“Mommy, why do stars twinkle? Daddy, why do fingers look funny in a bathtub? Mommy, why do we need to go to bed? Daddy, why?…Why?..” Do you have a “why-attack” in your home? I love those questions. I think it exposes kids curiosity. I think it shows is their thirst for knowledge. I think it is fun to learn about things, I haven’t even thought of myself! And I think that by answering them, we show our kids how much we respect them, their desire to learn, how much we encourage getting to know about this world.

My baby is catnapping. It’s driving me nuts: I spend 40 minutes getting him to fall asleep, and then he wakes up 20 minutes later! He wakes up with a broad smile, his arms and legs wiggle vigorously, so I reluctantly take him out of the bed… just to have a very cranky baby hanging on my shoulder until the rest of the nap. How come?

First of all, I refuse to try “cry it out approach”. It is harmful for baby’s development, his confidence, his future. You can see more here: “Crying it out” may damage baby’s brain.

Books

The most useful book in a world: “What Babies Say Before They Can Talk : The Nine Signals Infants Use to Express Their Feelings” by Paul Holinger, Kalia Doner, when your baby grows up a little “Playful Parenting” by Lawrence J. Cohen. You man also find these recommendations helpful: Toddler issues book recommendations, For older kids, siblings, etc: Positive Discipline Resources. General information about the first years of baby’s life: I constantly refer to What to expect of 1st years. I disagree with some of its points on punishment and letting the baby cry it out, so Dr. Sears “attachment parenting” approach seems more reasonable to me: The Baby Book: Everything You Need to Know About Your Baby from Birth to Age Two.

I’ve finally got my hands on “How Smart is Your Baby?” by Doman. Since someone recently was asking if this book is worth buying (in addition to other “Teach Your Baby” series) I decided to post this review:

First of all, I have all “How to teach your baby…” - Reading, Math, Encyclopedic Knowledge, Swimming, Physically Superb. “How smart is your baby” is slightly different (I haven’t read the “increase your baby’s intelligence”), though it has bits of everything.

Book Notes that I print out and hang on the fridge for quick reference.

I was searching for a good book on kind and effective ways of dealing with tantrums, conflicts and even everyday situations, so I looked through Positive Discipline Resources and picked up How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber, Elaine Mazlish.

I’ve got to admit: I fell in love with this book. I even purchased a CD version of How to Talk So Kids Can Learn: At Home and In School to be able to listen to it in a car.

I think this book contains everything: a list of food groups for a baby and for a toddler; nutritional information of different foods - vegetables, grains, etc.; lots of wonderful, healthy and easy recipes for babies and toddlers - mashed, solid foods, main entres and sancks; entire diet plan; recipes for home made cleaners, bubbles, diper cream, etc.; information on when and what to add to babies diet + information on how to prepare it; information on how to store different foods and how to save time freezing it, how to prepare it for freezing, how to prepare it for eating it again… I love that book and it is the most highly recomended resource that I've seen. I keep using it as a guideline and as a source of recipes up to this day.

Where can I read more about Positive Discipline ?

My personal favorites are:

• How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber, Elaine Mazlish. It’s the best how to book I was able to find so far. Read our book review and even summary to print out and hang on the fridge for quick reference.
• I also absolutely adore their (Adele Faber, Elaine Mazlish) Siblings without Rivalry - in similar easy to read format, with summaries and cartoons, and helpful not only to resolve issues with our kids, but with my own family as well!

• List of major child development books - things you can start doing even with a newborn
• Slow and Steady Get me Ready by June Oberlander - terrific list of activities that can be done using things available in every home for every week since birth to age five. We jump all over those activities.

Our great appreciation to Shannon Rizzo for sharing her own list of recomendations with us:

• Donna Simmon's "Joyful Movement" and "Kindergarten with your 3-6 year old"
  at Christopherus Homeschooling Bookstore
• "Beyond the Rainbow Bridge - Nurthing our children from birth to seven" by
  Barbara Patterson & Pamela Bradley

How To Teach Your Baby To Swim from birth to age six by Douglas Doman is a long awaited book on introducing newborns to swimming. A detailed set of instructions, beautifully illustrated with photographs, is separated into 8 chapters, having a chapter dedicated to each age segment. Well written and easy to understand, it has quite a lot of wonderful techniques:

• how to utilize your own bathtub and shower for introducing newborns to holding a breath
• how to walk backwards in a pool creating a current that makes it easier for the little ones to swim continuously