I read somewhere that "baby's probably not ready for listening to stories yet," but I've been reading to Isaac since he was in my womb. At work, we had someone come in and talk to us about brain-based research. She told us that everything we see today (in our students) is a product of what happened between 0 to 5 years of age. Everything from baby's health to whether or not dad is in the home to how much interaction he gets on a daily basis is important.
Literacy definitely begins in the home, so I make a point to read to Isaac every day. We've got quite a collection of books so far. We were in three book clubs at one point - the Beginning Readers program, Disney Readers program (which we later dropped, but will pick up again later), and My First Steps program. Anytime I'm in the mall, I usually stop by Barnes and Noble and pick up a few books too. We read Dr. Seuss books, interactive board books, and the Bible. Anytime we read a story, Isaac gets excited as he's waiting for me to start the book. He enjoys looking at all of the pictures and helping me turn the pages.
I have The Beginners Bible, which was given to me by my grandmother when I was a kid. Somehow I managed to keep it all these years, so now I've passed it on to Isaac. This morning, I was carrying Isaac and said, "Isaac, let's read a Bible story."
I walked over to his bookcase, and he said, "Bible." My mom asks me how he can say that word, since it has two syllables. I don't know, but it was very distinct.
The publisher wrote on the book that it's for kids ages two to six, but I still read it to him anyway. We've already read through it one time, and we're close to finishing it for a second time now. When we do finish, then we'll start it over again. I don't want to wait until he's two to start reading the Bible to him. By the time he's two, I want the words to be ingrained in him.
I know that in order for Isaac to pick up the language, he has to hear it often. So I make a point to read to him, as well as talk to him about all the things we're doing around the house. Last week Wes and I were talking, and Wes said, "Yea," agreeing with something I'd said. Then I heard Isaac parrot Wes and say, "Yea," just like he was part of the conversation. When we're sitting at the dinner table, sometimes we'll let Isaac play in his Exersaucer, and other times we'll let him sit at the table with us in the high chair. He listens intently, and you can tell that he really wants to be a part of what's going on. I can't wait until we're able to have a conversation around the dinner table with the whole family. I look forward to asking Isaac how his day went at school and talking to him about things that matter.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
Sickness
Isaac has been sick for over a week now. He started out with pink eye last Sunday. I first noticed that his left eye was red on Sunday evening after I got to my mom's house. I put in a call to the pediatrician, and he said to put breastmilk in his eye every two hours. (I'm continually amazed by all the things breastmilk can do.) That helped, but by Monday the infection spread to his right eye and both of them looked really bad. I took him to the doctor on Monday, and the doctor prescribed some eye drops and said he could return to daycare on Wednesday.
I stayed home with Isaac again on Tuesday, and that's when he started running a fever. Dr. Ramos had asked me the day before if he had been congested or had a fever, so I decided to call the office to let them know he had those symptoms now. They called in a prescription for an antibiotic for me, thinking it was a bacterial infection. Come to find out, it was not. By Thursday, his fever still had not gone down, and his coughing had only gotten worse.
Wes took Isaac to the doctor on Friday, and they diagnosed him with RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus). It's the cause of the common cold, pneumonia, and some lung infections. In adults, RSV just manifests itself as a cold, but in babies it's much more serious. The pediatrician's office called me at work to let me know and give me instructions for the nebulizer they sent home with Wes. We've been giving Isaac three breathing treatments per day, and he has to go to the doctor to be rechecked tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Wes and I have both gotten sick from being around Isaac. Wes was feeling really bad by Wednesday, but I was fine until Friday. Thankfully, the doctor's office sent home some samples and an extra breathing device, so I've been able to do the breathing treatments too.
Isaac ran a fever all weekend, and he hasn't been eating very well. He nurses just fine, and he eats a little bit of his cereal. He isn't eating his baby food, and he didn't take much of his bottles while I was at work last week. The doctor's office told me to nurse him as much as possible and to give him water in between to make sure he stays hydrated. I stayed home with him today to make sure he stayed hydrated, so Wes is taking him to the doctor tomorrow. He'll probably take him to daycare in the afternoon, and then there are just three more days before I have a week off from work. Thanksgiving break couldn't have come at a better time this year!
I stayed home with Isaac again on Tuesday, and that's when he started running a fever. Dr. Ramos had asked me the day before if he had been congested or had a fever, so I decided to call the office to let them know he had those symptoms now. They called in a prescription for an antibiotic for me, thinking it was a bacterial infection. Come to find out, it was not. By Thursday, his fever still had not gone down, and his coughing had only gotten worse.
Wes took Isaac to the doctor on Friday, and they diagnosed him with RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus). It's the cause of the common cold, pneumonia, and some lung infections. In adults, RSV just manifests itself as a cold, but in babies it's much more serious. The pediatrician's office called me at work to let me know and give me instructions for the nebulizer they sent home with Wes. We've been giving Isaac three breathing treatments per day, and he has to go to the doctor to be rechecked tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Wes and I have both gotten sick from being around Isaac. Wes was feeling really bad by Wednesday, but I was fine until Friday. Thankfully, the doctor's office sent home some samples and an extra breathing device, so I've been able to do the breathing treatments too.
Isaac ran a fever all weekend, and he hasn't been eating very well. He nurses just fine, and he eats a little bit of his cereal. He isn't eating his baby food, and he didn't take much of his bottles while I was at work last week. The doctor's office told me to nurse him as much as possible and to give him water in between to make sure he stays hydrated. I stayed home with him today to make sure he stayed hydrated, so Wes is taking him to the doctor tomorrow. He'll probably take him to daycare in the afternoon, and then there are just three more days before I have a week off from work. Thanksgiving break couldn't have come at a better time this year!
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Busy, Busy, Busy!
Life has gotten very busy lately. It's hard to believe that it's been about a month since I posted anything. Time goes by so quickly these days.
I had fall break the second week in October. It was so nice to be able to stay at home with Isaac for a whole week! We did all kinds of things. We traveled to Savannah so I could go to the doctor and eat lunch with my mom and grandpa. We took walks at the park, played at the house, and read stories. That weekend, we took Isaac to Mrs. Rosie's house for a fall festival. We dressed him up like Superman, and he looked so cute! She invited a bunch of her friends who have small children and had all kinds of games for the kids. Mr. Mike even did a hayride, and Isaac really enjoyed it. He normally nurses in the afternoon, but he was having so much fun that he forgot all about it. We went to my mom's later for her birthday party, and he slept the whole way there.
After the week of fall break, I took my students to Jekyll Island for their study trip. We were gone from Wednesday morning until Friday evening. Isaac is still nursing, so I didn't feel like I could be away from him overnight yet. So Wes brought Isaac down on Wednesday night. There wasn't an extra room for us to stay in at the 4-H Center, so we stayed at the Days Inn just two miles away. That was good and bad at the same time. It was good because we had more privacy, and I was able to take a nice, long shower and sleep in a comfortable bed. It was bad, though, because I had to be at the 4-H Center by 7:30 in the morning, and I couldn't leave until the students were settled in for the night. That was at about 10:15, so that made for a very long day. The students had classes and breaks in between. I didn't really get a break though, because in between their classes I was changing dirty diapers and feeding my baby. So needless to say, I was exhausted when we got home on Friday night. All in all, it was a good trip though, so I was thankful for that.
We went to Jekyll last weekend too - this time for a writing retreat. This was something I did of my own volition, through the Georgia Southern Writing Project. We could work on anything we wanted the whole weekend. I chose to work on rewriting my 7th graders' Washington, D.C. booklet. I didn't get done as much as I wanted, but I still made good progress. I hope to be finished with the booklet in a couple weeks. In between writing sessions, we had some good family time. It was very relaxing, and welcomed after such a busy week the week before.
This week, I've been wide open with work. This election year has definitely been historic to say the least, and I couldn't miss this opportunity to teach my students about the election process. For the last couple of weeks, I've been teaching my students about the elections, campaigning, the duties of President, etc. On Tuesday, we held a school-wide mock election. For the remainder of the week, I've been busy trying to get papers graded. Progress reports go out next week. I can't help but find myself wondering how we're already almost halfway through the school year.
Isaac is growing so much too. He's maintained his weight for the last few weeks, but he's really filling out his 12 month outfits now. Last Sunday, after we got back from Jekyll, he crawled for the first time. That was exciting! I was afraid I was going to miss that first, since I'm working full-time. He'd been crawling backwards for a few weeks, and he'd rocked back and forth on his knees like he was getting ready to go forward. Then just like that, he started crawling forward.
Isaac is also pulling up on things. He can pull himself up to standing when his crib rail is all the way up. I'm guessing it's just a matter of time before he starts taking some steps. I hear some people say they can't wait until their children start walking, but I can. I already keep a close eye on him, but I'll have to watch him like a hawk when he can walk. Just thinking about all the stuff he can get into scares me. But, everyone has to do it sometime.
Isaac hasn't said any new words lately. Now, he mainly says "mama," "dada," and "bye-bye." It seems like he knows what the words mean too. He says mama and dada discriminately, and he says bye-bye when someone is leaving.
He will be nine months old on the 24th, and that means just a few short months until he's one year old. I'm already thinking about the party. I've been thinking about it for a couple months, but I haven't made any firm decisions on what we're going to do yet. I know he won't remember much of it, but I still want to make it a special day.
I had fall break the second week in October. It was so nice to be able to stay at home with Isaac for a whole week! We did all kinds of things. We traveled to Savannah so I could go to the doctor and eat lunch with my mom and grandpa. We took walks at the park, played at the house, and read stories. That weekend, we took Isaac to Mrs. Rosie's house for a fall festival. We dressed him up like Superman, and he looked so cute! She invited a bunch of her friends who have small children and had all kinds of games for the kids. Mr. Mike even did a hayride, and Isaac really enjoyed it. He normally nurses in the afternoon, but he was having so much fun that he forgot all about it. We went to my mom's later for her birthday party, and he slept the whole way there.
After the week of fall break, I took my students to Jekyll Island for their study trip. We were gone from Wednesday morning until Friday evening. Isaac is still nursing, so I didn't feel like I could be away from him overnight yet. So Wes brought Isaac down on Wednesday night. There wasn't an extra room for us to stay in at the 4-H Center, so we stayed at the Days Inn just two miles away. That was good and bad at the same time. It was good because we had more privacy, and I was able to take a nice, long shower and sleep in a comfortable bed. It was bad, though, because I had to be at the 4-H Center by 7:30 in the morning, and I couldn't leave until the students were settled in for the night. That was at about 10:15, so that made for a very long day. The students had classes and breaks in between. I didn't really get a break though, because in between their classes I was changing dirty diapers and feeding my baby. So needless to say, I was exhausted when we got home on Friday night. All in all, it was a good trip though, so I was thankful for that.
We went to Jekyll last weekend too - this time for a writing retreat. This was something I did of my own volition, through the Georgia Southern Writing Project. We could work on anything we wanted the whole weekend. I chose to work on rewriting my 7th graders' Washington, D.C. booklet. I didn't get done as much as I wanted, but I still made good progress. I hope to be finished with the booklet in a couple weeks. In between writing sessions, we had some good family time. It was very relaxing, and welcomed after such a busy week the week before.
This week, I've been wide open with work. This election year has definitely been historic to say the least, and I couldn't miss this opportunity to teach my students about the election process. For the last couple of weeks, I've been teaching my students about the elections, campaigning, the duties of President, etc. On Tuesday, we held a school-wide mock election. For the remainder of the week, I've been busy trying to get papers graded. Progress reports go out next week. I can't help but find myself wondering how we're already almost halfway through the school year.
Isaac is growing so much too. He's maintained his weight for the last few weeks, but he's really filling out his 12 month outfits now. Last Sunday, after we got back from Jekyll, he crawled for the first time. That was exciting! I was afraid I was going to miss that first, since I'm working full-time. He'd been crawling backwards for a few weeks, and he'd rocked back and forth on his knees like he was getting ready to go forward. Then just like that, he started crawling forward.
Isaac is also pulling up on things. He can pull himself up to standing when his crib rail is all the way up. I'm guessing it's just a matter of time before he starts taking some steps. I hear some people say they can't wait until their children start walking, but I can. I already keep a close eye on him, but I'll have to watch him like a hawk when he can walk. Just thinking about all the stuff he can get into scares me. But, everyone has to do it sometime.
Isaac hasn't said any new words lately. Now, he mainly says "mama," "dada," and "bye-bye." It seems like he knows what the words mean too. He says mama and dada discriminately, and he says bye-bye when someone is leaving.
He will be nine months old on the 24th, and that means just a few short months until he's one year old. I'm already thinking about the party. I've been thinking about it for a couple months, but I haven't made any firm decisions on what we're going to do yet. I know he won't remember much of it, but I still want to make it a special day.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
