Funny Faces: Learning About Emotions

by Nicola Smee

(book image is a link to Amazon)

This delightful book about a little boy’s encounter with three playful bears perfectly illustrates the connection between feelings and expressions.

Another fabulous library find - I have been hitting the jackpot lately - this book sealed the deal on emotions for my toddler. After reading and discussing this book for a few weeks, she is now pointed to faces in all the other books we read and using words like, "happy, sad, angry, frightened, and worried," to describe them. I especially love NHV's worried expression ... looks more like a fish face than worried ... it's priceless!

A few months ago, my Natalie started making strong connections to happy and sad. From about 16 months or so, her daddy and I played a silly game of putting a big smile on our face and saying, "Happy!" and then making a frown face and saying, "Sad." She thought it was hilarious, and we appreciated the acknowledgement of our obvious acting talents - ha!

From there, I tried to help NHV identify when she was obviously feeling happy ... like when she gets to share a cookie with daddy or we decide to go to the zoo. Then came the mention of, "Oh, that baby sounds sad," whenever we'd hear a baby crying in the story. I am certain that one is bound to bite me in the rear when baby sister arrives and cries because she's hungry or needs a diaper change ... I am going to be hearing a lot of, "Baby sad?" from NHV!

This book was a very natural next step.

• It is very, very simple, which means the text is minimal.
• The story follows a boy's playing in the woods (happy) when a bear takes his ball (sad and then angry). The bear and its cubs return (worried and then frightened) to play with the boy (happy, again.) Those are the situations I can remember - had to return the book to the library just yesterday - I think there are 7 emotions/expressions in all.
• The illustrations are hand-drawn (not "real" faces) but it's still very effective.
• The last page is a mirror with a facing page that shows all the expressions covered in the story.

This is definitely a book worth checking out ... if you are working on the idea of emotions/expressions with your toddler :)

Which emotions does your toddler identify with? Do you use the word frustrated with your toddler?

Scroll down to the next post for your 5th (and final) chance to enter the Speks Sing Along CD GIVEAWAY! Contest will close Sunday evening. Winner will be announced on Monday, October 5th - just before I go pick up my mom from the airport ... woo hoo!

the Speks Giveaway - Final Chance to Win!

Here's your 5th - proverbial - chance to win a copy

of this fantastic kids' music CD ...

If you haven't already read my review and listened to this Irish-inspired music,

it's only a click away.

May you always have walls for the winds,

a roof for the rain, tea beside the fire,

laughter to cheer you, those you love near you,

and all your heart might desire.

This is a popular Irish proverb/blessing. Your FINAL CHANCE TO WIN requires you to wax poetic ... or at least proverbial ... and rewrite this proverb addressed to your toddler. It can be funny, ridiculous, sincere, sweet, ... whatever. And there's no pressure, all efforts are considered an entry .. but I know some of you will undoubtedly impress :)

Because this one requires a little brain power, I am leaving the giveaway open until Sunday evening ... that's three days worth of proverb-writing potential :)

the Speks Giveaway - 4th Chance to Win!

Here's your 4th - wee little baby - chance to win a copy

of this fantastic kids' music CD ...

If you haven't already read my review and listened to this fantastic music,

it's only a click away.

Perhaps you've heard ... there's a wee one on the way, and she's going to need a better name than "wee one."

image from here

Here's your chance to give a little input on what we should name Baby Girl 2.0 ... IF we decide to go with an Irish origin ...

According to yeahbaby.com, these were the top 30 most popular Irish baby names for girls ... way back in 2003 (it's the best I could find).

Emma - Sarah - Aoife - Ciara - Katie - Sophie - Rachel - Chloe - Amy - Leah - Niamh - Caoimhe - Hannah - Ella - Lauren - Megan - Kate -Rebecca - Jessica - Emily - Laura - Anna - Grace - Ava - Ellen - Shauna - Roisin - Holly - Aisling - Lucy

To enter and possibly WIN the Speks GIVEAWAY (see details above), simple leave a comment with your Top Choice(s) from this list of girl names.

the Speks Giveaway - 3rd Chance to Win!

Here's your 3rd - very sweet - chance to win a copy

of this fantastic kids' music CD ...

If you haven't already read my review and listened to this fantastic music,

it's only a click away.

This one is simple and fun ... here's your chance to "taste the rainbow" ...

just leave a COMMENT telling me .... which flavor is your favorite?

Missed the 2nd Chance? Click here.

Letter Recognition - Online - Part 1

I am constantly finding great resources online ... sometimes it's hard to stop ... it's like an obsession! Lately, I've been focusing on Letter Recognition with my toddler. I have dozens of resources bookmarked, but I decided to give them to you in bite-size pieces ... three at a time!

A Printable Activity: Alphabet Picture Pages
Simple, black-and-white images - one for each letter of the alphabet.
This is a pdf file that prints in seconds and is ready to use - love that!

• Cut apart the cards, color them, and match with foam letters.
• Leave as solid pages, attach to a magnetic surface, and place a magnetic letter in the matching square.
• Make letter cards and use the sets as a Memory game.
• Lots of possibilities for very little work :)

An Interactive Site: Starfall.com - ABCs, Getting Ready to Read

Starfall is a plethora of resources, but I focused on this one interactive component. This activity requires a lot of clicking, but I think it's well worth that effort.

• Click one of the letter blocks and the upper case and lower case letter are presented visually and verbally.
• Click again and you'll hear the phonetic sound the letter makes.
• Click the arrow to see a picture whose name starts with that letter.
• Click again and the word is presented at the bottom of the screen and spoken aloud.
• Get it? Keep clicking ...
  

A Video from YouTube: ABC Song, Let's Start Smart

My toddler enjoyed it, and I like that it focuses on lower case letters.

the Speks Giveaway - 2nd Chance to Win!

Here's your 2nd chance to win your very own copy of a fantastic kids' music CD ...

Sing-Along Songs from Glasses Island

by the Speks

Leave a COMMENT telling me what your TODDLER would find in the pot at the end of the rainbow ... it can't be gold ... because, really, what toddler would be interested in gold?

If you haven't already read my review and listened to this fantastic music, it's only a click away.

Accidents Happen: Knocked Out Tooth

Baby teeth. We anxiously await their arrival. We document the milestone of when our babies get their "first tooth." We dread the sleepless nights, the drooling, the biting (especially if still nursing). We hate to see our babies in pain. We marvel at that little pearly white as it pokes through the gum.

But what happens when one of those cherished baby teeth gets knocked right out of your precious toddler's mouth? Well, that's exactly what happened to Owen, NHV's good buddy and son of my friend Tammy.

It happened when O was about 21 months old. He was running on the sidewalk in front of Safeco Field when he tripped and fell on his face. Now, O has been walking since he was 10 months old, so he's had plenty of practice bracing his falls. This time, however, he was not so successful. When he came up for air, his face was cut, his lips all bloody, and little white bits of teeth were floating around in his mouth.

Needless to say, we peeled out so fast our stroller left dust clouds in our wake! We set up an emergency visit with Owen's pediatric dentist, who, bless her heart, had to come in on a beautiful Saturday morning when she was just getting ready to spend the day at the park with her husband. After a lot of screaming and prying, we were able to take an x-ray of O's mouth. Both front teeth were badly chipped. The one on the left had chipped in half horizontally, in a crescent shape. The one on the right was not so lucky. Not only did it have a huge triangle chunk cut out of it, but it had a vertical fracture into the root.

Diagnosis? Extraction of the doomed tooth.

There was no other choice. I wanted to cry. What does this mean?? O will have one, albeit compromised, front tooth until his permanent ones come in. For the next 8 or 9 YEARS, he'll be known as the kid with one tooth! "Isn't there anything you can do?", I asked the dentist. "Baby dentures? Implants?" Unfortunately, no. They don't want to disturb or disrupt the growth of the permanent tooth. On top of that, Owen had to be sedated for the extraction process, unless we want him to be traumatized for the rest of his life, not to mention the fact that it'd probably take 2-3 large adults to hold him down for the removal if we choose to forgo the anesthesia ...

Click here to read the details of O's surgery.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As you saw in the photo above, ultimately, the decision was made to extract one of Owen's front teeth ... and clearly, having one less tooth hasn't slowed him down or made him any less adorable! But what a tough experience for parents to go through and clearly this is an accident that could happen to any toddler at any time! And any teenager, as my mom can attest to ... my 17 year old brother got his braces off and had his front tooth knocked out - playing tackle football without pads or a helmet - all within the same month! Talk about an expensive set of chompers!

As kiddos get older, this becomes an even more serious injury. According to kidshealth.org, A dislodged baby tooth can't be replaced and does not need to be put back in. On the other hand, a permanent tooth, which is more sharply defined than a baby tooth, can often be saved if prompt action is taken and the tooth is handled carefully. A permanent tooth has the best chance of survival if replaced within 30 minutes.

In this case, prevention is a tough one. With toddlers the advice is to make sure the child is supervised ... which is a no-brainer. But an exuberant runner and unbraced falls, well, those things just happen - whether you're watching or not! For older kids, it's extremely important that proper protection is worn while playing sports.

Read more about Tooth Injuries here.

Click here for a Knocked-out Tooth Instruction Sheet.

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclaimer: Clearly the Accidents Happen series is meant to be informative but also from a mother's point-of-view. The information provided in these posts are medically accurate - to the best of our knowledge - but we are not licensed physicians. We are mothers sharing an experience.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

You may also want to read my other Accidents Happen posts:
Nursemaid's Elbow
Object in Nose