My favorite part is my elder son in the second video: "say Ikaika, Koa!"
Did I mention that Koa got his first tooth last week?!
29.3.11
Koa's Baby Babbles
My favorite part is my elder son in the second video: "say Ikaika, Koa!"
Did I mention that Koa got his first tooth last week?!
25.3.11
Baby Einstein and TV Morality
I have a library of Baby Einstein videos that were given to me by my aunt. When Ikaika was younger, he watched them when we visited my parents and occasionally when we were at home, but he never really "got into" them. I even thought about passing the videos along now that he's older.
But the other day, when Koa was fussy and I was looking for a distraction, I popped a Baby E DVD in and, to my surprise, Ikaika was thrilled! He was totally captivated. Lately, he's been requesting Baby Einstein in the evenings and I'm all too happy to oblige him. In fact, as I type this, Koa and Ikaika are sitting quietly in the living room, snuggled under blankets, watching Baby Neptune (the one about water).
It surprises me that my 2 1/2 year old would be so into these videos. There's no plot, no dialogue. It's just nice music with colorful pictures. At first, I thought this was strange but I'm starting to grasp how great this is.
We've been watching "kids movies" and "kids shows" with Ikaika. There are plots, characters, jokes, etc. He likes Cars and Toy Story and the Incredibles. But when he's watching them, I can't help but notice how he's absorbing the behaviors, dialogues, and values of these movies - whether I like them or not. My friend doesn't let her kids watch the Incredibles because of the suicide attempt in the beginning ("suicide should not be in my 5 year olds vocabulary") and I was perturbed by Babe, where I felt like the message it was sending about domestic violence was totally not okay.
My 2 year old is old enough to hear and repeat. He's old enough to absorb and act out. But he's not old enough to process, to understand, to filter the good from the bad. I can't be so naive to think that he's enjoying the action/animation while overlooking the violence and/or subtle moral undertones. Even TV shows are sometimes annoyingly influential.
So, we still watch PBS, Disney Jr., Go Diego Go, etc. We watch Disney movies together on family movie night. I'm not going to die on this mountain. But, I'm happy to let him watch morally neutral Baby Einstein and, frankly, I hope it holds his interest for years to come!
But the other day, when Koa was fussy and I was looking for a distraction, I popped a Baby E DVD in and, to my surprise, Ikaika was thrilled! He was totally captivated. Lately, he's been requesting Baby Einstein in the evenings and I'm all too happy to oblige him. In fact, as I type this, Koa and Ikaika are sitting quietly in the living room, snuggled under blankets, watching Baby Neptune (the one about water).
It surprises me that my 2 1/2 year old would be so into these videos. There's no plot, no dialogue. It's just nice music with colorful pictures. At first, I thought this was strange but I'm starting to grasp how great this is.
We've been watching "kids movies" and "kids shows" with Ikaika. There are plots, characters, jokes, etc. He likes Cars and Toy Story and the Incredibles. But when he's watching them, I can't help but notice how he's absorbing the behaviors, dialogues, and values of these movies - whether I like them or not. My friend doesn't let her kids watch the Incredibles because of the suicide attempt in the beginning ("suicide should not be in my 5 year olds vocabulary") and I was perturbed by Babe, where I felt like the message it was sending about domestic violence was totally not okay.
My 2 year old is old enough to hear and repeat. He's old enough to absorb and act out. But he's not old enough to process, to understand, to filter the good from the bad. I can't be so naive to think that he's enjoying the action/animation while overlooking the violence and/or subtle moral undertones. Even TV shows are sometimes annoyingly influential.
So, we still watch PBS, Disney Jr., Go Diego Go, etc. We watch Disney movies together on family movie night. I'm not going to die on this mountain. But, I'm happy to let him watch morally neutral Baby Einstein and, frankly, I hope it holds his interest for years to come!
24.3.11
22.3.11
Pulling Up to a Stand
Here is a video of Koa pulling himself up to a stand (we used the remote as bait). Way to go Koa!!!
21.3.11
Mauna Kea Visitor Information Station
Spring Break 2011 continued today (Mr A took the day off work - "you don't use em, you lose em") and we capped off our adventure filled week with one last exploration: we finally checked out Mauna Kea.
We've lived here over 2 years now and this is the first time we have attempted this. The deterrent was that I didn't think the boys could go up that high in elevation and we don't have a 4WD vehicle. Well, come to find out they can go to the VIS (website here) - they just can't go to the summit, where all the large international telescopes are. Ditto for the car.
But there is plenty to check out at the Information Station. We made it right at sunset (although we didn't actually see the sunset because it's about a five minute hike to the lookout point). The above picture is looking toward Hilo and the pic below is facing Kona side where the sun is setting.
The reason we got to thinking about this today is because we spent the morning at the beach with Kanani and we were talking about all the things she wants to do before she moves back to Oregon in May. So the real goal is to get a babysitter and go up here with her - check out the summit and do the whole shebang. But I'm glad we went now because I learned some very valuable lessons that will make our big Mauna Kea adventure more comfortable (wear shoes, bring hot soup/cocoa, gloves are a must, etc).
Since Mr A works tomorrow and the boys were restless, we had to leave somewhat early (730) before all the telescopes got fired up. I heard that later in the night they were going to be viewing Saturn. Like 'all the rings and you can see the shadow of the rings on the actual planet' Saturn. I am practically crawling out of my skin looking forward to going back and seeing that!!!
As a side note: all of this stuff is free but the ride up will eat your gas.
But there is plenty to check out at the Information Station. We made it right at sunset (although we didn't actually see the sunset because it's about a five minute hike to the lookout point). The above picture is looking toward Hilo and the pic below is facing Kona side where the sun is setting.
The reason we got to thinking about this today is because we spent the morning at the beach with Kanani and we were talking about all the things she wants to do before she moves back to Oregon in May. So the real goal is to get a babysitter and go up here with her - check out the summit and do the whole shebang. But I'm glad we went now because I learned some very valuable lessons that will make our big Mauna Kea adventure more comfortable (wear shoes, bring hot soup/cocoa, gloves are a must, etc).
Since Mr A works tomorrow and the boys were restless, we had to leave somewhat early (730) before all the telescopes got fired up. I heard that later in the night they were going to be viewing Saturn. Like 'all the rings and you can see the shadow of the rings on the actual planet' Saturn. I am practically crawling out of my skin looking forward to going back and seeing that!!!
As a side note: all of this stuff is free but the ride up will eat your gas.
20.3.11
Saint Patricks Day Party
There was a St Pattys Day party at Jills house complete with green food...
...green kids...
...and green friends!
I don't remember my parents being friends with my friend's parents (in fact, I hardly remember my parents having friends at all because by the time I was old enough to remember they had isolated themselves from all things except sports...although my mom swears she took me to the pumpkin patch), so this was totally beyond me. But isn't this what small town life is supposed to be like? I relish in the quaintness.
17.3.11
Koa "6 month" Check Up
KOA NEEDS TO GROW-A
This morning Mr A and I had a serious talk about switching Koa to formula. I've been breastfeeding lady all the way - but lately, Koa has been fussy and not wanting to nurse. Tearing at me, pinching, fussing. I'll nurse him and 30 minutes later someone is saying "I think he's hungry". So what's the deal? I was suspecting that I'm not making enough milk. I've lost a lot of weight quickly with him (with Ikaika the lbs stayed around longer) and maybe the that's contributing to my dry spell. I would prefer to breastfeed him - but is it worth trying to bring up my milk production when he's only going to nurse for another 3 months?
So today at the doctor my suspicions were confirmed. Koa has lost 4oz (now 15lbs 11oz) and hes only 26". His head is still growing normally, so that's good because that means his brain is growing. But his weight is only in the 5th percentile and that is alarming to me. He's been eating solid food 2-3 times a day but now I am going to start giving him a bottle 3-4 times a day, too. I might continue to try nursing him in the morning and at night and he can just get out of it whatever is in there.
He also got two immunizations this morning. I applied for the boys to attend Tutu & Me, a twice weekly "preschool" that meets for two hours at a church in town. It's more like a play group because I would be with them the whole time, but it sounded like a lot of fun. I just need to get them somewhat caught up on their shots before we can start.
This morning Mr A and I had a serious talk about switching Koa to formula. I've been breastfeeding lady all the way - but lately, Koa has been fussy and not wanting to nurse. Tearing at me, pinching, fussing. I'll nurse him and 30 minutes later someone is saying "I think he's hungry". So what's the deal? I was suspecting that I'm not making enough milk. I've lost a lot of weight quickly with him (with Ikaika the lbs stayed around longer) and maybe the that's contributing to my dry spell. I would prefer to breastfeed him - but is it worth trying to bring up my milk production when he's only going to nurse for another 3 months?
So today at the doctor my suspicions were confirmed. Koa has lost 4oz (now 15lbs 11oz) and hes only 26". His head is still growing normally, so that's good because that means his brain is growing. But his weight is only in the 5th percentile and that is alarming to me. He's been eating solid food 2-3 times a day but now I am going to start giving him a bottle 3-4 times a day, too. I might continue to try nursing him in the morning and at night and he can just get out of it whatever is in there.
He also got two immunizations this morning. I applied for the boys to attend Tutu & Me, a twice weekly "preschool" that meets for two hours at a church in town. It's more like a play group because I would be with them the whole time, but it sounded like a lot of fun. I just need to get them somewhat caught up on their shots before we can start.
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