Let the Early Learning Begin!

Early Learning Early Learning General Discussions
21

My little Boy was jaundice too. It seems to be relatively common.
My son was/is failure to thrive on and off for the past 2.5 years. Currently I think he is gaining okay. His appetite has slowed down, but he still eats more than me. At one point he was consuming 4000 calories a day.
He was born at 6lbs and was in premie clothes for 6 weeks, and newborn cloths for 6 months. He still wears 6month shorts.
He was tested for a whole slew of things and it just seems he is petite, with an amazing metabolism. … Which I had too, until I had hm.

Glad you found out about the tongue ties early. It can effect the speech and nursing.

22

Pokerdad, this is amazing. I am very impressed that you’re even thinking about early learning with everything else on your plate. And thank goodness you got the medical help Pokerbub needed! I hope things are less frustrating from here on out. And you’ve made me excited to start with my next baby (hopefully coming in about 10 days…). I will be following “How Smart is Your Baby” more closely than I did with my first, but I hadn’t thought about the mimicking vowel sounds. I’m going to add that! And it’s amazing that he responds to cues so quickly. It still astounds me what babies can understand; I still find myself thinking they can’t. Your posts are very inspiring; thank you!

23

Your posts make me smile - its clear you are enjoying your baby and will do so for the rest of his life. Don’t worry about set backs now - he’s just entered the big wide world and is taking it all in - sometimes he will need a rest. My first DD was also on a bilibed and it was tough, but the time really does fly by even if it doesn’t seem like it when it is happening. I know nothing about tongue ties but glad to hear you got it sorted out without too many issues.

As for the roller coaster - remember that it has only just begun - in fact you are probably only just on the steep ascent now - it gets a lot more fun and scary too as they start to age a bit. You will probably all feel very tired soon - remember that you can’t learn or teach so well when tired and make sure you all get some rest as best as you can with a newborn in the house.

Its great to hear all you have been doing and get an update - remember learning comes in all sorts of ways and part of bringing up your baby/child is about what you are learning - your own learning has probably skyrocketed in the last few days. As for his learning whether you do something formal or not he is learning at a massive rate right now - he knows smells he’s never smelt before, knows who his parents are, has heard clear speech, knows what pain is (I hate those blood tests they do for the jaundice), knows what nutrition is - even if you went to sleep for 24 hours right now his learning would be enormous - but when you do get the chance keep talking to him and telling him things - newborns are pretty amazing and I am still trying to persuade my DH that we need another (he is not taking!)

24

please keep up the progress reports Pokerdad. Your journing has been inspiring to me thus far. I’m definatly going to try the mimic the vowel sounds with my LO. Can’t wait just a few more months for me.

25

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4052428020269668962

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WB0107rZXA

Have you seen this? I have talked to some other mom’s who swear they can hear the differences, I either didn’t know about it with #2 or it didn’t work, I can’t remember! But maybe it’s worth a shot to try out.

I am so, so glad for him that you got him clipped early! Lots of problems avoided, kudos to PokerMom & Dad for getting it sorted out quickly!!! Lots of parents don’t start an EL program until a few months or even a year + after the baby is born, so trust me, you guys are doing more than all right. There will be weeks, or even months over the next couple of years that EL is set aside for sickness, moving, vacations, job stress, life, whatever! The goal is to minimize it as much as possible of course, but understand that it’s just part of the game. Sometimes they regress a little, or don’t show they’re learning, and other times they regurgitate all of the knowledge you didn’t even know they had!

Medical issues definitely trump any and all EL of course, and you guys are still very much on the right path. We love the updates, keep them coming as time permits! New parenthood is exhausting I know, and for many “free time” becomes non-existent for a while. :slight_smile: It’s real live version of Truman Show, Early Leaning style LOL, we’ve all been watching this kid grow up since in the womb. lol You really ought to start blogging you know, I’d follow you! :yes:

26

I got the Dunstan DVD a few months ago and put the audio of the various cries on mp3 for review (So that I could memorize the cries). I think I got the DVD after TmT recommended it to me in a PM [pretty sure that was you!] . I got it from the library since the DVD is so expensive. It was helpful/been helpful in the sense that… well, …

PokerBub has two basic cries so far: Neh for food and if this isn’t immediately answered (as in, within 2 seconds) it goes to full out “ah” or “eh”…

As part of my communication with PokerBub, I use “Neh” as a word/vowel sound for food. “I know you want Neh. Mommy will give you some Neh” etc etc. I’ve noticed in general that mimicking PokerBub’s vocalizations helps - maybe since we’re moving into “Happiest Toddler on the Block” territory where you pace the complaint (allow baby to know he’s been heard and understood) but maybe I’m drawing too much into it?

But back to Dunstan, I explained to my wife before he was born about some of the cries, especially Neh since it’s my opinion that this particular cry stems from the instinct/desire to put the tongue on the pallet for sucking milk, and hence the “N” in neh.

Right now I’m feeling like a lesser parent in some respects. I’ve successfully EC’d him twice, semi-successfully twice, and really haven’t figured it out in the slightest. He just gets so upset when he’s not nursing or sleeping. He’s rarely alert and just happy - though I do sense that this is getting better… I guess the guilt comes from knowing better. I know better/am aware - and because of this, I have a bar of expectation that I put on myself (not so much on baby, it’s what am I DOING)

I started keeping an activity journal a few days ago. In it, I’m also jotting down any observations. For example, yesterday I noticed that PokerBub is starting to vocalize more when he’s not crying and these vocalizations seem to be becoming more diverse. I noticed today that his hands are becoming more active on the crawling track… and such. With the journal, I plan on putting up a blog so that you can read what we’re doing, what’s working, what’s not, and where we might be weak (so that hopefully you feel compelled to offer suggestions :biggrin: )

PS… regarding my using his vocalization as a word with meaning - I do realize this is a bit pernicious if continued too long. I’m not going to be the type to use shortcut baby words, BUT I figure at this point I’m just trying to mimic his vocalizations in general to get the back and forth going more - and it seems to help so far.

27

Learning the baby different baby cries saved me a whole lot of time and stress. I highly recommend this! I had no clue with my first child…and she cried the most, of course it was because I wasn’t hearing her! :wub:
I never saw this Dunstan clip before but somewhere between baby 1 and baby 2 I could recognize cries for hunger, pain, discomfort, tiredness and sometimes overstimulation. Interestingly not just in my own kids! I could hear a baby at the shops and know what the baby wanted. Sometimes if it was an obviously clueless mum I would mention " oh your baby is making the cry sound for pain, he must have wind" but usually unless already in a conversation with someone this one is best kept quiet! I do mention the sounds to my kids though, hoping they can pick up the different cry sounds BEFORE they have children! :slight_smile:
Anyway, I have found it’s not fool proof also. Sometimes baby makes a cry that just means nothing to me, or sometimes I will hear a baby I can’t unrstand. I guess those ones speak another language! lol

28

Yah, that was me I guess. :blush: I can’t remember what I tell to who!

Reading your last post I just laughed out loud at the observation part…I can just hear it now, right into the handheld tape recorder…

Captain’s Log. PokerDad’s Log. July 9, 11:39 pm. PokerBub in crying, distressed state. Suspect immediate demand for Neh or wind release. Engage trial and error soothing techniques STAT.

Stay cheerful, it’ll all work out! He just got evicted from the coziest hotel on the planet with constant room service. You’d be pissed too! lol He’ll get over it, give him a little time. :slight_smile:

29

lol lol lol lol lol lol lol love it!

30

Hey everyone!! Congratulations to all the mommy’s out there!! You really must be enjoying with your little monsters !! I am new to the forum, I have a daughter 5 year old , her name is amaira, and recently I am hooked to these forums!! Earlier it was facebook, now I just keep on finding new new things for my daughter so that she can learn a new great deal of things!! While going through these forums, I saw some amazing art and craft things, of how learning can be made enjoyable and fun too, how to enhance amaira’s imagination & creativity!! Reading should be inculcated in children when they are small enough to read, even if they have not started going to their kindergarten schools!! i found this cool way to make learn amaira alphabets and numbers through picture books and board books!! I got this Parragon My Big Book of ABC and 123 for her from hushbabies!! It is easier for her to learn abc and numbers, because through pictures, she remembers it later on too!! If at any time of the day, i ask her, she remembers it!! So, dont wait for school to begin, or dont let your child dependent on others!! At the end of the day, a mother can be the best teacher for her child.