Our Son got this for his first birthday. He is not too sure what to do with everything yet because he is not able to fully maneuver around it. Our neighbor came over this afternoon to visit so I showed her son(21 months) all of the great stuff it does. He loved it.

This house plays music, it counts, the doorbell rings and lights up. It does everything twice - once in learning mode and than different stuff in singing mode. We are also trying to get the learning table that goes with it, it is not available where we live. We may have to cross the border. I will keep you posted when it does arrive.

Fisher Price Laugh and Learn Learning House - 109.00 cad @Toysrus

Tonight on the news there was a story about a set of twins that were born 2 months apart. The first baby was delivered because of an infection in the womb. The second baby was kept inside by a process called delayed interval delivery.

Adam, the first baby to be delivered arrived at 25 weeks gestation weighing 1lb 9 ozs. When Jayson, the second baby, was delivered 9 weeks later he weighed 4 1/2 lbs. At that point only ounces separated the two brothers. Jayson remained in the hospital for a couple weeks and now Adam has joined him at home.

The good part is that you don’t have to share a birthday with someone else. These babies will all get to have their own special day to celebrate their exciting entrance into the world.

I feel so bad for this little guy. Over the last few months his mom has been tarred and feathered over her less than stellar parental skills. Now US Weekly is reporting that Esquire Magazine is naming him “Worst Dressed Man of the Year”.

The magazine(Esquire) says that “being the offspring of a hyper fertile backup dancer and prematurely wilted flower is no excuse, but being 12 months almost is…As soon as you gain some dexterity, straighten out your hat.”

This is awful. The poor kid is not even able to walk yet and some high powered magazine is all over him. He is a BABY. She dresses him in baby clothes. The hat thing needs to be addressed, but overall I think he usually looks more put together than she does. Let’s face it, the kid is cute and happy. That’s all that should matter. Esquire should be ashamed of themselves.

Is it possible to choose whether or not you will have a boy or a girl? Can you really pick the sex of your next child? Dr. Jonas of Natural Conception Control in Australia has an success rate of 97.7%.

Dr. Jonas has discovered that under certain circumstances the bio-chemical environment of the endometrium is subject to certain periodic variations and that these in turn lead to sedimentation of the sperm. His method teaches that there are some days in woman’s fertility cycle where she can conceive a BOY only and days where only a GIRL can be conceived.

They prepare a calendar, a year ahead, which shows the gender of the fetus (boy or girl) next to the red days. In rare cases, a horizontal line will be shown instead of the child’s sex. This means that it is very difficult to determine the gender with certainty.

They will ask you to choose a red (highly fertile) day of the gender you desire. This is the day in which the planned child should be conceived. In order to conceive on this day, sexual intercourse should occur one day before this fully red colored day, as well as during the other two (2) preceding days which combine the 3-day period preceding the red day marked with the desired gender. (It does not matter whether the intercourse occurs once or several times during the day.)

There is also another method which is called “The Ancient Chinese Birth Chart”. The Legend of the chart says that it was buried in a tomb for almost 700 years and the original is now in the Beijing Institute of Science. The birth chart boasts a 93% accuracy rate. When I cross referenced my age and the month my son was conceived it was right. Who knows? Check it out and let me know!

Researchers at Harvard Medical School say the prevalence of overweight children jumped from 6.3 per cent in 1980 to 10 per cent in 2001.

Researchers collected data from the visits of more than 120,000 children under the age of six between 1980 and 2001. All of the children were from Massachusetts and enrolled in a health maintenance organization, which provided medical records containing demographic and growth information.

The biggest increase was found in infants birth - 6months. Over the course of the study, the number of overweight infants increased by 74 per cent. Infants also experienced a 59 per cent jump in the risk of becoming overweight, the biggest increase in any age group.

Although it is known that obesity in children is on the rise, Stephanie Atkinson, a pediatrics research scientist at McMaster University, feels the study might not hold true for Canadian babies.

“The reason I’d be cautious about extrapolating that information here is that we have a lot higher rate of breast feeding in Canada than the U.S. has been able to achieve”, said Dr. Atkinson. “Babies that are breastfed regulate their intake on their own, while babies on formula eat more. Parents kind of encourage them to finish every last drop. So formula babies do gain weight a lot quicker than breastfed babies”.

Recently in the U.K. they have said that babies whose mothers give them more control over their early attempts at eating solid food appear to do a better job of regulating their own weight.

“Feeding in the first year of life necessitates a great deal of parental control given that young infants are incapable of feeding themselves independently, yet the data are compatible with the suggestion that in normal circumstances, infants develop best when given as much autonomy as possible,” Dr. Claire Farrow from Keele University in Staffordshire and colleagues write.

“Everyone else’s Two Cents”
by Cari

It’s been two weeks since I have “casually” started Potty Training my son. Progress has been pretty slow, I assume, due to the fact that I am taking a “casual” approach.

As with most issues a new mother encounters, I have received countless pieces of advice on the subject, both solicited and unsolicited. Everyone and their dog seem to have the answers when it comes to Potty Training. I’ve been told to make him sit on the potty until he pees, even if it takes an hour! I’ve been told to not force him to use the potty because he will develop negative feelings towards the potty.

Someone suggested that I dip his hand in warm water while he is sitting there to encourage things to happen. Someone else said that I should just leave him alone in the bathroom on the potty so he can have his privacy.

I’ve been told to put the potty in the family room so he can watch TV while he uses the potty (which, quite frankly, kind of freaks me out!). I’ve been told to disregard the potty and just put the attachment on the big toilet… I’ve been told to try to get him to pee standing up… I’ve been told to let him run around naked since the weather is so warm… aaargh! This Potty Training thing is more complicated than I thought!

Needless to say, I have lots to consider when deciding on the next step in our Potty Training odyssey. I am not committing to anything yet, but as I attempt to implement some of these jewels of wisdom I have received, I will be sure to give you my “two cents” if something is successful.

Can you imagine being sick in the hospital and having your own chef preparing meals for you? There is a growing amount of hospitals in the U.S. that are catering to patients who want the same luxury that they would find in a hotel.

Jacuzzis, marble bathrooms, personal chefs and valet parking are just a few of the amenities that some of the hospitals are offering. Even though these room cost hundreds of dollars per night patients are willing to pay in order to recover in comfort. In L.A. at Cedar Sinai Hospital new moms enjoy gourmet meals, copious wine, fluffy robes, superior bed linens, and a doula who caters every need. Baltimore John Hopkins Hospital has waitstaff in tuxedos serving gourmet food from a daily menu. Ralph Lauren Sheets, queen size bed, Dvd player and a private dining room await at The Methodist Hospital in Houston.

While The U.S. in definitely in the luxury game the leaders are overseas. For sheer luxury, the place to go is Asia. Singapore, with Gleneagles and Mount Elizabeth Hospitals, was the pioneer in ultra-luxurious accommodations, offering rooms that look more like those in a five-star hotel than a hospital. In 2003 and 2004, Mount Elizabeth and Gleneagles Hospitals won the Superbrands award, an accolade that measures market dominance, longevity, goodwill, customer loyalty, and overall market acceptance. (The rate of nosocomial infections doesn’t enter into the judging criteria.) More recently, the Raffles Hotel Group has branched out to form the Raffles Medical Group, apparently on the theory that if you can manage a luxury hotel that provides cooking classes and a health spa, then including cataract surgery and a craniotomy are minor additions.

This all sounds fabulous to me. I only have one question. Where the heck is Canada in all of this? Last year I spent almost a month in the hospital and struggled through terrible food, the smallest T.V. EVER, a quad room and a shared bathroom. I heard mention of a suite down the hall but I’m not sure it was available for mom’s who were staying for a bit. Because we don’t have to pay for our hospital visits in Canada there is no need to make them overly nice. In the U.S. some hospitals are privately owned so a nice suite, valet or more comfortable beds can give them an edge over another hospital in the area.

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