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My 13-month old is quite the little Romeo these days!  He is all about kissing, hugging, touching hair (which leads to pulling hair usually, uh-oh!) and friendly wrestling matches.  Awww, how adorable, right?  If you are thinking about those black and white photos of little kids kissing and precious moments dolls and what not, hold on, this is a bit different…

His favorite new activity is kissing another little BOY on the lips.  Not the sweet young ladies in the class, nope.  It’s serious, people — they both will be playing together and then all of a sudden they lock eyes, slowly lean toward one another, close their eyes and kiss each other!

Come here and give me some sugar!

Kissing is just another phase here at daycare, like biting and throwing food.  We have seen our share of baby affection, so maybe Isaac has learned this from watching the other kids.  Or he may have got it from me, since I kiss him all the time, all over, including on the lips.  At the end of the day I would rather he learn affection instead of aggression (:

I know at this age they are pretty much “gender neutral” and him kissing boys is not a real cause for concern, but I have gotten comments of caution from others on this, which I think is pretty amusing.  And you know what?  If Isaac grows up and decides he still likes to kiss boys, I will still be his mother who loves him — that will never change no matter what.

Has your baby kissed or been kissed by another little one?  How did you respond?

Television is an important part of our culture. Next to the family, some experts believe that television can be the biggest influence on children. Even infants and toddlers have been swept up by popular TV shows marketed as “educational” programming. But are our babies really ready?

As child development experts continue to study how babies and young children grow and develop, the TV issue becomes even more complex. The need to weigh the pros and cons of children’s TV habits has become more important.

A warning for parents

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says that children under 2 shouldn’t be allowed to watch television. That’s because a child’s brain grows so quickly during the first three years of life. Instead of TV, young children need to spend time with other kids and adults. They need time to play and explore. Watching TV doesn’t give them this chance, experts say.

Babies learn best by interacting with people, says Susan L. Buttross, M.D., a specialist in developmental and behavioral pediatrics in Jackson, Miss. “During the first years of life, a baby’s brain grows very rapidly,” she says.

It’s important for a child to have immediate feedback when learning a new word or a skill begins to develop. Parents can offer this through interactive play, Dr. Buttross says. “If parents are looking for a way to take a break, they should remember that you can place a child in a safe area with blocks, puzzles, and books and he will benefit much more from the visual and tactile stimulation of the activity. Babies can be ‘media free’ and develop wonderfully.”

Lots of TV

The AAP’s guidelines were triggered by the amount of TV children watch these days. The typical school-aged child watches four to six hours of TV a day. That number doesn’t include time spent watching movies, listening to music, or watching music videos. It doesn’t include time spent playing video or computer games, or surfing the Internet.

Child experts know that youngsters need relationships with kids and adults to grow and develop, says George Askew, M.D., a Boston pediatrician. “Television is a passive activity that does not provide two-way interaction or response, both of which are critical to young children,” he says. “In order to learn nuances of language, how to relate to others, and to develop social skills, there must be an active give and take. I believe that the day-to-day, moment-to-moment connections with a responsive, nurturing, committed caregiver are far more enriching to a child’s growth and development than any brand of media.”

A 2005 study in the Archives of Pediatric Adolescent Medicine reported that children who watch a lot of TV do more poorly in school.

Obesity is another factor tied to TV watching. Children who spend time watching TV instead of running, jumping, and playing are much more likely to be overweight. Children who watch TV see many commercials for unhealthy foods. They also tend to snack more while watching TV.

To continue reading this article, click here.

Children who bite others cause a great deal of concern for the parents (and have been for some of our own bloggers!). The parents of the child who has been bitten are also usually very concerned about infection. Biting is an unacceptable behavior that needs to be stopped at an early age to prevent further occurrences.

Why young children bite:

Although biting is fairly common in young children, it is often worrisome to adults. A family member, playmate, or classmate at daycare or preschool may be the one bitten. Biting can be painful and frightening when it occurs. It upsets other children and often angers teachers and other adults.

Biting is usually caused by one of four different factors, including the following:

• experimental biting
  Experimental biting is done by infants and toddlers as they explore their world. They put everything in their mouths and sometimes bite in the process. You can help decrease biting by telling them, “No – biting hurts!” and being firm. Offer them things that they can safely bite on such as teething rings.
• frustration biting
  Frustration biting happens when young children become frustrated and unable to cope with a situation. Until they learn how to play cooperatively, they may respond to the demands of other children by hitting or biting. Some helpful guidelines for decreasing this type of biting include:
  • Keep playtimes short and groups small.
  • Supervise young children’s play closely.
  • If biting occurs, say, “No, don’t bite. Biting hurts.” and remove your child from the situation right away. Stay with your child and help him/her to calm down. Explore other, better ways to handle the situation with your child, so he/she learns to handle emotions differently next time.
• powerless biting
  Powerless biting occurs when a child is in need of feeling powerful. Sometimes, the youngest child in the family uses biting to gain power. To help prevent this type of biting:
  • Make sure your child feels protected and is not always being “picked on” by others.
  • Explain the situation to bigger or older children and get their help to make things more equal.
  • If biting occurs, tell your child that he/she is not to bite and remove him/her from the situation right away. Stay with your child and help him/her to calm down. Explore other, better ways to handle the situation with your child, so he/she learns to handle emotions differently next time.
• stressful biting
  Stressful biting is done when a child is under a lot of emotional stress. Biting may be a sign of distress or pain when the child is upset or angry. If this occurs:
  • Try to find out what is bothering your child. Watch for what happens right before the biting occurs.
  • Help your child to find other ways to express his/her feelings. Let him/her know that biting is wrong and remove him/her from the situation right away.

For advice on what to do if your child bites, or if your child bites others, click here.

Read part 2 here.

After at least five minutes of continuous vomiting Nora stopped. I knew I could never push a vomiting, feverish child in a jogger for for 1 mile much less 13.5 miles. So I changed my clothes, nursed Nora and rocked her in the rocking chair. I attempted to give Nora medicine to help her fever drop and she started throwing up again. She was just vomiting uncontrollably and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I could tell she was scared by the way she cried and clung to me as she vomited.

I figured it was a bug and I was just going to have to weather the vomit storm. When her fever went up to 102.8 and she started having trouble breathing I got more worried. I called the nurse advice line and gave them her symptoms. The nurse had an appointment at 4:30pm for me and she wanted me to give Nora some Tylenol while she booked the appointment. The second Nora had all of the medicine down she started puking again -all over me of course.

I had put the nurse on speaker phone so she heard the whole thing. She decided that since Nora wasn’t able to keep anything down I had to go to the ER. I left covered in puke. I was scared and I figured Nora was probably going to throw up on me again anyway.

At the ER Nora was listless, staring into space and crying non-stop. We went through triage relatively quickly and then had a two hour wait to see the doctor. Nora had to have a catheter to rule out a UTI as well as an x-ray of her chest. She cried HYSTERICALLY for all of these procedures and I wanted to cry right along with her.

Finally the doctor came back to give us the verdict. Nora did not have a UTI but she was very dehydrated AND the x-ray revealed that Nora had pneumonia.

So now Nora’s on antibiotics and anti nausea medicine and is doing much better. I am so thankful for modern medicine. I can’t imagine how scared parents were before all of these high tech tests and solutions came along.

What’s your scariest ER story?

Nora in the waiting room of the ER

Read part 1 here.

How is it I have ended up in the ER two times in one week? This is a personal record for me and Nora. While I felt silly taking Nora to the ER when it was just her fingers and nothing was really wrong, I have decided I’d rather be at the ER for that reason than a legitimate reason like our second ER visit.

The day started out great. I woke up at 5:30am and continued to get my things ready for my 13.5mile run that morning. Nora had woken up several times in the middle of the night with a slight fever (100.3) but I was confident she’d be able to last through my run if I gave her plenty of fluids and snacks. Nora woke up herself at 6:00am and I started to get her ready.

I was already in my running clothes and carried her to her room to get changed. As I was walking Nora started vomiting profusely. She couldn’t stop and I couldn’t let go. Vomit hit my face and poured down my chest and back. It was going EVERYWHERE and I just continued to clutch Nora and run towards to bathroom so that it at least could drip onto an easy to clean up surface. I was not in the mood to tackle vomit on the carpet.

What is it about us mothers that make us able to bear the most unbearable situations? Is it our unconditional love? I just know that I would have never dreamed of putting down my vomiting, crying child. If I was babysitting with a similar situation they would have gone into a bathtub and I would have pat their back or something.

Find out what was wrong in Part 3, coming in a few days.

In the meantime, what is it about mothers that make us able to bear the most unbearable?

It happens every time I walk through the grocery store.  I get that itch.  I go down the baby row and I just stand there and stare at all the fun little baby food.  All the meals and snacks call my name for me to buy them and try them out.  All the jars reach out for me to take them home.  I always see all these cute moms feeding their adorable babies wearing bibs, making airplane noise and wiping their messy mouths with the spoon.  I want to be that mom!  I want to feed my baby!  Sometimes I give in and I load my cart up with a million different choices that I just KNOW Gus will HAVE to love…this time.

But alas, it never fails.  I end up with a pantry or fridge FULL of opened jars that I TRIED to feed Gus and he just wouldn’t eat them.

Hello.  My name is Jessica and I have a picky eater.

There, I said it.  It doesn’t make it any better, but at least I’m admitting to it and I’ll stop this crazy baby food buying spree that I go on once a week.

I’m just so frustrated with it though!  I want him to EAT like normal babies eat.  All he wants to do is drink a bottle.  The kid BARELY enjoys eating crackers for crying out loud.  He’ll usually take one or two bites and them crumble the rest of the cracker up and throw it.

Bananas?  No.

Carrots?  Never.

Squash?  Not in a million years.

There’s pretty much only ONE item that I can always get him to eat.  Noodles.  The kid LOVES noodles.  Noodles with butter, noodles with cheese, noodles with red sauce, he loves them all.  But what about his protein!?!?  What happens when he turns one and he’s not getting all his vitamins in his formula anymore?!  Oh help me.  I have GOT to get this figured out and FAST.

Any suggestions!?