Article: Infant Potty Training: Whar Is It & How To Do It

What is infant potty training?

Also called "elimination communication" or "natural infant hygiene," infant potty training is the practice of introducing your baby to the toilet or potty at a very early age — usually between birth and 4 months.

http://www.babycenter.com/0_infant-potty-training-what-it-is-and-how-to-do-it_1745035.bc

Article: How Much Sleep Does Your Child Need?

As a new parent, that's probably one of your biggest questions. Below are some general guidelines as to how many hours of sleep the average child requires at various ages. Of course, every child is different — some need up to two hours more or less sleep than others.

http://www.babycenter.com/0_how-much-sleep-does-your-child-need_7645.bc

Isabelle Sofia Turns 1 Year Old!

My husband Eddy and I are so happy on how fast our little baby is growing. Isabelle Sofia is turning one year old today and she’s a healthy pretty girl. We through a big birthday party to Isabelle Sofia and many of our family members came; it's a huge family. She had so much fun, she laughed, played and took pictures with all the family. We love her so much! Isabelle Sofia has been bahaving excellent; she's a happy person. The part that I hate the most on being a mom, is watching my kid pee or poo on her self and have to clean her and change her diaper; it happens most of the time. In her one year of life Isabelle Sofia has developed already her temperament. She’s very cheerful and smiles and laughs a lot, she’s also very smart and very outgoing.

Isabelle Sofia looks a lot like her dad. She has his eyebrows and his eyes. She got my mouth and smile. Isabelle Sofia is so cute. By now Isabelle Sofia already got to the critical period. She already knows how to crawl and she does it pretty well. She’s got a good balance. She's learning super fast. We like to play with her, cuddle her and make her day.She also started to pronounce many words. Im so proud to say that the first word of Isabelle Sofia was mommy. Later she started to pronounce many other words. Isabelle Sofia’s year was full of nice things for both Eddy and I.

I still remember when Eddy and I bought everything for Isabelle's room. We were so excited it was a baby girl! The first thing in the morning we found out, we went to thestore called "Go Nunu" and we asked the clerk name Martina to show us everything for a baby nursery. She showed us cribs, bedding, decorations, baby gyms, toys, playing tables, and more. Since we had a psychologist person who helped us, he told us to ask for stimulating things for the baby and complex patterns, high contrasts and things with light and sound to stimulate the baby.

We choose one of those baby gyms who had all what my baby's psychologist said she needed. They were to baby gyms we liked, it was so difficult to chosse between those two so we decided to see which had more psychologist perspectives we needed and at last the one that my husband Eddy wanted the most was the one that had the most recommended stuff.

We also bought a crib for our baby to sleep in and don't fall; it is a very secure crib. We also bought pretty pink sheets. Our baby needs body contact when were not with her. He needs warmth with the sheets and we bought him a teddy bear which Isabelle Sofia called him Nana.

In the things I bought, I also bought a rocking chair for when my little Isabelle Sofia would wan't to sleep. We saw something we should by for when our baby goes to nursery or when she's in home. We bought her s small table with two chairs.

We though with our psychologist that we should buy toys but with his recomendation so in "Go Nunu,"

we saw many toys our psychologist recommended us and we added it to our buying list. When choosing the room color for our baby our psychologist told us pale colors give a feeling of tranquility to the baby and we knew it was a girl. So we dicided to paint it in a wash type of purple and pink.

Now that we had buyed all the specific stuff we need for our baby nursery it was time to decorate the room. We put everything we bought and gave some more decoration as in more pink stuff that would make our baby happy like pink curtains, plastic flowers, white closests, and more decorations. The baby nursery for Isabelle Sofia was incredible.

Article: How To Raise A Fun and Funny Child

Developmental experts who've studied humor say a childhood filled with laughter and fun has benefits that last a lifetime. "A sense of humor offers a huge advantage in life," says Lawrence J. Cohen, author of Playful Parenting and a psychologist specializing in children's play. "It's one of the best ways people have figured out to cope with things that are difficult." A child who can easily tap his funny bone is more likely to make strong friendships, be well-liked by peers, and as an adult get along with colleagues at work, manage frustration, diffuse conflict, and suffer less from depression. A sense of humor is also linked to intelligence, self-esteem, creativity, and problem solving.

http://www.babycenter.com/0_big-story-how-to-raise-a-fun-and-funny-child_1739289.bc

Isabelle Sofia Handal Qubain's Birth

Today is one of those days in our lives. Today, I found out I was pregnant. I’m still not sure what the baby will be, but my husband, Eddy and I hope it will be a beautiful girl. Two weeks later of me finding out I was pregnant, we decided to go to the doctor to check on our baby. We found out that the baby had developed into an embryo. About a month later, we went back to the doctor to check on our baby. We could finally see him and see how good he was developing. We could hear his heart beating; it was so beautiful.

A month later, we went back to the doctor to see our baby, it was already a fetus. When in the fetus stage, the baby could already hear me talking and could hear when his father sang to him. I could also feel when he kicked my stomach. I spent long nights awake. I would be very hungry and would want to eat all day. I was anxious to eat chocolate, but I wouldn’t make my baby get sick. It was finally my babies birth, 9 months later, I went to the doctor because my water broke. I felt weird because the doctor was seeing through my vagina and started screaming. Finally a beautiful nice girl was born.

We decided to name her Isabelle Sofia Handal Qubain. She weighed 8 lbs and her height was of 20 inches. She looked beautiful. The days passed and the baby started to develop her rooting reflexes. Every time I touched her cheek, she would immediately look for my nipple and eat. She would also recognize my voice every time I talked to her and stare at faces and sometimes even laugh at them. Isabelle Sofia is so beautiful.

My husband Eddy and I decided that it was a good idea to look how much raising a child is. So we entered to www.babycenter.com becuase we knew they could give us an estimate of money that we would spend. The total money we would spend (private school and private college) is about $387,520. Hope our income increases throughout the years!

After finding the total cost of raising a child we decided to look up for the supplies that our little Isabelle Sofia would use which were:

ongoing costs

1. daycare: about $768 per month

2. diapers: about $72 per month

3. food+formula: about $105 per month

4. medicine: about $23 per month

5. toiletries: about $21 per month

6. toys/books/media: about $35 per month

7. wipes: about $20 per month

total for ongoing costs: $1,044 per month

one-time costs

highchair,utensils,plates and bowls,cup and sippy bowls, burp cloths, bottle brush,bibs, milk storage bags, breasts pads,nursing pillow,changing table, basic bedding and blankets, mobile, crib mattress, baby monitor, bottles and nipples, baby washcloths, baby towel with hood, infant bathtub, infant car seat, basic stroller, play yard, front carrier, diaper bag, bouncer/bouncy seat, playmat/gym, crib, baby nail clippers, and childproofing supplies.