Read this to explain the solar system

Calvin is currently obsessed with Stars! Stars! Stars! by Bob Barner. It's a short book where the narrator wants to see some stars and planets. Somehow in under 140 words, Bob Barner manages to explain all the planets in the solar system, the fact that the sun is actually a star, and explain the big dipper, constellations and shooting stars while still rhyming.

I wasn't sure if this would be a fun book for a kid when I first bought it, but Calvin loves it, and even talks about Stars! Stars! Stars! when we're going about our day.

Battle of the baby brain cells continues

Calvin still seems to want to bash his head against things, partly to vent his frustration at his teeth and partly to drive his parents insane. I mean, he really has us by the balls when it comes to bed time. We've struggled since day one to get him to sleep in the crib. And now he has a secret weapon. It's not like we can let him wear himself out, or fall asleep on his own, or self soothe, when he just starts cracking his scull against the rim of his crib rail. That bruise!

But I have a secret weapon of my own! When I was pregnant I took great comfort in a pregnancy pillow. It's long and J shaped, so you can tuck the end between your knees. Anyway, it has been sitting in the closet for over a year and I've been trying to think of what to do with it. It's unsellable (who wants a used pillow who's owner may or may not have broken her water on it?) and it even seems weird to give it to the thrift shop. Plus it was expensive and I may get pregnant again. It's also huge.

It's about as long as the crib...So I decided to tie the pillow to the crib rail. That way he can't give himself a concussion, and we can hang out downstairs. It's working so far. He's asleep.

Poem for balloon crazy baby

After driving around for hours with Calvin playing with a bunch of purple balloons in the backseat, eventually he popped one. It didn't seem to bother him, or deflate his enthusiasm for balloons.

Eight Balloons,
by Shel Silverstein

Eight balloons no on was buyin'
All broke loose one afternoon.
Eight balloons with strings a-flyin',
Free to do what they wanted to.
One flew up to touch the sun – POP!
One thought highways might be fun - POP!
One took a nap in a cactus pile - POP!
One stayed to play with a careless child - POP!
One tried to taste some bacon fryin' - POP!
One fell in love with a porcupine - POP!
One looked close in a crocodile's mouth - POP!
One sat around 'til his air ran out - WHOOSH!
Eight balloons no one was buyin'
They broke loose and away they flew,
Free to float and free to fly
and free to pop where they wanted to.

"Somebody Has To" by Shel Silverstein was a perfect Memorial Day Poem

Calvin loves stars. He yells, with glee, "star!" every time he see's one. I can draw a plain star on a piece of paper and he'll get really excited about it.

So for Memorial Day, Margaret got a string of stars to decorate the table, and we had American Flag stuff all over, mainly to get him excited.

It worked. He was still talking about stars when we got back to the hotel, so I read him this poem from A Light in the Attic:

Somebody Has To

Somebody has to go polish the stars,
They're looking a little bit dull.
Somebody has to go polish the stars,
For the eagles and starlings and gulls
Have been complaining they're tarnished and worn.
They say they want new ones we cannot afford.
So please get your rags
And your polishing jars,
Somebody has to go polish the stars.

Article about Eugene Kovalenko

I just got a story published in New Mexico Kids! about talking about dreams with your kids. It's about Eugene Kovalenko, who also has a blog.

The homeopathic remedy to head banging

We took Calvin to Dr. Krohn to talk about his head banging. She said that a lot of the kids she sees bang or hit their own heads...They seem to like it. Calvin even did it in her office, and did it a few times throughout the day. Each time he was trying to get attention, get his way, or he was having a temper tantrum.

She checked him over to make sure there wasn't anything physically wrong with him, other then his huge self-inflicted bruise. Then she asked us if we had a homeopathy kit. We didn't, but said we would try her homeopathic ideas. She consulted a book, and narrowed it down to two things. So she asked us a bunch of questions like "Does he seem malicious?" (no) "Does he seem restless or like a lot of activity" (yes) "Is he overly emotional?" (kind of)

She prescribed an Apis tablet. Apis is made out of bee venom, and is used to treat a lot of inflamatory problems, but also can help with certain emotional issues. Or else, people with certain emotional issues can benefit from it. I'm no expert, but it seems like homeopathy is about trying to figure out what type of person you are and then giving you herbs and remedies for your type for overall wellness. Anyway, they described his type as fidgety, restless and over emotional. I suppose, if he hit's his own head he can be seen as fidgety and over emotional.

She gave us a tiny tablet, about the size of a grain of sand, and told us to put it in a jar with 4 ounces of water and give him a half teaspoon three times a day. The results will come gradually. So in the next week or so I'll let you all know if he still hits himself.

Why does my toddler hit his own head?

Calvin has developed a disturbing habit in the past month of hitting his own head. If he's frustrated, like when I am cooking and not paying attention to him fast enough, he'll whack his head against the floor and start to cry. And if he's real upset about something he'll hit his head over and over. It's like a temper tantrum.

We don't know what to do, because we don't want to run up to him and give him loads of attention every time he hits his head, because that would be like a reward. I've been trying to casually stop him and distract him. But the other day I put him in his crib for a nap and he didn't fall asleep right away. Instead he cried, and I thought, he's OK, I'll check on him in a few minutes. But then I heard several loud booms from upstairs, like the neighbors were building furniture or something. But it wasn't the neighbors. It was Calvin hitting his head against the side of the crib. I picked him up, he was freaking out, and nursed him to sleep. He gave himself a huge bruise across his forehead.

We're taking him to the doctor to ask what we should do about it. I have a few theories: he might be in pain from teething, and hitting his head out of frustration. I put Oragel on his gums before bed, and he didn't do it. Other than that, he might be stressed out because we've been traveling so much and his grandpa just died and so he's picking up on my stress. He might just need more frequent snacks. I don't know. Hopefully my teething theory is right, because it's easy to fix and it will be over soon.

He's always been a very intense baby (ask my friends who try to babysit him while I swim) and I hope this isn't a sign of serious inner turmoil. Then again, he is a toddler. Don't they always have inner turmoil?

I'll post again tomorrow, after the doctor appointment, and hopefully I won't have to get him fitted for a helmet.

Mother son teeth brushing

Calvin immediately took a liking to brushing his teeth. Even when he was a baby and I had that little baby brush that you stick over your finger to rub on his gums. It must feel good, and it makes him laugh.

He loves brushing his teeth. When I told his pediatrician that he does it himself, she raised her eyebrows at me and said I better get in there and make sure he does a good job. The only problem is that he won't hand over the brush. I'm especially worried about his front teeth. I never see him getting them, and I can't get him to lift his upper lip so I can brush them.

So I just brush my teeth with him. I say, "Wanna brush your teeth?" and he crawls to the bathroom saying "brush" and "teeth." I put some Grins and Giggles on his ducky toothbrush and hand it to him. Then I sit on the floor and brush my teeth. He's content for a few seconds copying me as I jiggle the handle of my brush. But then he baby attacks me and tries to get my toothbrush. I try to explain that toothbrushes and tissues are two things that you don't share...even if it is with your mommy. He just wants to get his hands on my toothbrush. Maybe because it's big, and much more technical looking than his. My toothbrush had a tongue scraper and all sorts of bells and whistles that I'm not sure what to make of. Almost always he snags my brush. I tried to distract him with my spare brush, and he ended up with an adult brush in both fists, and with each stroke he would use a different toothbrush.

There's a right way and a wrong way to read a novel to a toddler

....Beleive it or not. I've been reading novels to Calvin from the beginning. It was easy when he was a newborn, because he just sat in my lap, serenely soaking up chapter upon chapter. He never tried to escape. I read the BFG, Peter Pan and the box set of Captain Underpants that way.

But now he's fast, and if you try to read anything longer than Green Eggs and Ham he acts like you're trying to force him to read Proust before he can have dessert. So when I try to read novels to him, I just get on my hands and knees and follow him around while he plays. I don't get too hung up with whether he seems to be listening, but I make sure that I read with gusto so that he will be entertained.

Right now I've been reading Little House in the Big Woods. I show him the pictures, but what really surprises me is some of the words he picks up on because they sound funny. Words like "cracklins," and "patty pan."

And he stopped what he doing to listen to the story of how Pa's got stuck in the Big Woods after dark.

"My bare legs were scratched by the briars, and when I ran through the bushes their bare branches struck me. But I kept on, looking and calling, 'Sukey! Sukey!'
"'Sukey! Sukey!' I shouted with all my might. 'Sukey!'
"Right over my head something asked, 'Who?'
"My hair stood straight on end.
"'Who? Who?' the voice said again. And then how I did run!
"I forgot all about the cows. All I wanted was to get out of the dark woods, to get home.
"That thing in the dark came after me and called again, 'Who-oo?'
"I ran with all my might. I ran till I couldn't breathe and still I kept on running. Something grabbed my foot, and down I went. Up I jumped, and then I ran. Not even a wolf could have caught me.
"At last I came out of the dark woods, by the barn. There stood all the cows, waiting to be let through the bars. I let them in and then ran to the house."

Even though this section only had a few pictures, it kept Calvin's interest because of the spooky mood and the owl noises and how funny Sukey sounds. He loved it.

I don't think you should spend all your time reading novels to babies. But a little every day or so can't hurt. It helps kids get used to listening to your voice to get the story, and to start to feel like a novel is an entertaining thing.

Books that will help us teach our baby about God

A few weeks ago Calvin was baptized, and he received a few books for presents. It occurs to me that without a children's Bible and small religious picture books, it would be nearly impossible to teach a small child about God (Well, I suppose the experience of going to church and hearing the music and everything will make an impression). An adult Bible is just too hard to read.

We have My Little Picture Bible, which is written by James Harrison and illustrated by Diana Mayo. The book is about 80 pages, with each bible story on 2 or three pages, so you can sit down and read them one at a time.

Jesus Storybook Bible; Every Story Whispers his Name, by Sally Lloyd-Jones and Illustrated by Jago, is 350 pages, and a little more sophisticated. What I love about it is how the illustrations, layout and design of each page is always changing. You have to turn the book sideways for David and Goliath, because the giant is so big. Even though the whole book is much longer, the stories are still divided into manageable chunks, so I've already read a few of them to Calvin. The pictures are so good that it is very entertaining.

The last book Calvin got was Today I was Baptized, by Dianne Ahern and Illustrated by Katherine Larson. The story is in the point of view of a newborn being baptized, and I was reminded how much babies and little kids love looking at pictures of little babies.