**We interrupt this regularly scheduled blog to bring something very important to your attention**

Everyone knows that parents are responsible for much more than our child’s well being.. They count on us for their entire survival every moment of every day.

However, since that is just the nature of being a MOM to a young baby, you dont always pay attention to it. It is just a fact and taken for granted.. well our babies take everything for granted!

Our homes are full of imminent danger and potential accidents and it is our JOB as the parent to seek these dangers out, and remove them! I had a socket come off the wall, exposing a bare outlet. The electrician was aghast that I even waited a day to call him. He kept tsk tsking and shaking his head back and forth.. 

The inspiration for this post comes from my delicious little AJ who has managed to change my life overnight. Not only has he learned to crawl, but he sprints when he crawls, and it is with purpose. He seeks out the smallest piece of lint and is off! All day long is a series of ‘whats in your mouth?’, squeezing his cheeks, and sweeping his mouth to make certain nothing entered.

I was stunned to actually find myself removing several dangerous objects, and literally SAVING HIS LIFE.  I am too embarrased to share with you the particular items, but I am shaken up enough to know that the next few months in my life are not going to bring the ‘freedom’ I expected that a 7 month old baby would bring.

Let your babies explore, touch, smell, taste… but PLEASE.. Please watch them welll!!

~~andrea & AJ

 

… from our Regular Guest Blogger, Ariella - mother of 13 month old Joseph!

Get out the camera, the video recorder, the cellphone! My son is ALMOST walking!It’s really exciting isn’t it- when they start to take there first steps?! I’ve spent most of the past week holding my breath, because every time my son takes a few steps, he also falls VERY quickly after! He’s normally a good sport but I’m a bit overprotective. I want him to learn how to walk and NEVER fall down- not going to happen right?? I was at my friends house and she has this really good toy- her son is at the same developmental stage and was all over the place in this:Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Stride-to-Ride Learning Walker         It’s great fun because they can ride AND walk AND play all these great games. The smiling dashboard is filled with learn-and-play activities including learning numbers, opposites, and ABC’s with flashing lights and music PLUS a shape shorter. Talk about ‘bang-for-your-buck!’ Ariella

A side note added from Andrea: For you lovers of old fashioned toys and ebay… I know there is a saying that ‘they dont make things’ like they used to’… well, sometimes this is a good thing! It is very well known that the walkers from a few decades back were responsible for a lot of accidental deaths in young children. If you are considering a purchase, stick with the well known brands and buy something current!    

 

 

 

By featured Guest Blogger Ariella - mother of 1 year old Joseph!

How many times have you heard a picture is worth a thousand words??

Well how about $10,000??

If there is one thing there is usually no lack of.. it is pictures of our children. First tooth, first steps, sleeping in all sorts of odd positions, first birthday, etc…

Picture.com offers an annual $10,000 prize for a winning picture. This is taken from their FAQ page:

Q. How does the contest work, and what prizes can I win?
A. Each year, we sponsor the International Open Amateur Photography Contest to encourage new artists and undiscovered talent to submit their work for consideration. We receive thousands of entries, each of which is evaluated by our selection committee. Those entries that exhibit a unique perspective or artistic vision are advanced to semifinalists in the contest. Complete sets of prizes are awarded at the end of each contest. All prizes are guaranteed to be awarded. The annual Grand Prize is $10,000.00. The Grand Prize for each individual contest is $1,000.00. For each individual contest there are forty First Prizes of $35.00, four in each of 10 categories. Seventy-three Second Prizes of gifts with a retail value of $25.00 each are awarded without regard to category. We award additional prizes in case of ties.

They have baby photo contests all the time, so your selection/s, if they include babies, can be considered for both .

Sometimes when we try to get our children to pose for the camera for the perfect shot, that perfect shot comes from those moments in between - when they are falling over each other, straight into the mud, ruining their picture perfect clothing!Not long ago the GAP was on the search for child models. They opened the contest to the nation at large and 1000’s of people entered…. for obvious reasons. If that was a no brainer, the chance of winning $10,000 should make this an even MORE obvious opportunity to go for!

 

We have information peppered througout our site from Healthology. Healthology is one of the premier health sites on the web, and since Baby-Place is one of the premier baby sites on the web, they invited us to share their very relevant information on pregnancy, birth, and babies with our visitors… you will be glad they did!

However, since the site is so large, I realized that so many great topics (usually in the form of video) were being ignored! Therefore, we are now introducing the Healthology category to the blog, and I can assure you that even if we cover a topic that you THINK will not interest you, when you watch it.. you will gain new insight and respect for the topic… that’s how informative and well done these videos are done. Dont worry.. they are all under 2 minutes long!

This first video highlights the importance of Yoga for new Moms. Giving back to yourself allows you to give more to your child! Check out this video to see what makes this class unique.

Take care of your heart, mind, soul… and of course your body, and consider YOGA

~~ andrea

 

Every now and then I find myself at YouTube for one reason or another.. lately for business reasons.

Ocassionally I will start clicking around on videos and see where it takes me….

About a year it took me somewhere TRAJIC and today… well I have absolutely NO words for today’s experience.. I admit I cried more last year, either because the video was more compelling, or because again.. today’s video is beyond belief..
I refer to memorials left to children lost to car accidents..(we should not know from this!)..

I am not embedding the videos here, just offering the links. You can make the choice to follow through with watching them by clicking on the childrens names … The choice that should be obvious is to follow through with the lessons learned about having your child in a

5 point Harness Car Seat..

Kyle David Miller  was killed in a car accident last year because a senile, 78 year old woman ran a red light and hit the family causing them to flip into a ditch. Kyle’s seatbelt came unlatched during the roll and he was ejected. His seatbelt was later examined by several experts who determined it was faulty and told his mother that seatbelts regularly fail, especially in roll over accidents. She (like most people) had no idea that seatbelts could fail and think that this is something everyone should be made aware of.

Their crusade has resulted in almost 2 million views on YouTube and the demand for Britax Regent to cause backorders everywhere!

Todays experience:

 Kyle, Emma, and Katie Coble Crash on I-5 in Mission Viejo, California takes family’s three kids. The Coble children, Kyle, 5; Emma, 4; and Katie, 2, were killed on May 4, 2007 when a semi-tractor trailer rear-ended the minivan they were riding in.

  Britax Regent 5 point Harness Car Seat

To your safety,

 ~~ andrea