My husband and I are avid tennis fans. On January 14th, we took our son to his first tennis event – the “Medibank Private tennis tournament” held in Sydney. He’s nearly 8 months old and it’s his first tennis event he gets to attend…hahaha, not that he’ll probably remember!
Though he was oblivious to what was happening, I think he enjoyed the outing nonetheless. Our son absolutely loves being out and about and really appreciates all the new sensory stimulation it provides him.
The “Medibank Private tennis tournament” is one of the smaller ATP tours and is a nice warm up for the players before the major grand slam, which is the Australian Open held in Melbourne in a week’s time.
We only bought the ground passes as we really didn’t expect to be able to sit in on a game with our little one (at this stage, he really doesn’t have much patience for sitting in one place for too long). The ground passes allowed us to watch and sit in on games that were held in the smaller courts. When we reached one of these smaller courts we realized there really was no pram/stroller access to get to the stands (it’s funny what we tend to now notice after having a baby; in that ramps, elevators and the like are soooooo important!) It didn’t really matter to us on this day, as we just wanted to absorb the atmosphere of the day. We did manage to look in on a game from the side and saw Richard Gasquet of France play (see pic below).
Though the weather wasn’t great (in rained a little and was very grey and cloudy); but my little boy managed to fall asleep so we got a chance to stay a little longer. We managed to find a seat and watched on a big screen (that was provided outside) a semi-final match that was being played in the main arena that involved Serena Williams. It was a really exciting match and Serena lost the first set and trialled 1-4 in the second set…she hanged in there and managed to climbed back and won the game in three sets! After watching this match, it really shows that Serena Williams is a real fighter and a champion.
I have told my husband that I would like our son to learn to play tennis. Not because we love watching tennis tournaments but because I feel my son has the potential. He is really strong and has a good grip (if he likes something, he will hold on to it like glue; you literally have to yank it off him if you want it back!) Maybe it’s just wishful thinking, but I really hope he will enjoy tennis and that someday he may be able to represent his country And ofcourse, mum and dad will be there proudly watching and cheering him on!
Before my son was born, I was watching a television morning show and they were interviewing a man by the name of Dr Robert Titzer. He is an educator and researcher in the field of infant learning and father of two daughters. Dr Titzer is an advocate for teaching children to read at an early age (from 3 months to 5 years old) as this is a time in a child’s development where they can learn and pick up things very quickly. He created theYour Baby Can Read!DVDs and books product line. He used this same method to teach his children to read as babies. You can view his own testimonials when you buy the DVDs and you can see for yourself how one of his daughters learned to read at a very early age; it was totally amazing seeing a little girl able to read a book so well at such a young age!
After seeing this interview with Dr Titzer I have wanted to buy the books and dvds once my son was born. Unfortunately, because we live in Australia his US site didn’t seem to post in this direction (but you will need to check as this may have changed, since I last looked). I then went to ebay and found a lady who owned a bookstore and was selling old stock of the Your Baby Can Read!DVDs and it came with the word cards.
I have noticed earlier on, that my son likes to be mentally stimulated and craves to learn new things everyday. That’s why I wanted to use Dr. Titzer’s method.
He was 5 months old when I started showing him the word cards from the “Starter” dvd. The instructions were to show him the word cards for at least 2 months (from the starter set) and also to play the dvd which shows words and images that were used in the word cards. My son didn’t seem to have the concentration span to watch the dvd however, he really liked the word cards when I showed it to him. The word cards shows an image on one side and the word (matching the image) on the other side of the card. I showed my son (the word cards from the starter dvd) twice a day for over a month. Then after a month, (in his own non-verbal way) he basically tried to tell me that he wanted to see something new, so I had to open a new set of word cards (from the volume 1 dvd set) and he was really keen on these new word cards. I knew he was keen as he gave me his undivided attention and smiled when he saw a new word/image!
Currently, I try to show him the word cards from volume 1 every single day and on every second day I try to show him the word cards from the starter dvd set, to reinforce what he has already learned. It’s been nearly 3 months now and so far he has been content with these word cards, although he is now reaching for them and placing them in his mouth! It remains to be seen, (I will know for sure once my son starts talking) as to how effective and how much I’ve achieved with using Dr. Titzer’s method! I will certainly keep you posted with the results
Personally, as I watch my son grow, change and learn new things every day I am fascinated by him and the topic of early childhood development and learning. It is really amazing seeing the things your child is learning to do and then one day they achieve it!
What things do you do with your child/children to help with their learning?
My son was born with a lot of hair…and I mean a lot. Because I delivered my son via emergency caesarian section, the first time I saw him was through my digital camera. My husband took pictures of our son when he first saw him and when he showed these photos to me, the first thing that came to my mind was – oh, my gosh look at the amount of hair he has!
My husband and I have been blessed with hair that grow really quickly. Our dear son not only had to contend with being born with a lot of hair but also one that grew ever so quickly!
On new year’s eve we decided to give him his first haircut as the top part of his hair was become wild and unmanageable (plus we also thought it was a nice start to the brand new year for him). It may sound pretty simple but the whole process required me to hold my son (while he was sitting up and resisting with all of his might) as my husband came towards us with some very sharp scissiors. My son’s head was literally in front of my face and so were the sharp scissors. I was a bit anxious at the sight of the scissors so close to my face and my son’s delicate scalp. But my husband was really cool, calm and collected and managed to cut away the bits of hair that needed to be trimmed and he did it pretty quickly, especially when a 7 month old like ours doesn’t like to be tied up in one spot and position for a long time.
As you can see from the picture attached to this post, we have kept his first curl and a lot of eventful memories to go with it
By the way, we wish you all a very safe and happy New Year for 2010!
I can’t believe that Christmas has come around so quickly this year. My son is now 7 1/2 months old and it was his first Christmas with us
Although he really didn’t understand what all the fuss was about, he was more than happy and was excited when he saw the Christmas tree lit up! On Christmas day, he loved playing with the wrapping paper and boxes that his gifts came in…he certainly thought these items were more fun to hold and explore rather than the actual gifts themselves…hahaha!
Honestly, at his age he really doesn’t need much toys, he’s happy to play with a box and as long as he has the love and attention of his mum and dad. It really makes me wonder why we spend so much money on presents at his age such as toys when I know my son doesn’t know any different and is just as content with playing with the gift wrapping paper or left over boxes . I guess we do it so we feel good about making sure our child/children doesn’t miss out and to show our love. Why do you think we shower our children presents at Christmas? Are we just being brainwashed by big corporations that want our $$$’s to meet their projected profit margins for the financial year (or am I just being cynical)?
Otherwise, we really had a memorable first Christmas day with our son. The attached image for this article shows my little boy being supported by his dad as he attempts to open one of his gifts; the box is almost half his size! Check out his little hands and foot, they are just sooo cute
He was also fascinated by the silver ribbon around his gift, he had a lot of fun with this too!
MERRY CHRISTMAS to all of you, may you share it with those you love…
For us drinking from a cup seems really easy and we even do it without really thinking. A week ago, when I tried to get my son to drink some juice from a special cup that had a spout, it was a real ordeal! Firstly, it was difficult finding a cup that my son didn’t find intimidating, that didn’t leak and a spout that was soft and he felt comfortable with. As I reviewed a wide selection of sipping cups, I realized there’s certainly a variety of choices out there and got a little confused about the valves that are either integrated into the cup or those that come out separately (I think I may have a collection of both now!). In the end I went through 4 different cups until I found the one that he liked! Did you ever have this same problem with your child?
The cups I’ve been using also have two handles (one on each side). I’m totally amazed how my son seemed to instinctively know where to put both his hands when he drinks from his cute sipping cup. However, he’s still trying to synchronise his sipping and swallowing skills. He hasn’t really grasped the knowledge that the amount of liquid that comes out of his spout is also determined by the tipping of the cup and the length of time he leaves the spout in his mouth. If he has too much juice and he can’t swallow it all he either chokes slightly on the liquid or he just lets it all run down his chin!
I’ve also tried sitting with him when he is eating a meal and I make sure he has his drinking cup next to him, so that he becomes familiar with it. I also try to eat with him and also have a glass of drink for myself. I take a sip from my glass and explain to him that I’m having a drink. I then give him his cup and tell him to have a drink too. He enjoys the interaction and the positive feedback. It seems to be working so far and he’s really proud of himself when I let him hold his cup and he is drinking all by himself
Do you have any tips for getting children to drink from a sipping cup?
A week after my son turned 6 months old I started him on his follow up baby formula (for babies 6 months and over) that contained more calcium and other minerals that he now needs at this stage of his development. On top of this I also started him on solid foods which he absolutely enjoyed! However, that’s when my husband and I also noticed that his bowel movements were changing.
His poo didn’t really smell any worse than before, but he opened his bowels more often per day and they were getting harder. For the past 2 weeks now, my poor little boy has been straining and is severely constipated. I have started to put some coloxyl drops (up to twice a day) in his milk again and it doesn’t seem to help very much (I’ve used it in the past when he was constipated and it worked like wonders!) I also tried to give him fruit to eat like mash apples and mango and still there hasn’t been much improvement.
When I took him to see the paediatrician for his 6 month check up, I asked our doctor what I could do to help alleviate his constipation. He told me to give him juice (mixed with water) as this has a laxative effect plus it also provides him with some nutrients. I doubled checked with our doctor as to the reason why some people have adviced not to give cooled down boiled water until a child is at least 12 months old. He said that I can give my son cooled down boiled water but it’s not very effective as it has no nutritious value. That is why he had suggested to give him juice mixed with water as it has some nutrients, has a laxative effect and would benefit my son better than just plain water.
A few days ago I started him on apple juice/water. He didn’t like it very much. On top of that, he was really offended that I used his bottle to put the apple juice in. He’s only ever known to have milk come out of his bottle; if he was able to talk, he would have told me so! The apple juice has now been put aside.
I then spoke to a close friend of mine who has two small children of her own and she adviced to use prune juice as it’s less sweeter than apple juice and she found her own son didn’t like apple juice either.
Off I went and purchased some prune juice. I had to initially spoon feed a small amount of juice to my son as he wouldn’t drink it from any special cup he has (I tried two cups and ran out of ideas). I went back to my friend and she also suggested putting the prune juice with his cereal or porridge. Yesterday, I placed some prune juice in his porridge and he ate it up! I also continued to put some coloxyl drops in his milk. Plus, I found another special cup and he seems to slowly be drinking from this (with lots of encouragement!)
Today, when my son opened his bowels it was a lot softer than the previous 2 weeks…what an achievement I thought! I have continued to put the prune juice in his porridge and he’s drinking a few sips from his new cup. I’ve kept up with the coloxyl drops and will assess in the next few days on whether to cut it down or completely stop it. Our paediatrician was happy for me to use the coloxyl drops with the amount I’ve been putting in my son’s milk, but adviced to assess this once his bowel movements go back to normal.
Phew…the last few weeks have certainly been a challenge. Have you faced a similar problem with your child? If so, what worked for you?
Addit: (December 12th, 2009) – The combination of coloxyl drops and prune juice has really helped
We are currently trying to find the right balance in terms of the amount of coloxyl drops to use while continuing with the prune juice. We tried stopping the coloxyl drops but he got constipated again…so we will slowly wean him off this.
Today my little boy had his christening. Though he was very tired, he stayed awake and hardly cried during the ceremony. His baptism took place with five other children and I must say all the children involved were on their best behaviour, even as the weather outside hit 41 degrees celsius (105.8 fahrenheit)! I was really impressed.
All our guests were so grateful that we decided to have the reception lunch in an airconditioned room; honestly, it was so hot outside and the wind that blew was tinged with heat, it was at times unbearable. It was apparently, the hottest November day in Sydney, Australia since 1918.
We all had a great time nonetheless. Luckily, my little boy managed to get a bit of sleep when we drove from the church to the reception place. After that, he was passed around from one aunty to another, one relative to another, one friend to another (you get the picture, right?) And again, he was so tolerant of everyone and was very charming
We opened his gifts and couldn’t believe how many gifts we received which we didn’t really expect. I’m so tired after the big day, I’ve just left all the presents in our lounge…I’ll get around to them tomorrow (I hope!).
I finally got my little boy off to sleep and he sure needed it. It was a lovely and memorable day because we shared it with those we love and care about (and also because of the heatwave we had in Sydney!)
Would you like to become a founding member of bubslife.com? The benefits of becoming a founding member are:
Be one of the first to discover this exciting new website that aims to help new parents, soon-to-be parents or those who have a young child/children already.
You will be able to provide input on the direction of any new features we make to our bubslife baby tracker.
As a founding member, your membership fee will be cheaper and will be locked in at that price. (Founding membership fee is $US2.95/month compared to the usual $US7.95/month -> that’s a huge saving of $US5/month!)
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My husband and I had our first baby a few months ago. Being first time parents, we had to learn a lot of new things all at once! We were very excited about the birth of our son, but it also dawned on us the amount of record keeping we had to keep in order to meet our son’s needs. Record keeping is the last thing we wanted to do, as being parents to a newborn is already very hectic, which I’m sure those of you with children know only all too well
Having to force ourselves to remember off the top of our heads of when our son last had his feed, nappy/diaper change, sleep, etc. was just all too much to retain correctly, without getting the times wrong or mixed up. I remembered that one of my close friends (when she had her first baby, she was monitoring her baby’s feeds, nappy changes, etc.) on a scrap piece of paper, which she then lost track of or misplaced and at times ran out of space to write down the items she wanted to record.
When our son was 3 weeks old, I told my husband that I have had enough with not being able to monitor the exact times of what our son had done for a particular day. Seeing that my husband is a web developer, I asked him to create a simple tool (for both of us to use) so that we could record the number of times (plus the actual times) of when we fed our son, when he had a wet/dirty nappy and when he slept. This idea was what literally gave birth to bubslife.com and our bubslife baby tracker application.
Today, bubslife baby tracker has gone live. The concept of this tool is still the same and that is to help new parents be able to record and monitor the daily activities of their child (ie: feeds, sleep, nappy/diaper changes, etc.) Our aim is to keep this tool as simple to use as possible because we know and understand the limited time you have as a parent to get so many things done at once.
Additionally, using the bubslife baby tracker tool will allow you to:
access your child’s record online anywhere around the world (provided you have internet access of course!)
your child’s record is stored so you can access it anytime you want. It’s great to also look back on when your son/daughter has grown up so you can show them what they were like when they were a baby. Likewise, you can share it with family and friends.
view a summary and the total number of feeds, sleep, diaper/nappy changes, etc. that your child has performed on a given day.
Even to this day, our son has just turned 6 months old and we still use the bubslife baby tracker application every single day. I honestly cannot live without it (and I’m not just saying this because we created this tool). It’s because we have found it to be a very simple tool to use. Each day, we can record and monitor our child’s daily activities and from this it has also allowed us to understand his sleeping and feeding patterns a lot better. Better still if I was looking after my son and then my husband takes over his care, I don’t have to remind my husband what time his last feed was or when his next feed is due, because all he has to do is go online and our son’s feeding records are there for him to see and he can work out for himself around what time our son will start to get a bit grizzly and want to be fed!
If you’re interested in seeing how this all works and how it can help you as new parents, take our 30 day free trial today. Bubslife Baby Tracker
When my son was a newborn, in one of the bulk nappy/diaper boxes we had bought they were giving away 3 x small black & white patterns for parents to cut out of the box so that they can use it to stimulate their newborn baby’s vision. At the time I had not heard about these high contrast patterns, but my husband and I thought we would give it a go.
The first time I showed the cut out black & white patterns to my son he was nearly 1 month old. When he first saw the squares and circles he was interested. But when he saw the spiral circular shaped patterns and wriggly lines he was sooooooooo excited! I knew then that these black & white patterns really worked and also found out there and then the sort of patterns my son enjoyed looking at!
I have done a bit more research and reading on this subject recently as I wanted to create my own black & white patterns. Apparently, studies have found that patterns having 100% contrast (that is, black-on-white) are the easiest for newborns and young infants to see. Large black and white patterns present the highest possible contrast (100%) to the eye and thus are the most visible and attractive to babies.
Stay tuned for the e-book, it won’t be long and you will be able to have access to a free copy!
My husband and I are avid tennis fans. On January 14th, we took our son to his first tennis event – the “Medibank Private tennis tournament” held in Sydney. He’s nearly 8 months old and it’s his first tennis event he gets to attend…hahaha, not that he’ll probably remember!
And ofcourse, mum and dad will be there proudly watching and cheering him on!
My son was born with a lot of hair…and I mean a lot. Because I delivered my son via emergency caesarian section, the first time I saw him was through my digital camera. My husband took pictures of our son when he first saw him and when he showed these photos to me, the first thing that came to my mind was – oh, my gosh look at the amount of hair he has!
I can’t believe that Christmas has come around so quickly this year. My son is now 7 1/2 months old and it was his first Christmas with us 
For us drinking from a cup seems really easy and we even do it without really thinking. A week ago, when I tried to get my son to drink some juice from a special cup that had a spout, it was a real ordeal! Firstly, it was difficult finding a cup that my son didn’t find intimidating, that didn’t leak and a spout that was soft and he felt comfortable with. As I reviewed a wide selection of sipping cups, I realized there’s certainly a variety of choices out there and got a little confused about the valves that are either integrated into the cup or those that come out separately (I think I may have a collection of both now!). In the end I went through 4 different cups until I found the one that he liked! Did you ever have this same problem with your child?
A week after my son turned 6 months old I started him on his follow up baby formula (for babies 6 months and over) that contained more calcium and other minerals that he now needs at this stage of his development. On top of this I also started him on solid foods which he absolutely enjoyed! However, that’s when my husband and I also noticed that his bowel movements were changing.
Today my little boy had his christening. Though he was very tired, he stayed awake and hardly cried during the ceremony. His baptism took place with five other children and I must say all the children involved were on their best behaviour, even as the weather outside hit 41 degrees celsius (105.8 fahrenheit)! I was really impressed.
My husband and I had our first baby a few months ago. Being first time parents, we had to learn a lot of new things all at once! We were very excited about the birth of our son, but it also dawned on us the amount of record keeping we had to keep in order to meet our son’s needs. Record keeping is the last thing we wanted to do, as being parents to a newborn is already very hectic, which I’m sure those of you with children know only all too well 
When my son was a newborn, in one of the bulk nappy/diaper boxes we had bought they were giving away 3 x small black & white patterns for parents to cut out of the box so that they can use it to stimulate their newborn baby’s vision. At the time I had not heard about these high contrast patterns, but my husband and I thought we would give it a go.