Spit-up On My Shoulder

I’m writing with a heavy heart today. We had to put our cat, Calvin, to sleep this morning. Calvin was a lovable orange and white tabby who had a horrible habit of chewing up stringy items. Bathing suit straps, shoelaces, speaker wire, headphone cords - you name it. It was very bizarre and we tried everything to stop him, but it was a compulsion with him.

He had his third abdominal surgery since June this week because of blockages from eating things. His little body couldn’t take anymore and he did not recover from the surgery. R.I.P. Calvin.

On a MUCH happier note, it was my pleasure to meet Dr. Linda Acredolo Wednesday night. Dr. Acredolo and I were co-presenters at an event for new moms. She is an expert in child development and is the co-author of the original book on teaching your child sign language, Baby Signs.

She spoke about her newest book, Baby Hearts, a guide to fostering healthy emotional development in infants and toddlers. The book is filled with fascinating research along with fun activities to do with your child.

What is your oldest memory? Do you know how old you were when it happened? Most of us say we were 3 or 4. A study Dr. Acredolo cited from her book may surprise you about an infant’s ability to make memories.

In the study, 5 month old babies interacted with an unfamiliar adult female. The woman interacted normally for 1 minute with each baby, and then stared for the next two minutes at the infant without reacting at all. The babies didn’t like the change in her behavior one bit.

15 months later, data was gathered on the same infants. The 20 month olds were shown three video tapes, each showing a woman interacting as if with a baby. Two of the women were totally new to the babies, while the third was the same woman from the earlier testing. Results? The babies were significantly less willing to look at the video of the woman with whom they had had a negative experience over a year earlier! It appears even very young infants can carry a grudge. Isn’t that interesting, and a little scary? I hope my kids don’t remember all the mistakes I made when they were infants. It would be grudge-central around here.
Baby Hearts outlines how you can use face-to-face interaction, tone of voice, song, and touch to make your infant feel safe and secure. Check it out!