Merry Christmas Little Hoo Book Review

When Baby Buckshot was born, I thought about of the holiday traditions we were going to start together. One of which being a Christmas story every night in December until the 26th. Today is December 21, 2014 and I just read him his first one for this year. Last year, we probably got through 4 books, the only 4 Christmas books in our library. This tradition Christmas story every night is a little challenging because:

1. Books actually take up a lot of space! Having to store a Christmas collection in addition to the rest of the Christmas decorations just doesn't sound that great. 

2. Holidays are hectic! Some nights, we're not getting home in time for BB's whole bedtime routine. 

3. There are more and more Christmas books every year!

When I was contacted by Xist Publishing with a free copy of Merry Christmas, Little Hoo by Brenda Ponnay, I was thrilled. In e-book form, I could build an entire library of Christmas books without taking up any addiitonal space. Plus, I can access my e-book library from my phone which means I can still read BB's Christmas story when on the go! Brilliant!

Turns out, there's a small problem with the whole e-book reading thing for BB. He knows that tablets and phones do more than just provide reading material. Like play Taylor Swift music videos. It wasn't as effective as reading him a book. 

Never the less, Little Hoo is an adorable storybook owl who happens to be timid with a great imagination. There's a themed book for almost every holiday. This Christmas one is particularly adorable with Little Hoo wondering about the various night time sounds and what they could mean in terms of Christmas. From little elves in the kitchen to Santa in the night, this story is bound to build anticipation for little ones excited about Christmas.

I would recommend buying the hard copy of this book instead of the e-book. I ran into some formatting issues as well as some out of place pages and errant text which was confusing. 

Love You Forever Book Review

Love You Forever by Robert Munsch is a classic children's book. Though most might not know it by name, we know it by the quote, "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living my baby you'll be."

Though in Mommy circles, where we all want to dissect every baby to prove that we have something valuable to add to the conversation, this book is criticized as being the Helicopter Parent's Worst Case Scenario. That is until it is put into perspective of why the book was written.

Mr. Munsch tells the story of how this book was written on his website:

“I made that up after my wife and I had two babies born dead. The song was my song to my dead babies. For a long time I had it in my head and I couldn’t even sing it because every time I tried to sing it I cried. It was very strange having a song in my head that I couldn’t sing.

For a long time it was just a song but one day, while telling stories at a big theatre at the University of Guelph, it occurred to me that I might be able to make a story around the song.

Out popped Love You Forever, pretty much the way it is in the book.”

Now, I can't even read about the book without crying. Here's a video so you can cry with me.

 

Why I Won't Be Reading The Giving Tree to My Child

I registered for the Giving Tree, having never read it as a child myself.  I know, I know, was a raised under a rock?  How could I have never read the Giving Tree?  It's a classic!  So many people's favorite children's book!

I feel kind of bad writing this now because someone bought it for Baby Buckshot off the registry and left a note saying that it was her personal favorite from when she was a child.  Gifter, if you're reading this, please know that I appreciate the gift regardless and that I will be making good use of it by ranting about it in this blog.

The Giving Tree follows a story of a boy and the tree that loved him from childhood through the elderly years.  At every phase of life, the tree gives and gives and gives while the boy takes and takes and takes with nary a thank you.  Actually, he often comes to the tree at life milestones with his hands out expecting the tree to help him achieve his goals. 

Like when he wants money, instead of getting a job mowing lawns or working a paper route, he is given apples to sell from the tree's branches. When he needs a house, instead of getting and education and/or getting a job so he can earn it, he cuts off the tree's branches (which is really short sighted considering now there will be no more apples) to build a house. Then, he wants a boat but instead of saving money from whatever job he might have had as an adult, he cuts of the tree's trunk so not only are there no more apples, there's no more shade or branches for future houses!  Spoiler alert:  At the end of the book, the boy sits on the trunk, the only thing he has left of the tree.

What I gleaned from this book upon first reading is that this kid needs to learn a little bit more about how trees work because a trunk is basically a dead tree.  Second, where are this kid's parents?!  Why didn't they teach him how to get a job?! 

And hey, Helicopter Tree, have you ever heard to teaching a man to fish instead of giving the fish away for free?  Or you know, however that idiom goes.

I kid, I get symbolism and that we're not supposed to worry about reality in this book's world.  Or you know, the kid is an orphan and was raised by an inanimate object.

Seriously though, this book has been interpreted in many ways from the tree being a parent, God or mother earth.  A symbol of unconditional love, those who count this book amongst their favorites, often say.  But can we as parents not love unconditionally without teaching our children how to be entitled little people who grow up to take advantage of those who love them? 

But I understand, that like many other Light In The Attic fans, we don't want to slight Shel Silverstein.  So I'm going to give Uncle Shel the benefit of the doubt and go with the fan base who believes this was written as a satire.  And, if you want to read the book to your child, or if it's read to your child in the course of their education, a wise friend sent me this story as a counterpoint to make it a learning moment:

The Other Giving Tree by Jacqueline Jackson and Carol Dell

There was once a tree that loved a boy. Beside her stood another tree. She loved the boy, too, and the boy loved both trees, to swing in their branches, eat their apples, smell their blossoms, rest in their shade, and play peek-a-boo with them behind their trunks. And the trees were happy.

Then the boy grew into a youth, and no longer wanted to play in the trees, but to buy things and have fun. "'Can you give me some money?" he asked. “Not money," they replied, “but why don't you gather our apples and sell them?” So the boy did, and the trees were happy to have been able to help him.

The boy stayed away a long time, and when he returned, a man, he was now too busy to respond to their invitation to swing and play. He wanted a house to keep him warm, and to hold a wife and family. "Can you give me a house?" he asked.

“I have no house," said the first tree, “but you may cut off all my branches to build one." And the boy did. But the pile was not large.

"This will not make as big a house as I want," he said to the other tree. "How about you? I need your branches, too.”

“Huh-uh” said the other tree. "Apples, yes, branches, no."

"You are a selfish tree," said the boy, and taking the branches of the first tree, he carried them off.

“I'm happy," said the first tree. "I'm happy, too," said the other tree,

A long while later the boy came back, now a pot-bellied middle-aged man. The trees were glad to see him. “Come boy, come and play," whispered the first tree.

“I'm too old and sad to play," said the boy. "I want a boat that will take me far away from here. Can you give me a boat?”

"You can cut down my trunk and make a boat," said the first tree.

"That will not make a very big boat,” said the boy. He looked at the other tree. "How about your trunk, too?"

"Slam off, kid," said the other tree. "If I give you my trunk, I will no longer be a tree."

"You're still as selfish as you ever were," said the boy, and he cut down the trunk of the first tree and carried it off. And the first tree (now a stump) said she was happy, and the other tree said, "So am I.''

After a long time the boy came back again.

The stump said, “I'm sorry, boy, I have no apples to give you, no branches, no shade, no trunk to climb, I have nothing left to give, I am only an old stump. But you can sit on me.''

"That's okay," said the old man, "I'm too old to climb and swing, and 'I haven't any teeth to eat apples. All I need is an old stump to sit on.”

And he sat down, and the stump was happy

But as he was sitting he looked over at the other apple tree.
"There's that selfish tree,” he said, "that wouldn't give me anything after her apples. She's not as happy as you are, is she?”

The stump didn’t answer.

After awhile the sun got very hot. The wood under the boy was hard. The boy looked over at the other tree. Children were swinging on her limbs, the birds were nesting and carolling in her branches, adults were picnicking on the grass, the old folks were resting in her shade. Everyone was laughing and happy.

"Stump,” said the old man, "the sun is too hot, and this seat is too hard for my old bones.”

He got up and crept over to the other tree. “Would you mind,” he said, “if I took just a small corner of your shade, to cool me from the hot sun?”

“Of course not,” said the other tree. “Take all the shade you need.”

So the old man sat down in the shade.

And the stump wept.

Book Review: The Happiest Baby On the Block by Dr. Harvey Karp

Parenthood has been filled with conflicting information for a researcher like me. Attachment Parents versus the Ferber Method. Pacifiers, no pacifiers.  Crib sleeping versus co-sleeping. Internet arguments abound.

If there is one thing I would recommend to any parent regardless of their parental leanings, it's The Happiest Baby on the Block.

When DH and I attended the Childcare Basics Class, the most valuable thing to come out of the entire experience, with the exception of maybe DH's phenomenal swaddling skills, was learning the 5 Ss.

Dr. Karp has come up with an effective 5 step method to calm a crying baby whose other needs have already been met, otherwise labeled as colicky babies.  Now, BB doesn't have colic but the 5 Ss did help tremendously in the first couple of days of BB's life when he would cry despite being fed with a dry diaper and well rested.

He explains that many babies experience their first few months as a fourth trimester where they still need to comforts of the womb while they adjust to life and learn more than the basic instincts they're born with.

Swaddling: Babies are used to cramped quarters and enjoy the security of swaddling.  It also inhibits the Moro reflex (that falling feeling you get when you sleep) which can be kept in check if their arms are prevented from jerking around. Dr. Karp explains that though swaddling alone might not calm a screaming baby (in fact, some babies continue to wail when swaddled), it puts them into a setting where they can pay enough attention for the following 4 Ss to take effect.

Below is a video featuring Dr. Karp's swaddling technique.



Side or Stomach Position: Babies in the womb are not sitting upright.  Nor are they laying flat on their back (which triggers the feeling of falling for them).  They find a side lying position or a stomach position more comforting.

Shushing: Contrary to popular belief, silence is not pleasant for babies.  In the womb, they are surrounded by the sound of rushing blood at a very loud level.  Shushing, white noise machines, the sound of rushing water are all familiar sounds to babies that can help to calm them down by making them feel more at home.

Swinging and Swaying: Imagine the feeling of being cradled and swung, like in a hammock.  Such a relaxing feeling.  Well, that has a lot to do with how we felt in the womb.  Babies before birth are used to constant motion and swinging and swaying a baby in a side laying position triggers relaxation for them.

Sucking: Lastly, babies are used to sucking, often on their own hands, in the womb.  It's one of the few instincts they are born with, needed for basic survival.  Dr. Karp recommends offering a clean finger or pacifier if all the previous Ss combined don't work to calm the baby.

The book is an easy read and fairly short though full of lots of anecdotes proving the success of his method which aren't really necessary.

He also includes some parenting tips and serious symptoms to look out for that might be signs of medical issues causing the crying.

I give this book a 5/5 for information, ease of reading and effectiveness. A parenting must read.

Making Babies: A Proven 3-Month Program for Maximum Fertility

After my scary day at the doctor's, when I finally snapped out of my funk I went and picked up a few new books and a slew of fertility friendly supplements.  Basically, I spent mad cash to feel like I had some kind of control over the situation.

But this Making Babies book, written by a Western fertility specialist and an Eastern fertility specialist, was the best book I've read so far.  After reading Taking Charge of Your Fertility, what so many women consider the bible of infertility (not so much), Making Babies was a welcome breath of fresh air.  It made it clear that many unexplained infertility issues can be resolved, but more importantly, that one little change can make a world of difference.  Anything from unidentified infections to intercourse position changes have helped many patients go for unexplained infertility to the birth of healthy babies.

The book breaks monthly cycles into Menstruation, Pre-Ovulation, Ovulation and Implantation.  The authors recommend diet changes, exercises and massages based on cycle phases because the body's needs vary based on each phase. 

In addition, there are checklists that help the reader identify which of the 4 types of infertility the reader has and natural treatment based on type. This portion veers more heavily towards Eastern medicine, recommending many of the same things that my Acupuncturist/Eastern Fertility Specialist advised but with more detail.

This is the most comprehensive book I've read so far explaining in detail the various questions I've had, easing my fears and renewing my hope in successful baby making.  

Epigenetics

Last night I had a great conversation with my only pregnant-with-her-first-baby-right-now-just-like-me friend.  She’s 10 weeks farther along than I am but I tell you, it’s great having someone to talk with about the silly pregnancy stuff that J just can’t understand.

She recommended You Having a Baby by Dr. Oz (picture and link above) because it goes over a lot of interesting things like Epigenetics. Of course, being as obsessive as I am, I immediately went out to Barnes and Noble, despite the fact that I have Amazon Prime and it being $4 cheaper online, and bought it. That says a lot considering my typically thrifty self.

I’m about a 3rd of the way through the book already and obsessed with epigenetics.

In simple terms, epigenetics is the study of what genes are actually expressed. It doesn’t change the genetic makeup of cells, rather, it allows us, especially incubators like me, to influence what characteristics from the DNA structure actually manifest in the child.

We can’t determine what eye or hair color the child ends up with but we can affect what diseases the child is predisposed to, such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, etc.

For instance, how often a pregnant woman eats can effect the child’s future metabolic rate.  If the mother doesn’t eat for extended periods of time, the genetically determined metabolic rate slows preparing the body for the experience of famine outside of the womb. This was an effective method of survival when the mother and baby were actually living in a scenario of famine but in a 1st world country it results in a predisposition for obesity.

And not just for that first child but for that child’s future children.

This doesn’t mean that the child can’t end up being perfectly healthy but it does mean that what the mother does and does not eat during pregnancy can create health challenges that her children has to work harder to overcome for generations.

A few things that I am going to do after reading information from Dr. Oz (who is currently the only doctor/author who is providing epigenetics information in layman’s terms in relation to pregnancy):

1. A list of things to avoid

2. Eat organic whenever possible. My doctor also recommended this.

3. Do not drink out of plastic bottles that have been heated (which means really to avoid plastic bottles at all since you don’t know how heated the store bought plastic bottles were during transit).

4. Do not eat food microwaved in plastic, including tupperware. Use microwave safe pyrex, glass or ceramic instead.

5. Get houseplants to clear the air of any chemicals or gases emitted by paint or new building materials (we just finished a lot of home improvement work.)

6. Switch to green cleaning products.

What do you think about epigenetics?