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I hope readers in the NYC area will join me on March 6th for a free ASL Story Time celebrating the release of my new book Sign Language ABCs.  For details, visit our events page: http://www.mybabyfingers.com/events. There will be books for sale and some fun give-aways.

In addition to my own sign language books, (http://www.mybabyfingers.com/books) I’ll have some great material written by colleagues of mine.

One will be a picture book series for toddlers/preschoolers called Story Time with Signs & Rhymes by Dawn Babb Prochovnic.  These books tell adorable stories through colorful illustrations and catchy rhymes, introducing new vocabulary words and signs.  I had the pleasure of working with Dawn as ASL content consultant for her second series. Learn more about Dawn and her books at http://www.smalltalklearning.com/.

The other is The Day I Saw a Dragonfly by Heather Fitzpatrick.  This storybook is written from a child’s perspective, and helps kids of all ages talk about the death of a loved one – human or pet!  The mom in the story tells her daughters that a Dragonfly is a special bug with four wings because it carries an angel down from heaven on its back.  Heather was motivated to write this book after her father, an aspiring author himself, had passed away.  She was moved by her children’s empathy for her and created this sweet story.

I love reading, and have always read to my children incorporating sign language.  It was so much fun to see them in toddlerhood taking books off the shelves and “reading out loud” by signing what they saw in the pictures.  There is research that demonstrates the benefits of sign language in reading skill development for school age children.  Dancing with Words: Singing for Hearing Children’s Literacy by Marilyn Daniels is a wonderful resource for parents and professionals.

If you’re in the area, bring your child to our story time and book signing.  If not, check out all the books I mentioned – you’ll be happy to have one or more of them in your collection of books!

As a music therapist, I’ve seen the incredible benefits that music can have on quality of life, pain management, emotional self-expression, and so much more.  (Read my blog entry from December 16th.  More info, take a look at musictherapy.org).

As a parent, I’ve seen music play a positive role in – among other things – focus to task, self-confidence, and family bonding.

My husband studied music from the time he was four years old.  He had consistent, classical training through the age of 18, and continued his music more informally after that time.  He went on the road with his band for a while in the middle of a law career – music just had that pull.  I have been singing my whole life, but have had inconsistent musical training.  I studied to become a music therapist in college and found the formal music training at times difficult, but the prospects of becoming a music therapist worth the work.

Our kids both started formal music training in 3rd grade after exposure to all sorts of music at home before that time.  One plays drums/percussion (including marimba now!), and one plays guitar – classical and folk/rock.  They don’t love taking music theory, but they get so much out of performing in an ensemble and taking lessons.

There are so many quotes about the wonders of music….  ”music speaks louder than words,” “where words fail, music begins,” “music makes the world go ’round,” “music is what feelings sound like,” “music’s the medicine of the mind.”

Children who are consistently exposed to music at an early age often have a stronger command of language, excellent spatial reasoning skills, school readiness, and are more apt to express themselves due to the outlet music provides.

Looking for music classes for your baby or lessons for your older child?  Looking for music therapy for a loved one?  http://www.mybabyfingers.com/classes-and-offerings

There are so many different schools of thought about the best way to let your baby sleep – and to get your baby to sleep.

We all need to sleep, so I say do what works best for you and your family.  Just know that all decisions have consequences of some sort.

This baby in the photo above has a pacifier…for some, it is the essential soother, allowing baby to fall asleep on his/her own.  But what if it falls out?  Does baby wake up?  And what if baby is still needing the paci to fall asleep at age 3, or 4, or even 5?  Dr. Sears advises against pacifiers – though not necessarily due to difficulty weaning.  His concern is with nipple confusion and his belief that babies should be soothed by a human, not by plastic.

What about twins sleeping together?  According to Natalie Diaz, mom of multiples, founder of Twiniversity and director of the Manhattan twins Club, twins should at least start out sleeping together in the same crib.  ”…your kiddos will really enjoy the closeness to their siblings more than you can understand. It’s part of the multiple bond…keeping them in one crib is doing them a huge favor. They are comforted by each other’s sound, smell and touch…”  In her experience, even if you have them sleep in separate cribs, they will sleep as close to the end as possible, nearest to their twin.  And if they can reach each other, they may even seek comfort in the others’ hand (talking about pacifiers, they may use each other’s fingers instead!).

“Back to sleep.”  The NICHD (National Institute of Child Health & Human Development) still recommends that every baby be put to bed on his/her back.  This is believed to keep the airways open and decrease the risks of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome).  They believe that “tummy time” during the day will help reduce the flat spots and hair loss on the back of the head, and it definitely strengthens their muscles in preparation for crawling.  Anyway, back to sleep… what if your baby always rolls over to his/her tummy while sleeping or in order to fall asleep?  Early on, swaddling will keep your baby on his or her back, but bigger and more active babies will roll around.  According to babycenter.com, babies who are rolling over are usually strong enough to roll back, or at least hold their heads up, and therefore the risk of SIDS is significantly decreased.

Pediatrician Richard Ferber is the founder and former director of the Center for Pediatric Sleep Disorders at Children’s Hospital in Boston.  You’ve likely heard of “Ferberizing” so your baby will go to sleep without you.   Many people have had success with this method.  My mom had to let me “cry it out” as a baby and I turned out ok (I think!?), but we just couldn’t do it with our kids.  The opposite might be thought of as co-sleeping, or the “family bed.”  It allows for breastfeeding more easily, though there is controversy- especially in its safety.  We chose a middle ground- we stayed with our little ones as they (and until they) fell asleep.  They became very grounded, independent but loving older kids.  They can fall asleep on their own and they even go to overnight camp without issue.  Again, do what works for you and your family.

Dr. Harvey Karp, nationally renowned pediatrician, child development specialist and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the USC School of Medicine, is known for working with superstars, like Michelle Pfeiffer and Madonna.  His popular book, Happiest Baby on the Block, is widely read in NYC, and I’ve seen moms using his methods during my classes.  Karp recommends the “Five S’s System” to help induce what he calls the “calming reflex.”  The steps are meant to be done in succession, but some babies don’t need all five steps.  1.  Swaddle.  2. Side/Stomach position.  3.  Shhhushing sound.  4.  Swing.   5.  Sucking.  Definitely fascinating to watch him do it, and exciting when a parent is able to get a similar result.  It can lead to a good night’s sleep, or a longer nap.

Many people will tell you to “nap when your baby naps.”  I’ve never been a napper.  When my baby napped, I could finally eat something or do the dishes, or brush my hair!  It was a good time to read a book or call my mom, write in my journal or do a little exercise.  I will admit, I would occasionally doze off if my little guy fell asleep ON me, nursing.  But otherwise, it was ME time.  If you need to spend that ME time sleeping, do it!

Sleep, baby, sleep,
Thy papa guards the sheep;
Thy mama shakes the dreamland tree
And from it fall sweet dreams for thee,
Sleep, baby, sleep.
Sleep, baby, sleep,
Down where the woodbines creep;
Be always like the lamb so mild,
A kind and sweet and gentle child,
Sleep, baby, sleep.

~Nursery Rhyme

As a kid, I was fortunate enough to attend summer camp.  I started with the JCC day camp and went on to the overnight camp.  My mom had gone there too, which I thought was pretty cool.  A few of my good friends from school went to camp with me, and I made such special friends from outside the area, I thought for sure we’d be “friends forever.”  We didn’t have computers at that time– e-mail, texting, and facebook were unheard of –so we depended on regular letters that we actually wrote by hand and put into envelopes with stamps for the post office to deliver!  Cool thing now, though, is that we really can be “friends forever” with facebook, even though we lost touch for some years since camp.  It has been exciting to rekindle friendships over the internet- not quite the same as living in a cabin together with no running water (yes, that’s the kind of camp I went to as a kid!), but a great opportunity to catch up regularly.

I loved camp so much, that I spent several summers on staff at that same day camp and overnight camp, in addition to working at the youth group camp I had attended as an older teenager.

For six years now, my own kids have had a special home away from home each summer. They started in day camp as well, but I was the camp director and we lived there – it was on the grounds of teen leadership overnight camp.  Now they attend a “sister” camp, which is overnight.  I am the drama director there – so I still get to be at camp every summer! And my kids get to ignore me if they so choose… which my older one often does, but they’ve also both been in a show I’ve directed there!

This photo includes Zeke as a member of the barbershop quartet in the Music Man:

We have had the opportunity to visit camp and camp friends during the off-season as well.  We’ve attended family retreats in the winter time, camp reunions, and just returned from a weekend out of town at a camp friend’s bat-mitzvah.  It’s such a joy to see the summer buddies just as close outside of that environment.  The bonds are really strong.

This picture below is of Sian with his Maccabiah (Color War) team:

No matter what team they are on, the kids that share a bunk root for each other and really don’t bring the competition “home” with them.  It’s a few days of intense bonding with kids from different units, and exploring activities around camp they might not spend much time doing otherwise.  Color war comes at the end of the summer, which is exhausting, but a welcome break from the regular routine, and a great opportunity to build camp spirit.

At our camp, kids are able to connect or re-connect with their Jewish identity.  They automatically have a place where they belong; they’re in a community of people that have similar beliefs even if they practice differently.  Incorporating Jewish values into daily camp activities, kids learn about ethics in general and how to incorporate these things into their every day lives throughout the year.

So much happens at camp.  Kids become independent and compassionate, they learn to appreciate and take care of the great outdoors, they become swimmers, and often try something they had never dreamed of doing in their lifetime.  Often times, sibling relationships are strengthened through the camp experience, and other mentors are discovered.  At camp, kids learn to put electronics aside and actually engage in activities with others…and living with each other, they learn to accept people’s differences.  Kids can be themselves – truly themselves – and develop a level of confidence that stays with them once they leave the camp gates.  At camp, kids can shine.

The following photos are of Zeke on the 4th of July at our annual carnival and Sian playing drums with a camper band at our annual music festival:

Suddenly I have a 12 year old with feet bigger than mine! How did that happen? It is a cliche, but time truly does “fly.” I remember in high school talking with my friends about how old we’ll be in “the year 2000!” Now it is 2012, and my son will be 13! A teenager! That’s ok, my younger son will still be a tween. He will? OMG… How did that happen? He’s the younger one!

In this day and age, we have much more contact with our children than our parents had with us. Even though my son was ready to start walking to school on his own much before I was ready for him to do it, the cell phone certainly made it easier to accept.

I try not to be a “helicopter parent” – kids need their privacy, which is often harder to get in NYC when there’s no back yard and you share a room with your brother. Fortunately, we have the parks, school, and good friends. They need the opportunity to become independent and responsible. They need to know that we trust them, and they’ll know we’re there for them no matter what. Honestly, I like to think of myself as a “cool” mom. My kids may disagree, but that’s their problem.

So we’re approaching the teens – the next phase in the scrambled life of living with boys.
Stay tuned.

The world never sleeps.  So why should your baby?

I invite you to e-mail Lora@mybabyfingers.com and share your successes as well as your challenges related to sleep.

Share resources, ideas, support systems too!  I’ll post those that I feel are most valuable to share.

While I was pregnant and throughout early childhood for both my boys, I kept a pretty detailed journal.  Now that they are getting so much older, I often look back at the memories–I need a reminder that they were cute and sweet once!  LOL– they are still cute and sweet, especially when they want something!  Anyway, here are some cute quotes from my guys:

“More.”  E, 16 months, in sign language after his dad and I stopped hugging each other.

“Just calm down mommy.”  E, age 2.5 yrs.

“I’m not gonna love you for a whole week!”  E, age 3 yrs.

“The wind has no bones.”  E, age 3 yrs.

“I look like a dude!”  E, age 4 yrs.

“Don’t-do-that!”  O, age 16 months.

“Mommy, I’m not a baby anymore!”  O, age 2 yrs.  We changed his sign name that day!

And one day, one of them around age 4 said “I have superpowers in my underwear!”  Wow, that will really mean something different at some point!

I definitely encourage all parents to keep a journal!  And tell your children stories about them… they love to hear about what they said and did when they were “little.”

H O L I D A Y S

Happy times.

Oil lasted for eight days.

Lights and Latkes.

Instant memories.

Dreidle, dreidle, dreidle, I made it out of clay.

Africa, America, all around the globe.

Yuletide carols being sung by a choir.

Silent night.