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.

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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.

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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.

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

Spek-tacular

There once was a mom of a sweet little tot
Many a kid's music CD she has bought
When from across the sea
New tunes just for me
A love for Sing-Alongs I've certainly caught

I'm writing silly limericks. I am craving a big bowl of Lucky Charms! (And I don't think it's just some weird pregnancy craving!) I've met a troop of leprechauns Irishmen, and they are quite talented. I've danced a jig. I've laughed with my lassy. I've even spotted a rainbow or two ... and that pot of gold comes in the form of some really great kid-friendly music ... and this discovery wasn't made at my local library (as are most of my music-finds).

No, this CD found me from all the way across the sea - an island off Ireland to be more exact. I received a delightful email from a guy named Quince. He likened his music to "Riverdance for toddlers" and said his bandmates would be "like cows jumping over the moon with delight," if I would accept a copy of their debut CD! How could I possibly refuse an offer like that?

Sing-Along Songs from Glasses Island by the Speks

The CD is a collection of traditional songs - mainly nursery rhymes - with musical arrangement that is really unique and delightful. I am mesmerized, and a bit enamored, by the instrumentation - fiddle, banjo, flutes, and others I am sure I can't even name. The familiarity of the songs makes singing along, well, easy and fun for adults and kiddos. But it's the Irish flair that gets my toes tapping and my face smiling ... and occasionally a leprechaun accent used :) We've listened to these songs in the car and during dinner-making hour, a tough time of day for toddlers ... but I've found this music puts us both in a good mood!

the Speks - Online at http://www.thespeks.com/index.html

The band's website is very, very well-done ... and I am kind of hard to please in that department. The design is clean and simple. The content is high-quality. That's about the best combination I can hope for in a website! Obviously, there's a link to listen to their songs - for free - called Our Jukebox. But what I am most impressed by is the Teaching Notes section. Talk about an unexpected little pot of gold at the end of an already wonderful rainbow! Each song is linked to an explanation of the arrangement, activity suggestions, and the lyrics. And as I told Quince, "As a mommy and a teacher, I certainly appreciate entertainment that is also educational."

Hey, Hey Did Someone Say Giveaway?

The Speks were so generous and sent me two copies of their debut album - one for me and one for Natalie ... however, this seems like the perfect opportunity to give my toddler some practice with the concept of sharing, I've decided to SHARE GIVE her copy to one of you!

Here's your first of many chances to win, win, win ... Natalie's your very own copy of ...

Sing-Along Songs from Glasses Island by the Speks

Giveaway - 1st Chance: Go visit their website - http://www.thespeks.com/ - and get to know these guys a little better: watch a video, listen to a few songs, or read a few of the Teaching Notes. Come back here and leave a FIRST IMPRESSION COMMENT.

All of the other CHANCES (5 in all) ask you a simple - Irish-related - question.
Click to go to the other posts.

Giveaway - 2nd Chance

Giveaway - 3rd Chance
Giveaway - 4th Chance
Giveaway - 5th Chance

Giveaway ends Sunday, October 4th at midnight PST. If you leave a comment, please make sure I have a way of contacting you.

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Start with a limerick, end with a proverb, that's what I always say ...

“Your feet will bring you to where your heart is.”

Reasons to Count

I am constantly looking for excuses to have my toddler COUNT. Let's see if I can think of 10 things we count on an-almost-daily basis:

1. Animals, objects, etc. in the pages of a book


2. Steps as we are walking up/down


3. Bath toys as we are putting them away


4. Crackers on her tray at snacktime


5. Fingers and Toes, Eyes and Nose


6. Pieces of mail as I pull it from the box


7. Dolls we can take with us on an outing (I set a number, otherwise we'd have a whole car full!)


8. Blocks/cups we can stack before it tumbles


9. Cabinets (or knobs) in the kitchen while I am trying to cook


10. And most recently, Hide-n-Seek:

Okay, I admit it. This entire post was just an excuse to share a cute video :)

Accidents Happen: Allergic Reaction

It's hard to imagine that something you feed your child - or something that your child finds in your house and ingests - could cause a very serious, life-threatening reaction. But that's exactly what can and does happen. In this situation, it is imperative that you act quickly.

This post focuses on peanuts as an allergen, and with good reason, "Peanuts are among the most common allergy-causing foods. It's likely that more Americans are allergic to peanuts than any other food." Insect bites, other foods, and certain medications can also trigger anaphylaxis.

The following post was written by Terri, a very good friend of mine here in the NW. Recently, her little guy Gavin had a scary allergic reaction. My heart aches a little as I read her experience. I am so glad that G is okay! The insight that Terri provides is so honest and her tips could be quite possibly life-saving.

We found out the hard way about Gavin's peanut allergy. We had talked about having him try peanuts before we went on a European cruise, thinking that if he was allergic, we'd rather find out when we were 8 minutes from the ER, as opposed to 800 miles. He was 19 months old, so we figured getting close to the age he'd be ok. Neither of us have any food allergies in the family, so we were not expecting him to have one. We hadn't planned it, but Brian and I were eating peanut butter toast one day, and Gavin wanted to try it. He reached out for it, and took a bite. I didn't think much of it, until his face started getting a red rash. I panicked a little when it started going down his neck, and had Brian get the Benadryl. Gavin took some, and then he seemed fine. We decided to go to the park. At the park, Gavin started coughing (like he had something stuck in his throat) and a drink of water wouldn't help. His nose started running, and I knew a cold couldn't come on that fast. We went home, and tried to put him down for a nap, but he was very irritable. After a while of crying and labored breathing, I had Brian call the doctor, and when he was on the phone, I turned on the light to look at Gavin. Sure enough, his face was swelling, and he had hives all over. We asked the doctor (still on the phone) what to do.

• Was he wheezing? Kind of... definitely breathing heavy.
• Was he swelling? Yes.
• How far away is the ER? less than 10 minutes.
• Okay, take him there now.
  

We hopped in the car and drove off. On the way there, I sat in back with my baby while he continued to swell, had even more shallow breathing, runny nose, and he started drooling. He was staring off into space. To say I was scared is the understatement of the year. I wanted to scream at my husband to drive faster! I wanted to grab my baby and cradle him in my arms! I watched helplessly begging God to let us get there in time, and to keep my baby safe. I tried to hold back the tears so I wouldn't scare him, but I have never been so scared in my entire life. My whole being was afraid of losing this precious little baby.

We made it to the ER, raced in, and they got him an epinephrine shot and loaded him up with Benadryl right away. Eventually the swelling stopped and started to get better, and he finally slept. Once the doctor said he'd be okay, and began asking questions, I lost it. I couldn't move and just clutched my little boy that we could have lost. He had a full anaphylactic reaction but - thanks to treatment - would be okay. We were transferred to the hospital downtown for 24 hour observation, and he got better through the hours. It was a day I will never forget, and that has changed our life forever. I learned so many things, a few of which I'd like to pass on to every mom:

• ALWAYS CALL 911 if you think there is an allergic reaction. We were told time and time again that we should have just called 911. It could mean life or death for your child. Even if you already have an epi pen, use it, then ALWAYS call 911 if there is a reaction.
• Kids can have a food allergy even if no one in your family has one. If you have OTHER allergies (hayfever, eczema) that can make a child more prone.
• Keep Childrens' Benedryl on hand even if you never use it. The doctors think that us giving it to him right away could have saved him from going into Anaphylactic Shock. (Always check with your pediatrician before you give any meds).
• Potential signs of an allergic reaction: Hives, Itchy or Runny Nose, Swelling (lips, eyes, face is serious), Coughing (meaning they are having trouble breathing), Red Eyes -- typically a child won't be able to go to sleep with all this going on, according to the ER doc which is also a sign.
• Allergies to peanuts (and other items) can vary in sensitivity (meaning amount of exposure needed to cause a reaction) and severity (what happens when a reaction occurs). Anaphylactic reactions mean that it starts to affect their breathing, Anaphylactic Shock means it also affects their circulatory/nervous system and is even more serious.
• Over 1% of US kids have allergies to Peanuts. There are many theories as to why, which range from an increased amount of peanut products in our diets (US eats over 8 billion lbs of peanuts a year!), to how they are prepared here in the US, to us not exposing our kids to enough bacteria to build up their defenses.
• Peanuts hide in all kinds of food. Specifically many types of Chinese foods, cookies, ice creams, candy (including plain M&M's), sauces, and more. READ LABELS. It becomes a habit. Remember if you have a peanut allergic child over - and you make PB&J for your kids, and dip a knife in peanut butter before the jelly - don't give them jelly from that same jar!
• Always consult your pediatrician if you have any concerns or questions about any allergy or allergic reaction. Allergies to any foods can be very serious.
• Be sensitive to others that have an allergic child. Understand that it can be extremely serious, and what should be done if a child you know has an allergic reaction when you are with them (using an epi pen is EASY!). Mom's with allergic kids will be so appreciative of your sensitivity, understanding, and knowledge, and feel more comfortable letting their kids come to play. All these kids want is to fit in, feel happy, and be safe!

Printable Allergic Reaction Instructions ... from KidsHealth.org

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.

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You may also want to read my other Accidents Happen posts:

• Nursemaid's Elbow
• Object in Nose