NICU Scrapbooking

Living life in NICU (Newborn Intensive Care Unit) can be challenging, to say the least. It is a constant rollercoaster of emotions. Some days are easy and you are elated. Other days, you can feel your whole life crashing down. Those are the days that you know you will be given a call in the middle of the night. It is relief when it doesn’t happen.

My own preemie, Baby E is now 27 weeks gestationally and is 21 days in the NICU.  It seems more important than ever to document the journey that he is going through. Every day I take pictures so that I have something of him to take home with me. Every milestone is celebrated, every setback mourned. The people at www.mykidsinspiration.com realize this and have a whole section is dedicated to NICU scrapbooking, along with calenders and milestone stickers.

The days of NICU are uncertain, but memories are forever.

 

Top 100 Children’s Books

Educators’ Top 100 Children’s Books

The following list was compiled from an online survey in 2007. Parents and teachers will find it useful in selecting quality literature for children.

1. Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
2. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
3. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
4. Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
5. Good Night Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
6. I Love You Forever by Robert N. Munsch
7. Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
8. Oh! The Places You Will Go by Dr. Seuss
9. The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton
10. The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
11. Skippyjon Jones by Judy Schachner
12. Thank You Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco
13. The Cat In The Hat by Dr. Seuss
14. The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
15. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
16. The Mitten by Jan Brett
17. Crunching Carrots, Not Candy by Judy Slack
18. Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willlems
19. Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
20. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
21. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
22. Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman
23. Corduroy by Don Freeman
24. Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes
25. Stellaluna by Janell Cannon
26. Tacky the Penquin by Helen Lester
27. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
28. The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams
29. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr.
30. Click Clack Moo: Cows That Type Doreen Cronin
31. Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
32. Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss
33. Junie B. Jones by Barbara Park
34. Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
35. Make Way For Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
36. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
37. Piggie Pie by Margie Palatini
38. The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper
39. The Monster at the End of this Book by Jon Stone
40. The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
41. A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon
42. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett
43. From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
44. Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
45. Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
46. Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann
47. Olivia by Ian Falconer
48. The BFG by Roald Dahl
49. The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn
50. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
51. The Sneetches by Dr. Seuss
52. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
53. Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel
54. A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
55. Bark, George by Jules Feiffer
56. Bunnicula by James Howe
57. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
58. Charlie the Caterpillar by Dom DeLuise
59. Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes
60. Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary
61. Frederick by Leo Lionni
62. Frindle by Andrew Clements
63. Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel
64. Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney
65. Harris and Me by Gary Paulsen
66. Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion
67. Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss
68. How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss
69. I Love You, Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt
70. Is Your Mama A Llama? by Deborah Guarino
71. Jan Brett’s books
72. Knots on a Counting Rope by Bill Martin Jr.
73. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
74. Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton
75. Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney
76. My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett
77. My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss
78. My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
79. No David! by David Shannon
80. One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss
81. Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
82. Stephanie’s Ponytail by Robert Munsch
83. Swimmy by Leo Lionni
84. The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes
85. The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Warner
86. The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper
87. The Empty Pot by Demi
88. The Five Chinese Brothers by Claire Huchet Bishop
89. The Giver by Lois Lowr
90. The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle
91. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
92. The Important Book by Margaret Wise Brown
93. The Last Holiday Concert by Andrew Clements
94. The Napping House by Audrey Wood
95. The Quiltmaker’s Gift by Jeff Brumbeau
96. The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
97. The Story About Ping by Marjorie Flack
98. The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka
99. Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
100. The Wide-Mouthed Frog: A Pop-Up Book by Keith Faulkner

Found on http://www.nea.org

 

Sidelines National Support Network

After 7 weeks of pregnancy, I was rushed to the hospital for bleeding.  Same thing happened again at 9 weeks. As you can imagine, the first trimester of pregnancy was not a great time for me. I was on bed rest for the entire trimester and later allowed to ease back into my routine.

For many women however, bed rest is mandated for the entire pregnancy. An organization that was recommended to me was http://www.sidelines.org/ I have never actually checked it out myself as I was allowed to get off of bed rest, but if you are in a high risk pregnancy, you may want to check it out. Just knowing that you are not alone and that there are other people to talk to, may be its biggest benefit.

 

Car Safety Seat Guide

The American Academy of Pediatrics has come out with the 2008 guide on Car Safety Seats. It is very comprehensive and explains everything that you need to know.

 

Cloth Diapers

Oddly enough, the one thing that everyone seems to criticize, is that DH and I will be using cloth diapers when Baby E is born. Just about everyone believes that we will want to have disposables around, cloth diapers will be too hard to use, they will make us miserable, etc.

 I really don’t understand the whole, “omigawd, what are you thinking? You neeeeed disposables!” Um, no, we really don’t, and how is this your business again? Thanks for your support. The best part, is that these people are either childless, or have children and remember the cloth diapers from twenty years ago. DH and I have both seen the new cloth diapers in use. They are just as easy as disposables to use. The only hardship is the cleaning since you don’t throw them out. There are ways around it and good ways to store the used diapers until you get a chance to clean them.

So if you are like me and are being besieged by naysayers, just remember plenty of people use cloth diapers and are very happy with them. A great site to figure out which ones are for you is the Diaper Pin. Many parents recommend getting a couple different types. Each child is different and you will find that some diapers will work best in different situations. Personally, I am going to get the BumGenius 3.0s and some prefolds with covers. We will also be getting a diaper service for the first month to help ease the workload of caring for a newborn.

 

Diaper Free Baby

So what do countries that don’t have immediate access to cloth and disposable diapers do? The parents attune themselves to when the baby needs to eliminate. The baby learns to tell the parent when they need to go and the parent takes them to an appropriate toliet area. You can read the rest of the article here.

 

HappyBaby

For the parents that want to feed their baby the best, but do not have the time or energy, there is a company that sells premium organic baby meals.  HappyBaby is supported by reputable author, Dr. Sears. The food is made with organic ingredients that are allergen friendly with probiotics to help baby  develop a healthy digestive system. They have 15 meals so far, including cereals.

The best part, every time you buy from them, they give a portion of their proceeds to fight malnutrition in children in Malawi.

 

Making Baby Food @ Home

Searching the web on how to make homemade baby food, I came across http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/ It gives lots of useful advice. It looks like I need to stock up on freezer bags and ice cube trays!