terms of progress for our growing little family business, Milestones & Miracles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a few weeks (if the shipping gods smile favorable on us), we will receive 1000 units of our first product, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">1-2-3 Just Play With Me</i></b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a nutshell, it is a decorative boutique style box that houses 75 large cards. The cards pair milestones expected at each age with interactive, creative play ideas in each of the 5 areas of infant/toddler development, along with some reference material pertinent to parents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(More info at our website: milestonesandmiracles.com) When I sit still for a minute and realize that this “dream project” as we originally called it, is on it’s way to us, it sort of blows my mind. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">My best friend and I authored it and somehow we moved from a simple conversation beachside in Nags Head, NC that started with our shared realization that new parents are often too tired to read “the baby books” but want to learn about their baby. In addition, we realized that there are numerous products on development OR play ideas but nothing we knew about that paired them together. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And in our minds, nothing can be more enjoyable than parents knowing why their children are doing certain things and feeling empowered to relate to them through play. It’s said that play is the work of childhood, so why not make something that is easy to use, simple, and helps parents learn about how their babies “work,” while giving them fresh ideas and confidence to jump in and enjoy and bond?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Sure, why not! When I look back now, we ourselves had infants sleeping in Boppy Pillows in a beach tent and were juggling our daughters and work and home life. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What were we thinking?! Somehow we moved from idea to research and writing, to proofreading and more proofreading, to finding and working with a terrific graphic designer, to learning about copywriting, and printing, and mass production.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We “non-techy” therapists learned from supportive friends about websites and blogs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We talked to other small business owners about the practical sides of web sales. We reached out to leaders in early intervention for advice and opinions. And somehow, here we are. Waiting (impatiently) for 1000 copies of our vision to arrive.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">It makes me laugh to think we did this with kids in tow (asking dreamily if this would be in Target (the biggest of dreams for them!) and supportive husbands by our sides. Life moved on with a household move, the news of a new baby to come (not me!) and two of our children starting kindergarten. In reflection, it seems overwhelming to me, but in reality it was not. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">I believe that when you are passionate about something and have a vision, things eventually fall into place.</b> That’s what happened with us. We believe wholeheartedly that parents are the best teachers of children and that regular and real interaction (the kind that often makes messes or noise and is sprinkled with hugs) let’s babies and toddlers know they can trust and rely on the big people in their lives. That’s why we did this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We wanted to encourage parents to jump in and enjoy each milestone because they do pass so quickly. When our focus stayed on this vision, and with the many generous people in our lives who offered advice, help, proofreading, and prayers – we somehow got….here.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">So, at the end of 2012 Lacy and I thank you all. Thank you for reading. Thank you for your support. Thank you for encouragement. And thanks to those who believed in our “dream project.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As soon as our shipment hits our door (I really still can’t imagine what 1,000 of these boxes will look like!), we will let you know! Sometimes, the hardest part of a process like this is stopping all the work and planning, inhaling, and waiting to see how it turns out!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know if we made all the right choices, but we’ll never know, until we try, right? So we wish the same excitement and anticipation of something good for you in 2012…. that you will take the risk with whatever your “dream project” is right now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>New job? Dream Trip? Baby? Reuniting with old friends? Learning to play and instrument or sew? Running your first race? Or maybe simply slowing down and being fully present with your family? DREAM BIG! TAKE THE RISK! ENJOY!!</div><!--EndFragment-->Milestones and Miracleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18070443324349239634noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8769928882750723186.post-20054555005781031362011-11-28T05:12:00.000-08:002011-11-28T05:12:58.976-08:00Borrowed Words. Sometimes they are JUST what you need<h2 class="date-header">Sometimes, someone else's words are a better fit than your own. Today is one of those days. I woke up and read a blog of a friend of mine. She is the mother of a former patient named Brenden (and for the record I have her blessing to share all this information). Anyway, Brenden is a bright, funny, sweet boy who happens to have Spinabifida. On the day he was born, he visited three different hospitals and his worried mom followed behind him. Around that time, I was very busy with my work as a physical therapist and wasn't taking new patients but I got a call from a mutual friend of mine and Brenden's mom Michelle who shared his story and told me I WOULD be taking him on as a patient. </h2><h2 class="date-header">You know how sometimes you think you just don't have time for one more appointment, not another "to-do" on your list, not another responsibility, and it turns out to be just what you yourself needed? That was Brenden for me. That little boy and his family, like many of my patients are, were a gift, a lesson, a blessing in my life. So today, I share with you, his amazing mother's words. </h2><h2 class="date-header">Beyond the job of being a mom, she has found ways to help many other families who live with Spinabifida or other special needs. She even recently ran the NYC marathon to raise awareness and to honor Brenden's hard work. Lacy & I know we are fortunate to meet incredible people along the way in our jobs and I'm honored to share Michelle and Brenden with you. She is "paying it forward" big time and inspires me to find ways to do the same. I hope she does the same for you.</h2><h2 class="date-header"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meet Brenden. He loves cookies!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><h2 class="date-header"> <span id="goog_861840741"></span><span id="goog_861840742"></span></h2><h2 class="date-header">From her blog found at: http://jmbdugan.blogspot.com/ <br />
</h2><h2 class="date-header">Sunday, November 27, 2011</h2><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8769928882750723186" name="73895304355131889"></a> <br />
<div class="post-header"></div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-73895304355131889"><div align="center">I recently received an email from a friend from college....someone I hadn't talked to, well, since college. No reason really for us not talking, we just each went our own way. She's an Occupational Therapist and recently met a family who just found out their baby will be born in March with Spina Bifida. This young couple is so broken over the diagnosis, has no family close for support, and really don't know what to do. My friend asked a simple thing of me: Would I mind writing them a letter, telling them of our journey, where we've been, how far we've come, and any other words of wisdom I wanted to share with them. As I sat down to write this letter, I was at a loss for what to say. There was so much I wanted to say, so much they needed to hear, but I didn't really know how to start. I didn't want to say, "I'm sorry." Because I know how much I hate people saying that to me. I hate when people look at Brenden walking with a walker, and say, "Oh honey, I'm so sorry he has to use that." I'm not sorry, I'm glad that such a thing exists to allow him to walk. I'm glad that he has gained the strength in his legs to be able to use a walker. Moving on....so I emailed my friend telling her I wasn't sure what to write. Her response, was simple, "What does having a child with special needs mean to you?" And those 11 words were all I needed. </div><br />
<div align="center">The hours following Brenden's birth were gut wrenchingly painful. I experienced every emotion possible. I cried. I cried some more. I told my dad there was no way I could do "this." Not realizing then what "this" was. I was thrown into an unfamiliar world of neurosurgeons, urologists, OT's, PT's, Speech Therapists, and specialists I had never heard of. No one asked if I wanted to be in this place. And back then, I didn't want to be. But God had chosen me, and as much as I hated every minute of it, the UVA NICU was where I needed to be. It was where I held my baby boy for the first time. It was where I heard his sweet cry for the first time. It was where I realized just how lucky I was because I knew he would make it, when some of the babies around him would not. It was in that NICU that I went from being a scared young woman to being a strong mom. It was in those moments of not knowing what the future would hold, that I realized I had no choice but to dry my eyes, pick myself up, and do what I needed to do. I had a choice: sit around and wallow in the sadness that my child may never walk, talk, or have a "normal" life, or make sure I gave every ounce of my being to make sure he had a better than "normal" life. </div><br />
<div align="center">Having a child with special needs is no easy task. But it's the most rewarding thing I have ever experienced. It has taught my patience (though I could use some more). It has taught me that nothing in life should be taken for granted. It has made me realize how much the little things really do matter, from small milestones to the big ones, each moment is to be treasured. It has allowed me to see things for what they are really worth. Having a child with special needs is not a burden, despite what so many people think. I have learned that the world is ignorant when it comes to differently abled children, but it's my job to educate others, so that someday, it won't matter that a child needs to use a walker or wheelchair. </div><br />
<div align="center">I have found strength I never knew I had. Whether it's having the strength to speak up with I disagree with a doctor or the school system, or finding the strength to put my child into the arms of a surgeon, Brenden has made me strong. He makes me want to make a difference in this world, not only for those living with SB, but for every person who is differently abled. I want doctors to realize that a child is not defined by a diagnosis. </div><br />
<div align="center">Spina Bifida is not an excuse in our household. We don't allow it to be. I don't pity Brenden, and it drives me nuts when other people do. He can and will go far in life. Nicole, Brenden's PT with Birth to Three, told me several times to never lower my expectations of him. And I don't. He's expected to do the same things as Madelynn: put his dirty clothes in the hamper, pick up his toys, put his coat away when he takes it off, etc, etc, etc. </div><br />
<div align="center">To sum it up, being the parent of a child with special needs is a pretty special thing. It's not always peaches and cream, there are days that I wish I could make it disappear. But for every day like that, there are twice as many days that make me thankful to be in this place, thankful that God saw fit to trust me with Brenden. </div></div><span class="post-author vcard"> Posted by <span class="fn">The Dugan's</span> </span> <span class="post-timestamp"> at <a class="timestamp-link" href="http://jmbdugan.blogspot.com/2011/11/i-recently-received-email-from-friend.html" rel="bookmark" title="permanent link"><abbr class="published" title="2011-11-27T21:26:00-05:00">9:26 PM</abbr></a> </span>Milestones and Miracleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18070443324349239634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8769928882750723186.post-53445408991392496582011-11-21T15:26:00.000-08:002011-11-21T17:48:11.138-08:00Teaching your kids to giveRemember that old saying, "Tis better to give than to receive"? Well about this time every year, amongst all the gift wish lists and crazy shopping, I try to remind my children (and myself) of this life lesson. It's not easy, nor am I always successful with my moral lesson, but I try! Below we listed some websites and organizations that we have donated to in the past. All of them are related to giving to other children. I think if we expect our kids to understand the importance of giving to their neighbor, we need to choose a charity or organization that serves children. Then it will be easier for your child to empathize with the child in need. So as you are finalizing your holiday budget, considering cutting a few corners so that you can include a donation to someone in need. Not only will you be teaching your child about charity, you will feel good about yourself too!<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwhB2Rol-sdsbfdbU-rHbfprcUKVwCBmuA_1en6uaelLyFQRg06ZyWp_KFri1DQCz9akxPh9KXHepDMNGw2kT_U7cHyM2_G4IqSR4UwS5WEmLTNtMc0DzLR3SmLswvzFuHS8pOeMiWqdU/s1600/PNN_MainLogo_FA_RGB_150.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="139" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwhB2Rol-sdsbfdbU-rHbfprcUKVwCBmuA_1en6uaelLyFQRg06ZyWp_KFri1DQCz9akxPh9KXHepDMNGw2kT_U7cHyM2_G4IqSR4UwS5WEmLTNtMc0DzLR3SmLswvzFuHS8pOeMiWqdU/s200/PNN_MainLogo_FA_RGB_150.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;">Project Night Night</span></b> - A wonderful non profit organization that provides tote bags for you to stuff with a stuffed animal, blanket and book. The tote bags are then distributed to homeless and domestic violence shelters to children in need. Most of our children enjoy a story before bedtime and snuggle a "lovie" as they drift off into dreamland. How sad it is to think that some children are so quickly removed from their home and moved into shelters that they may not have time to grab any of their belongings. These night night packages hope to bring sweet dreams to all children in need. www.projectnightnight.org<br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">World Vision</span></b> - Their slogan is "Building a better world for children"...love it! World Vision offers many ways to support children in need and fight hunger around the world. You can sponsor a child, purchase animals, donate to help provide clean water, and many other donation opportunities. www.worldvision.org<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTMuevEIG01KKz72Pqvvruo-pmDthmwyWamBvKSvuw_UASa3avNHVpyQ6Y4KIePGVMkomyHUQFoieakATMgZPqyT9ic9AllpmPwsA38locFxOicwOY0cd68tR3Ga3E8CZlQ7XCcDiSRZ8/s1600/OCC_logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTMuevEIG01KKz72Pqvvruo-pmDthmwyWamBvKSvuw_UASa3avNHVpyQ6Y4KIePGVMkomyHUQFoieakATMgZPqyT9ic9AllpmPwsA38locFxOicwOY0cd68tR3Ga3E8CZlQ7XCcDiSRZ8/s200/OCC_logo.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Samartian's Purse</span></b> - Every year around the holidays Samaritan's Purse sponsors "Operation Christmas Child". By filling a shoebox with small toys and hygiene essentials, you could be giving a child around the world the only Christmas gift they will receive. To help your child better understand the impact of their gift, you can track your shoebox online to find out what country your shoebox is distributed and write a letter to the receiving child in the hopes of hearing back from them. www.samaritanspurse.org<br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: lime;">Read to Me</span></b> - A non profit that distributes care packages to underprivileged new moms in hospitals. Included in the care package is a new book, onesie, tote bag and a special note to mom explaining the importance of sharing the joy of books and reading with their newborn baby. You can make a monetary donation at www.readtomeco.org.<br />
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<span style="color: magenta;">Nuru International</span>: Founded by a WV native and a team of professionals who left high profile employment, Nuru is an innovative non-profit that sees the larger picture: extreme poverty feeds extreme terrorism. Nuru uses a grassroots approach to teach agriculture, leadership skills, education techniques, water and sanitation techniques, and health care techniques to area leaders to foster self-sustaining communities and ultimately ending poverty one community at a time. http://www.nuruinternational.org/<br />
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</div><span style="color: #38761d;">Berkeley County Back Pack Program</span> (or something similar in your community): The Back Pack Program was implemented in order to meet the needs of children when food resources are not available. Their main food source is what they receive at school. This program provides children with healthy and easy to consume foods that can be take home on weekends.Recommended items: Juice boxes,small water bottles, fruit cups, applesauce cups, individual size cereal boxes, granola bars, cheese/peanut crackers, pop tarts, raisins & small microwavable meals. Food that can be easily opened and prepared by a small child. Donations can be coordinated through their Facebook site: BC Back Pack Program<br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7;">Jessica Rocks for Timmy's Fund</span>: A non-profit that encourages creative fund raising for adults and kids to participate in -- with all funds going to support families whose children are undergoing treatment for cancer. jessicarocks.org <br />
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There are so many ways to give. A shut in neighbor. A women's shelter. A soup kitchen. Finding a place to teach our children to care for those around us is not the problem. Finding the time to do it and making it intentional is harder, but the lessons learned through hands on giving are greater than most things we try to teach and are certainly something to be thankful for.Milestones and Miracleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18070443324349239634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8769928882750723186.post-84061960189822579622011-11-06T17:52:00.000-08:002011-11-06T17:52:04.529-08:00Christmas Shopping with a PLAYFUL PURPOSEAs much as I am a "Thanksgiving advocate," it is happening. All around us, Thanksgiving is being skipped over (not to mention poor Veteran's Day!). The stores all seemed decked out with holly by Halloween and I've even heard a few carols. I know Christmas is quickly approaching when I open my mailbox and 4-5 toy catalogs fall out daily. I've paid specific interest to the contents of those catalogs this year. In preparation for 1-2-3 Just Play With Me arriving in January and doing a good bit of research to prepare for an early childhood conference we are speaking at in early 2012, we have read extensively about toys as tools for play and had some great conversations about what is available on the market today. Here's our verdict: It is not an easy task to find a "good toy" in large chain stores. There are some but they are the minority. What defines a "good toy" in our minds? One that can be used for several years in multiple ways. One that is durable, safe, and not overpriced. One that doesn't "do it all" for your child. In a recent article in Parents magazine, the founding director for the Alliance for Childhood, Joan Almon states, "A good toy is 95% child and 5% toy." We couldn't agree more. <br />
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So for all you parents who have early holiday shopping giddiness, we challenge you to ask yourself the following questions when standing in that toy aisle:<br />
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- How many ways can I think of this toy being used?<br />
- Will this toy promote language and social interaction for my child when playing with it?<br />
-Can I creatively think of ways this toy can be used rather than it's intended purpose?<br />
- Is this toy age appropriate for my child now and will he/she still find it interesting in some way in 6 months to a year?<br />
- Is the toy safe?<br />
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Working in the homes of families with small children has many benefits, but one is that I see first hand which toys are played with time and time again and which are pushed to the corner. I often embarrass my husband and kids in the stores around this time of year because when we find ourselves standing next to parents or grandparents in the toy section, I can't help either talking them into a toy or out of another!<br />
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The bad news is that you might have to search a bit harder for a great toy on your list for that special child in your life, but the good news is that often the toys that don't "do it all" for your child, are more reasonable. And being creative in your toy shopping can be quite fun.<br />
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Here's some suggestions:<br />
- Most children would love a trunk filled with dress up clothing (for boys and girls) from your closet or a thrift shop<br />
- Consider taking the dollars you'd spend on a big toy and instead purchasing an art center for a child. You can pick bins or shelves with baskets of art supplies (some purchased like paints and paper and some saved likes bottle caps or paper towel rolls), or maybe an easel or dry erase or chalkboard for endless hours of creative artistic play<br />
- Search for toys that can be used many ways. When I was a child, my parent's old calculator had to serve as a phone, calculator, computer, cash register, and space ship. We don't need to provide a separate toy for separate functions. Allowing children to translate their knowledge of an object or toy to a different purpose, builds problem solving and creative thinking skills. <br />
- Don't forget about music. I haven't met a kid who doesn't love a harmonica as a gift. They are very reasonable and unique.<br />
- Give the time of you sharing an experience with a child. Tickets to a play or show, a museum, or aquarium alongside a special adult are a lasting treasure.<br />
- Don't forget physical toys. Winter keeps some of us indoors, but remember that kids need to move to learn and to behave! Jump ropes make excellent stocking suffers and can be used in a variety of ways. Every child should have a ball to play with. Hula hoops are fun for toddlers and adults!<br />
- Magic sets, puppet shows, or kid friendly cook books with some cooking supplies are not commonly advertised, but nice choices for cooperative play. <br />
- Dolls and blocks are probably our favorite "bang for your buck" toys because they can be used in so many ways for so many years. Both promote language, social, and motor play and require all kids and no batteries to operate!<br />
- Look beyond the "regular stores." You can often find deals online or unique items in smaller shops.<br />
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We wish you a happy shopping season and hope these tips are helpful. You WILL always be your child's favorite toy, so no matter what you choose, don't forget to add your time and your attention on your list of gifts to give that special child in your life!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This shot of the my daughters' first Christmas together makes me smile! I knew our oldest might put lots of things from the house inside her new shopping cart....I never thought the first would be her baby sister!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</tbody></table>Milestones and Miracleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18070443324349239634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8769928882750723186.post-11832389498103902832011-10-24T06:57:00.000-07:002011-10-24T06:57:42.581-07:00Raising Healthy(er) Eaters!<!--[if !mso]> <style>
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</style> <![endif]--> <!--StartFragment--> </div><div class="MsoNormal">I’ll be the first to admit I don’t eat the healthiest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I enjoy my junk food, sweets and occasional sodas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I want to teach my kids differently.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want them to make healthier food choices earlier in life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also want them to eat what I cook!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I have had numerous discussions with members of my “Mommy Posse” about kids and food.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why won’t they try something new?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How can I get them to eat their meals?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Should I say no to a snack if I know they are truly hungry?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In raising my 5 and 3 year old thus far, I have learned a few tips I want to share.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of the ideas are borrowed from other mommies (and daddies) who, like myself, don’t want to be a short order cook!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst">1. Limit snacks throughout the day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Certainly when your children are babies, you should feed them when they are hungry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But kids quickly learn that if snacks are freely given, they don’t have to eat their meals, because something better will be given to them later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my house, if my kids don’t eat the food on their plates at dinner and they ask for a snack later, it has to be a “healthy” one.</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">2. Teach them early about healthy food choices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Print off the Food Guide Pyramid or “MyPlate” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(<a href="http://www.choosemyplate.gov/">http://www.choosemyplate.gov/</a>) , talk about portions and let them help you pick out the menu.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another good idea is to let them help you cook.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Often times, if kids are involved they are more like to try something new!</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">3. Limit drinks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Certainly if your child is thirsty, let them have water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But be careful, little bellies can fill up on milk, juice, etc. and not be hungry when mealtime rolls around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sippy cups were a wonderful invention.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, we allow kids to drink from them for too long, out of convenience for us (less spills to clean up), and our kids have access to them all the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Try keeping the cup at the table or in the fridge so your child only drinks when they are truly thirsty.</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">4. Only eat in the kitchen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If kids have to stop playing to eat, they will be less likely to graze all day long.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I just recently employed this rule in our home after a recent move.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(I’m trying to save my new carpet!)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Needless to say, my kids aren’t too happy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, I’m finding that they are eating meals a little better and snacking less throughout the day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">5. Define what are healthy foods and not so healthy foods.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my house there are only two food groups:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>healthy and junk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Healthy foods include veggies, fruits, grains and meats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Junk includes candy, chips, soda, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My 5 year old clearly knows the difference and doesn’t ask for anything from the “junk” category when it is off limits.</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast">6. Avoid being a short order cook.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know there are some really picky eaters out there and you have to feed them something, so this tip may not work for you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However if you can meal plan so that each child likes at least one of the sides you are serving with a meal, then you should be good to go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t fix a different meal for each kid, you’ll run yourself ragged and mealtime will become misery time.</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast">7. Try the lights out approach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another rule in my house related to the kitchen is that when the kitchen lights are off, that means the kitchen is closed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>SO DON’T ASK MOMMY FOR A SNACK!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some days I was felt like I never got out of the kitchen between fixing meals, cleaning up and serving snacks!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This rule has again helped my kids to limit the food begging.</div><div class="MsoListParagraph"><br />
</div><div class="MsoListParagraph">8. To piggyback on the Food Guide Pyramid and MyPlate, have your child help you create a meal checklist to help ensure that each healthy food group is represented at every meal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or you can keep a picture of MyPlate or the Food Guide Pyramid posted on the side of the frig and after your child fills their plate have them check to make sure they have appropriate portions and all food groups represented.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I hope these tips are useful to you and your little ones in helping you solve some of the food battles in your home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you don’t have any, consider yourself blessed!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Below is a picture of my youngest helping me make pumpkin pie (I told you I like sweets!).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Much to my surprise, because I involved him in the creation of the pie, he was super excited to taste it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And because he is MY son, he loved it <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span></div><!--EndFragment--><br />
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</span>Milestones and Miracleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18070443324349239634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8769928882750723186.post-39313540396422671942011-10-15T07:17:00.000-07:002011-10-15T16:51:15.452-07:00Yoga for Kids and for FUN!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
In the past few years, I've grown to love and cherish a weekly yoga class. I was longtime "aerobics girl" who spent years teaching and taking every "hot" class at the time, from step aerobics, to body pump, to Pilates. I even had some aerobics records back in the day and a worn out Cindy Crawford VHS. Well, I never quite turned into a super model, but I do love exercise and the switch to yoga was not exactly an easy one. I not only had to train by body, but for the first time, had to train my mind. For a mind that seems to goo 100 mph in 5 different directions at any given moment, this was no easy task. It took time and it took help, but with practice, I learned to turn off the continuous to-do list that scrolls through my brain as constant as the ticker at the bottom of the ESPN screen that runs pretty continuously in our house! I learned to center my thoughts and actually - be still, and be (gasp) quiet! Ironically, that silence has helped be hear some pretty important things. <br />
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When I became interested in yoga for myself, I wanted to share my new love with my other loves - my daughters and my patients. So, I took a continuing education course titled, "Integrating Yoga Into Your Pediatric Practice." It was right up my alley. The pamphlet said to come barefoot, in yoga pants, and with a mat -- my kind of CE course! We spent all day doing yoga that would appeal to children and learning how to incorporate this with a purpose. It was so fun!<br />
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Did you know that besides increasing flexibility and strength, yoga can improve body awareness, posture, motor coordination, concentration, digestion, circulation, mood, self esteem, and sensory regulation? Who would not want that for themselves or their kids? Plus, as winter approaches and more time is spent indoors this is something you can do with your children that can benefit all of you.<br />
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One of my daughters' favorites is to do poses that are animals. Here's a few to share. Add the corresponding sounds for fun!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Down Dog</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP628S_R4IeJH6iV6klAiUJP1RxJ56keM6bZAVy6IB73Y67D0rNtSEh7XE6Tkq0iucgxullmZPjwsXiUUwQS6hWaQXlA_YdR_WUb-LnPoKx29WYdMpPT7HTXQKFteNKJvu7FbG6cgv0p0/s1600/up+dog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP628S_R4IeJH6iV6klAiUJP1RxJ56keM6bZAVy6IB73Y67D0rNtSEh7XE6Tkq0iucgxullmZPjwsXiUUwQS6hWaQXlA_YdR_WUb-LnPoKx29WYdMpPT7HTXQKFteNKJvu7FbG6cgv0p0/s200/up+dog.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Up Dog</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlOsSoE9mJqxFgXXs8Gt0c08u6dS3jY-TaRUUM0XIF3L_dH8aYp3v0YAMHddK2pTLuGVe1N1aGN5LxBo57GmJnDg9-ZImfE3LJvKt6lnHwVvIXZdp60ucuV0g27GTnKJilq1Uq8XDIrBo/s1600/gorilla+down.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlOsSoE9mJqxFgXXs8Gt0c08u6dS3jY-TaRUUM0XIF3L_dH8aYp3v0YAMHddK2pTLuGVe1N1aGN5LxBo57GmJnDg9-ZImfE3LJvKt6lnHwVvIXZdp60ucuV0g27GTnKJilq1Uq8XDIrBo/s200/gorilla+down.jpg" width="133" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Down Gorilla</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkibVx97Yg2UiFEW0brIaw1E-HN5d7SjO4X8PiWyEimdjvUUGMS8UFaoOUtIzvdR7d_qlgKGnADKlXzSbENN_rvjdGVmT-1Mq33stid1DjwkrSYnm1uaq7SF8nl_jnN9Z9oCLRf5prrCQ/s1600/gorilla+up.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkibVx97Yg2UiFEW0brIaw1E-HN5d7SjO4X8PiWyEimdjvUUGMS8UFaoOUtIzvdR7d_qlgKGnADKlXzSbENN_rvjdGVmT-1Mq33stid1DjwkrSYnm1uaq7SF8nl_jnN9Z9oCLRf5prrCQ/s200/gorilla+up.jpg" width="133" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Up Gorilla</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwoBDq05tQGcLzDZ929bfMs-2IrPIdKm8GsCHjXQp0HiVHwlZQOvlsVaR4LJ1y7p0k1ZQKxt6LSUYUjPcZvfav5SU1Oh7Y4E4BR_e3mMGc_XJENKwxISWHOLM3v_K5b9kgurkHqICDGlw/s1600/cow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwoBDq05tQGcLzDZ929bfMs-2IrPIdKm8GsCHjXQp0HiVHwlZQOvlsVaR4LJ1y7p0k1ZQKxt6LSUYUjPcZvfav5SU1Oh7Y4E4BR_e3mMGc_XJENKwxISWHOLM3v_K5b9kgurkHqICDGlw/s200/cow.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cow</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijirktZTe28DBr_ZfOoiEedZIao-ZvtDAYo6qOzaHS91MLOoiEquTYd4FNL-qOGGFDnsN1jf-ej8jyIeswCzLNRlE6woHfTCji5yg0G4w8JYFye2Y8ggy38ke6nqMJJHaO4pJuJCX9swI/s1600/cat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijirktZTe28DBr_ZfOoiEedZIao-ZvtDAYo6qOzaHS91MLOoiEquTYd4FNL-qOGGFDnsN1jf-ej8jyIeswCzLNRlE6woHfTCji5yg0G4w8JYFye2Y8ggy38ke6nqMJJHaO4pJuJCX9swI/s200/cat.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cat</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvsT3mNf9K1687zMkSTvkHxaD23Pt6QbeBqUf55fyA6ChJmKNLBY5EkXiS1JUF0DQQ5tt8DI-4IWX2ZceJ06bLgFR8RFICRwl3F5t3GAP3fl-WNTQSjkdHjlY_EN2_ITDwr5F_zlz3dKo/s1600/rabbit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvsT3mNf9K1687zMkSTvkHxaD23Pt6QbeBqUf55fyA6ChJmKNLBY5EkXiS1JUF0DQQ5tt8DI-4IWX2ZceJ06bLgFR8RFICRwl3F5t3GAP3fl-WNTQSjkdHjlY_EN2_ITDwr5F_zlz3dKo/s200/rabbit.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rabbit</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDG_wL35viPtUVTeY54LbCuGCteKhOHoupQK8PFJTiWabTYA53tBDb13TjbLbanae2VjsrNXnaK2dZwhXLc1bK0hL82cHAq2tg-1O-vv1ZNCNnm6IohInNuqbeVxfIvG8ZvE2kBu2DCk4/s1600/horse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDG_wL35viPtUVTeY54LbCuGCteKhOHoupQK8PFJTiWabTYA53tBDb13TjbLbanae2VjsrNXnaK2dZwhXLc1bK0hL82cHAq2tg-1O-vv1ZNCNnm6IohInNuqbeVxfIvG8ZvE2kBu2DCk4/s200/horse.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Horse</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuRra64qp7r4UxdUEyZVUB9_RdursuxRqwRX0KlkDUmGGi0ykKis9IlmplnqOUBA8kxBxqhAcb1Jmw2X7v5zFjltYy7IVTKLp1AoYbS99BSOmECW17Yk7GQlowvrpP9_xtt6g0FXazsvs/s1600/lion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuRra64qp7r4UxdUEyZVUB9_RdursuxRqwRX0KlkDUmGGi0ykKis9IlmplnqOUBA8kxBxqhAcb1Jmw2X7v5zFjltYy7IVTKLp1AoYbS99BSOmECW17Yk7GQlowvrpP9_xtt6g0FXazsvs/s200/lion.jpg" width="133" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lion</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL9qtdbsVyK-ws-o7IYYvbHjO9UuTZZvVXMSKHKLcl00-lqYJu9cMqyckatGcYcqg0Z47IXnnT5wqTKkfZoEurZt9F3HoB8emy33l0jQHQgfzKxE8bOC7CcunIOZFczsiJi6qgO5KbXRc/s1600/sleepy+bear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0xSE05rxA05HjV3ModkOR_5frNqFC1sKqlKer1kzOBb8_JCtz6NO9Zeys5_voZHm1iKOCu-cGng8pSNQ9_fWImLULjHmx-zhxyzL9CS8Oi2ZT-NE65iQlHqMGzBpRjjKdAIB-JEE3yXQ/s1600/camel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0xSE05rxA05HjV3ModkOR_5frNqFC1sKqlKer1kzOBb8_JCtz6NO9Zeys5_voZHm1iKOCu-cGng8pSNQ9_fWImLULjHmx-zhxyzL9CS8Oi2ZT-NE65iQlHqMGzBpRjjKdAIB-JEE3yXQ/s320/camel.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Camel</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzVy9iZIr9Z4tE6Bo77FYR-fGHgTCXDTQWrqSyql6rycY0bx_PqegjU7ZjC93quATVQ304P_Ntu7n1NlL7WUraPDw_x4RobZoQJuqFVybXZtnlbK0RbZeXaZq9gwxckji2qIfclh-kA5w/s1600/elephant.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzVy9iZIr9Z4tE6Bo77FYR-fGHgTCXDTQWrqSyql6rycY0bx_PqegjU7ZjC93quATVQ304P_Ntu7n1NlL7WUraPDw_x4RobZoQJuqFVybXZtnlbK0RbZeXaZq9gwxckji2qIfclh-kA5w/s320/elephant.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elephant</td></tr>
</tbody></table><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZgWH_jsXrQmki1HyepdKh62HPnGw4ZB67TXuh3u3M3RFGD7vkEHpfA4ZEQBY8BeW_SNA6TkwK6MiqmgY3Ljed2aQ1HpB7YklGwoommQZ1D6m116tNSF6kL-2t66F9Wf1QrQ14KF0yi3c/s1600/crouching+tiger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZgWH_jsXrQmki1HyepdKh62HPnGw4ZB67TXuh3u3M3RFGD7vkEHpfA4ZEQBY8BeW_SNA6TkwK6MiqmgY3Ljed2aQ1HpB7YklGwoommQZ1D6m116tNSF6kL-2t66F9Wf1QrQ14KF0yi3c/s1600/crouching+tiger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAkWKirjy5ic9rw3xSpvi3j3prkoq7u1In9PA72UYhkfrH_bveRMaPKfcwkcnoFbJLUiVYOEZ2ldMMS3A96CkCESEmtFM4M4NlAyZWN5MaKzgcGpsDtBTuSNvJByqZeLDofiYuIgR7FTg/s1600/butterfly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAkWKirjy5ic9rw3xSpvi3j3prkoq7u1In9PA72UYhkfrH_bveRMaPKfcwkcnoFbJLUiVYOEZ2ldMMS3A96CkCESEmtFM4M4NlAyZWN5MaKzgcGpsDtBTuSNvJByqZeLDofiYuIgR7FTg/s200/butterfly.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Butterfly</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL9qtdbsVyK-ws-o7IYYvbHjO9UuTZZvVXMSKHKLcl00-lqYJu9cMqyckatGcYcqg0Z47IXnnT5wqTKkfZoEurZt9F3HoB8emy33l0jQHQgfzKxE8bOC7CcunIOZFczsiJi6qgO5KbXRc/s1600/sleepy+bear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL9qtdbsVyK-ws-o7IYYvbHjO9UuTZZvVXMSKHKLcl00-lqYJu9cMqyckatGcYcqg0Z47IXnnT5wqTKkfZoEurZt9F3HoB8emy33l0jQHQgfzKxE8bOC7CcunIOZFczsiJi6qgO5KbXRc/s320/sleepy+bear.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sleepy Bear</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWK88upQnmjL0mgb97qSvdOoKthZ3wpD7yqNtsPs6IAKXBtr4_xR2fzF2l04yS5jc17jEy2Wvh7bs2msMoHt01rUxSZybRpsu8GjPMxOHD_oOZiYUQYJpfA8QcZo_dq-pck0zHQ8b-slw/s1600/bear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWK88upQnmjL0mgb97qSvdOoKthZ3wpD7yqNtsPs6IAKXBtr4_xR2fzF2l04yS5jc17jEy2Wvh7bs2msMoHt01rUxSZybRpsu8GjPMxOHD_oOZiYUQYJpfA8QcZo_dq-pck0zHQ8b-slw/s200/bear.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bear</td></tr>
</tbody></table><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL9qtdbsVyK-ws-o7IYYvbHjO9UuTZZvVXMSKHKLcl00-lqYJu9cMqyckatGcYcqg0Z47IXnnT5wqTKkfZoEurZt9F3HoB8emy33l0jQHQgfzKxE8bOC7CcunIOZFczsiJi6qgO5KbXRc/s1600/sleepy+bear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEVOeXzZuGiLqJmVHP09Q_tEJ4sFerhsn9-ZkMYEoPdEGN_tDO5nUkfxhFSejMC9Gl3AhUnpF-9YuJlJV6fKelsX4NPTJIDUVgledvwoM3WjC6XKtjzup7yxyqRfvdsND_H-AFZjM4Ik8/s1600/crouching+tiger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEVOeXzZuGiLqJmVHP09Q_tEJ4sFerhsn9-ZkMYEoPdEGN_tDO5nUkfxhFSejMC9Gl3AhUnpF-9YuJlJV6fKelsX4NPTJIDUVgledvwoM3WjC6XKtjzup7yxyqRfvdsND_H-AFZjM4Ik8/s200/crouching+tiger.jpg" width="133" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crouching tiger</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbowHgf6olBm_KIAr3kq3bHZilnW4bjVVLEqoC4HvoIwB_uKFA9r4vrkQMy3LQOnYd7SZP5-EkhZVhLmnH7QWp3PxQpi57cfsu-owK-KvI8k6NbuyfVQWTI5Cqnrm4LjP6Lg10dvhouQ4/s1600/lunging+tiger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbowHgf6olBm_KIAr3kq3bHZilnW4bjVVLEqoC4HvoIwB_uKFA9r4vrkQMy3LQOnYd7SZP5-EkhZVhLmnH7QWp3PxQpi57cfsu-owK-KvI8k6NbuyfVQWTI5Cqnrm4LjP6Lg10dvhouQ4/s200/lunging+tiger.jpg" width="133" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lunging tiger</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGj4UFdsqSvvn8VrCw0g9IjssUna1tcdOCp_OhJ0IwPHeNomT2XAqwIivp1H-VuttXBcPNPDaBoqIBT1hNnMEnv6XhQ15nmGnlaKFRTfH7hz9mOJKMJ652AVdVlbDQMJguQcjPGjy5Nbc/s1600/spider.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGj4UFdsqSvvn8VrCw0g9IjssUna1tcdOCp_OhJ0IwPHeNomT2XAqwIivp1H-VuttXBcPNPDaBoqIBT1hNnMEnv6XhQ15nmGnlaKFRTfH7hz9mOJKMJ652AVdVlbDQMJguQcjPGjy5Nbc/s200/spider.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spider</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
In addition, yoga focuses on breath. I was shocked as a newcomer to yoga how much simple breathing can calm you down. At times my kids roll their eyes, but when they get upset, they'll hear me say "Smell the flowers, blow out the candles." Inhaling and bringing their fingers to their nose, and the exhaling and leaning forward repetitively helps them focus and calm down.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Smell the Flowers</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blow out your candles! <br />
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You can also have them lay down and breath deeply using a feather or a balloon to give them a visual target to move with their breath.<br />
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The teacher of the course suggested "story book yoga." This means that you take a favorite story book and use the pictures in it to inspire yoga poses. I did this once with my daughter's preschool class and they loved it! Great books to try it out with are any of the Eric Carle favorites. <br />
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Meditation was always the hardest part of my yoga class at first. Being still doesn't come naturally to me. On a few occasions when my children have been really stressed, I've gone as far as trying the techniques I've learned in class on them. I have to say, they were either successful (or my kids thought I was losing my mind), but they enjoyed a candle and some rain sounds on the I-pod while lying down and breathing!<br />
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You can find lots of information on yoga for kids on the internet. We enjoy:<br />
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angelbearyoga.com<br />
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http://www.calmingkidsyoga.org/<br />
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http://www.lazylizardsyoga.com/ (they have super cool mats for kids too)<br />
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So the next rainy (or snowy) day that comes your way, consider getting active through yoga with your kids! You might feel silly at first, but I promise that the feeling of silliness is quickly replaced by belly laughs and fun. Namaste!Milestones and Miracleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18070443324349239634noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8769928882750723186.post-74550293746547125302011-10-10T17:33:00.000-07:002011-10-10T17:33:54.704-07:00Hearing is Essential!Hearing is vital to the development of speech of language in your child. So please carefully consider today how WELL your child hears. All newborns are screened before they leave the hospital which helps detect hearing loss earlier in babies. But then frequent ear infections, medications that are toxic to the ear, illness (like meningitis, measles, flu), head injury and noise exposure can all lead to hearing loss later in childhood. The American Speech-Language Hearing Association recommends having your child's hearing further evaluated by a certified audiologist if you observe any of the following behaviors or symptoms of hearing loss:<br />
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-Your child is inconsistently responding to sound.<br />
-Language and speech development is delayed.<br />
-Speech is unclear.<br />
-Volume is turned up high on TV, CD player, etc.<br />
-Your child does not follow directions.<br />
-Your child often says, "Huh?"<br />
-Your child does not respond when called.<br />
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<div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The importance of early identification of hearing loss in children includes:</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">- Receiving hearing aids (or cochlear implants) sooner</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">-Achieving their language and auditory potential</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">-Receiving early intervention</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">-Having parents who are informed!</div></div><br />
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Sometimes we just dismiss behavior indicative of hearing loss as a child having "selective listening" or choosing not to listen. I've been there! Recently my son was treated for severe wax impaction in both ears. He is a typical 3 year old with selective listening and occasional defiant behavior. After our pediatrician tried to treat the problem with little success, he referred us to the ENT. Thankfully the ENT was able to remove the wax successfully. But after seeing the severity of the impaction, the doctor informed me that my son hasn't been able to hear very well for the past couple of months! Who knew?! <br />
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Sometimes it can be tricky figuring out if your child hears you well or not. But the important thing to remember is if you have any doubt, get their hearing checked out. The peace of mind will be worth your effort!Milestones and Miracleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18070443324349239634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8769928882750723186.post-14805893718026192112011-09-28T17:39:00.000-07:002011-09-28T17:49:47.427-07:00Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions. Albert Einstein<div style="color: blue; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I love to play. Who doesn't? We all work for the weekend so we can relax and play. Even activities that we chose for leisure as adults help us unwind and recharge. Play does the same for children - it is a means for handling emotions, having fun, and learning in so many ways. </span></div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We are a play-based company - dedicated to helping others learn about how play forms a child. In preparation for a lecture we are going to be giving next year, I've been reading a wonderful book called "Einstein Never Used Flashcards." The book is authored by Drs. Kathy Hirsh-Pasek and Roberta Michnick Golinkoff and I am really enjoying it and recommend it for anyone raising or teaching children. The purpose of the book is to educate those working with children so that they can understand how a child naturally develops, how that development can be supported through play, and how and why we got to a point where our society values educational milestones so early in a child's life. After learning this valuable information, adults can become empowered to make informed decisions for their children on choices from organized activities to toy selection.</span></div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">One of my favorite sections of this book explores pretend play or imaginative play. This has always been one of my favorite types of play because it draws on a child's creative side. In "Einstein Never Used Flashcards" the authors tell that pretend play has early beginnings with young infants in playing using symbols - or symbolic play. They state that at any place on the earth, symbols are used to represent things - both words and objects, so symbolic or pretend play is a basic necessity for all to learn. This type of the play is also vital for language and social skills. I love an example they use to illustrate the progression of pretend play - or symbolic play. Their example looks something like this;</span></div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;">* 6-9 months - baby explores objects (often by mouth) to determine size, texture and other properties. A baby at this age would be doing this with a simple toy like a rubber phone.</span></span></div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="color: red; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">* 23 months - that same baby might interact with the toy appropriately in a cause and effect type learning situation. She may push the buttons on that phone and hear a sound. She might also use something else like a hammer to hit the phone and make the same sound. Early play with objects like a doll (covering her up, feeding a bottle) are also common at this stage.</span></div><div style="color: red; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="color: red; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">*3.5 years - At this age, toddlers are often pretend playing with small sets (like a farm and animals) but can use other objects (like that same old phone) for purposes other than their actual one. The example they provide is that the phone might be the cow's "baby."</span></div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We often see our children in single moments of time - a snap shot of today. Wouldn't it be interesting to catch them interact with the same 3 or 4 toys every 9 months or so and compare side by side how their skills change? I find it fascinating that simple chewing on a play phone at 6 months old is a foundation for elaborate imagination journeys later in life. If you think hard, you can almost hear how that child's language skills progress as he/she plays.</span></div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">When giving toy recommendations, my favorite piece of advice for parents is to chose a toy that can be used at many stages of development and that don't "do it all" for a child - in other words a "forever toy." I'm also not a huge battery toy fan but that's besides the point! The perfect example is blocks. They could be used similarly to the example above...mouthing, throwing down to hear the noise, stacking, building a mighty castle, being driven as a "car," or playing the roles of two "friends" trying to decide what to do that particular day.</span></div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Looking back at my childhood, my favorite "forever toy" was a soft plain brown bear that was a gift from my sweet aunt to me in the hospital on the day I was born. I like to think of myself as a fairly creative person, but maybe that was a trait I acquired later on as I simply named him "Teddy." I'm sure that like the baby described above, I chewed on Teddy and threw him down (his battle scars are pretty convincing evidence). I remember wrapping him like a baby and dressing him in my younger brother's baby clothes. He served as a security item and traveled with me many new places. He's even been to Europe and Hawaii and spent 2 agonizing days away from me lost in a church pew. I remember even as a tween using him to do gymnastics in front on me so that I could visualize how to do a new trick. He's ratty and worn, but he helped me learn many things, expand my imagination, and is now a reminder of many sweet childhood memories. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEFtmF-P1Lozud4R3yyRSqYFtJiCLDtsf0_NMXCCNIBewwlK_uLUui_a6FbrXYoKEQc0X1wmB_7BBBJYJrT3y0guRkKyBkp_2czpdi59fnnP4vuAGj8m9wMSYkXOPUwtwiNgks0L-1yuo/s1600/teddy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEFtmF-P1Lozud4R3yyRSqYFtJiCLDtsf0_NMXCCNIBewwlK_uLUui_a6FbrXYoKEQc0X1wmB_7BBBJYJrT3y0guRkKyBkp_2czpdi59fnnP4vuAGj8m9wMSYkXOPUwtwiNgks0L-1yuo/s320/teddy.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <span style="color: red;"> A 34 year old well loved friend</span></span></div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Lots of childhood items dropped off here from my mother got trashed. Teddy made the cut. Apparently, he still has some magic. Tomorrow, in celebration of T week in Kindergarten, my daughter and her classmates will bring in Teddy Bears to have a sleepover in their classroom. Of all the fluffy, fancy, Build-A-Bear creations in this house of 2 girls, guess who landed the invite? There is magic in a "forever toy" and in the power that imaginative play can bless a child with. So grab a huge box from your local hardware store and finger paint your dream house, line up the kitchen chairs and sit first class on your airplane, or open those dusty boxes and share your "forever toy" and your imagination with your little ones today.</span></div>Milestones and Miracleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18070443324349239634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8769928882750723186.post-15754901526763007212011-09-19T12:47:00.000-07:002011-09-19T12:49:33.831-07:00Tips From the Trenches<div class="MsoNormal">I look forward every month to receiving my <i>Parents</i> magazine. I enjoy perusing the pages for many reasons: cute crafts, kid-friendly recipes, articles on discipline and medical issues. But the monthly article I most look forward to is “It Worked For Me!”, where moms (and dads) send in easy, almost common sense, solutions to everyday problems or share their creative tips on everything from getting your kid to eat broccoli to potty training successes.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This month <i>Parents</i> is celebrating their 85<sup>th</sup> anniversary. So in celebration of their milestone, they compiled 25 of their best “It Worked For Me!” tips for this month’s magazine. There are some really good ones that I couldn’t wait to share with our readers! So just in case you don’t receive the magazine or if you haven’t had time to read your copy yet, I sifted through the top 25 and created my top 10. Hope you find something creative and practical to make your life and your family’s life a little easier!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">*To prevent ice cream from dripping through the bottom of a sugar cone, push a marshmallow into the bottom of the cone. It will soak up the drips and be a yummy surprise when the kids reach the end of the cone!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">*To help motivate uninterested potty trainers, put a few drops of food coloring in the toilet bowl water. Change up the colors so it is a surprise each time your little one visits the potty and before long they will potty trained and know their colors!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">*To save your children’s artwork, laminate it and use it as placemats. This can help you hold onto their masterpieces and give you back some wall space.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">*Use bathtub decals, wrapped around the pedals of your child’s bicycle, to prevent his feet from slipping off.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">*Use clean Frisbees, turned upside down, as your child’s plate. The rim of the Frisbee will help them scoop and push food onto their utensils more successfully.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">*To help your soap dispenser dole out the right amount of soap for little hands, wrap a rubber band around the neck of the dispenser so the pump will only go down half way.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">*To help your child transition from the crib to a regular sized bed, put the mattress on the floor. If they fall out in the beginning, they will only fall a few inches to the floor. After a few weeks add the box spring, then the bed frame.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">*To quiet an extra noisy toy, cover the speaker with painter’s tape. The tape reduces the volume and it can be removed without leaving behind a sticky residue.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">*Place a pool noodle, cut to the appropriate length, under your couch to block toys from getting lost.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">*Store the baby wipes container upside down every so often to re-moisten the top wipes and keep the wipes on the bottom from getting too soggy.</div>Milestones and Miracleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18070443324349239634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8769928882750723186.post-20865240970407616842011-09-13T18:34:00.000-07:002011-09-14T05:21:14.228-07:00What is your AFRICA?Two daughters in school means a new season for this Mommy. More time....to work, exercise, miss my children :), and reclaim some "me time." A goal that I've aimed for when this time in my life came upon me, was to participate in a women's bible study at my church. A time to recharge, renew, reflect, and have some time with ladies that I really value in my life. Our first meeting is tomorrow and to prepare, I used my coffee time this morning to read the introduction and first chapter of the book we are using. The author introduces a story - his story - of what led him from a comfortable life as a CEO of a major company to working for a non-profit serving the most ill and poor in Africa. I could tell from the start of this book, that I'd be teary eyed during many readings and by the end of the first chapter was already asking myself similar questions that the author had asked himself, including what my role is in making this world a better place? How can I push myself to consider others beyond daily mundane routines? <span style="color: red;">Where or what is MY AFRICA?</span><br />
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</div>Surprisingly to me, I got my answers clear as crystal as the my day unfolded before me. A young, single mom struggling with social issues and raising a special needs child. A separated parent needing encouragement. My children needing more patience than I had at the moment. One after one, I seemed to see what I was looking for without even trying. It may not be as glamorous as Angelina Jolie's international efforts or the author's of this book. I'm certain it didn't completely solve any one's problems that I encountered today or heal any deep wounds. But it was something I could give. If filling up an emotional piggy bank to help someone feel better could work, it was a few coins.<br />
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I felt inspired by what I read today to look beyond the things that had me sluggish and grumpy when I woke this morning (worry about a few people in my life, broken toe, cluttered house, carb-free breakfast if you care to know) and wanted to share with you. We all have something to give. It may not be hundreds of mosquito nets in Africa. It may be as simple as a smile to a stranger, an extra 5 minutes of hugs for your child at bedtime, free babysitting for a single parent, showing up and doing instead of saying "call me if you need anything," or an unexpected warm meal for someone who is hurting. <span style="color: red;">What is YOUR AFRICA? </span>What is our children's Africa? I believe that no mater what their age, they have something to give as well, and that they learn <span style="color: red;">selflessness </span>(what's that? It certainly isn't on many reality shows???) through our example. I learned from another parent and have passed on to my children the following words "you may be some one's only light today. Go Shine!" I use this often on their love notes in their lunches or in their ears with a goodbye squeeze before the bus pulls up.<br />
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Look around. I learned today that it's <span style="color: red;">not that hard to find "AFRICA" </span>all around you, whatever continent you live on! There are many emotional piggy banks that need filled around us -- how much change to do you have to give today??Milestones and Miracleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18070443324349239634noreply@blogger.com0