StarrGazing

Tonight we are going for a meet and greet meeting for astronomy at Bow Bench Retreat here in Carseland, it's the same place Momma goes knitting on Wednesday nights.

Stargazing is always something I've wanted to share with our little Starr and something I've missed doing in the past few years. There's so many online resources to make stargazing fun for kids and adults.

First, I remembered the RASC (Royal Astronomical Society of Canada) and their wonderful guides and certificate programs and quickly printed off the Explore the Universe paperwork. 
 "A challenging program for the new astronomer covering all major astronomical objects including constellations, bright stars, the Moon, Deep Sky Objects, and Double Stars. Suitable for both binoculars and telescopes".

Here is a summary of the Explore the Universe program requirements:

Observing Objective	Required	Available
Constellations and Bright Stars	12	24
The Moon	16	32
Solar System	5	10
Deep Sky Objects	12	24
Double Stars	10	20
Total	55	110

Astronomy can be overwhelming to start and this program gives a great into and a bit of a structure to start exploring and learning! Mark and I had started this a few years back, but I lost our copy with our records, no big whoop to start over I figure.

I went looking online for fun kid things to do and found Nasa's The Space Place. I printed off the instructions and template to make a Star Finder and found a constellation pattern template, which I printed out, traced the Ursa Major disc onto heavy cardstock (I used old cereal boxes), and punched holes in. Tonight we can shine a flash light and put the pattern in the light to project Ursa Major onto the wall. I was so happy when I realized the Explore the Universe Guide and the constellation pattern template seemed to match up well. For the adults I printed off information sheets from a constellation guide and from starryskies.com about the Ursa Major Constellation. I figured it was a good place to start. Now my creative juices are flowing and I'm thinking a short fun book containing the Ursa Major disc would be even more fun, nothing online, it may mean I make one myself! (add it to the "books I'd love to write" category beside pictorial cookbooks for kids).



Oh, my mind is working overtime and the clock is ticking. I'm going to go see if I can quickly write a short story based on the big ole bear's story.....

Hazelwood and Amber!

Yesterday at Moms and Tots (I'm the Mamma and Alexiss is the tot..in case you were confused) there was a little boy wearing a very earthy looking necklace, so I just had to comment! Turns out it's a teething necklace. It helps stop teething babies from drooling so much. I was curious but not overly interested since I'd read that drooling is what helps baby's gum soften to make cutting a tooth a bit easier. My curiousity this morning lead me to an online search and I found that it's so much more than just for teething! It's a natural remedy for skin, teeth and acid problems. Great, now I want one for me, for Alexiss and for Mark!




Here's a blurp from tinyteethers.com:

Hazelwood health benefits are well known to Aboriginal people, but are just now coming to light for many North Americans. How does it work? Acidity is a major component of the pain in your baby's teething. Hazelwood has the medicinal property of absorbing and neutralizing the body's acidity through contact with the skin. By doing so, the necklaces can also help babies with digestion, constipation and eczema. The necklaces are not just for babies, they are really for the whole family. They help teenagers and adults relieve or prevent ailments such as migraines, acid reflux, heart burn, nausea, arthritis, skin problems etc. There are no known allergy issues to this product because it is made with the Hazelwood branch, not the nut.

Therefore, if you suffer from…

· Rheumatism, arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, arthrosis, osteoporosis

• Dental cavities, gum bleeding, teething
• Acid reflux, heart burn, ulcers, constipation
• Cracking at the corners of your mouth
• Skin problems such as acne, cold sores, pimples, eczema
• Sinus problems
• Ear infections
• Bronchitis
• Headaches and migraines
• Anal irritations
• Sciatic nerve pains
• Muscular pain
• Lack of energy, fatigue, depression
• Shivers
• Heaviness in limbs
• Irritability and nervousness
• Sleep problems

.…it is highly probable that you are suffering from an acidity imbalance. And Pure Hazelwood necklaces can help you alleviate this in a natural way.

I also found amber was used in teething necklaces, traditionally European remedy for teething because it works like a natural analgesic and has healing effects. Verrrryyyy interesting!

The Happiest Baby on the Block!

I just have to RAVE about Dr Karp and the book The Happiest Baby on the Block. Well, I didn't get a chance to read the book, but Dr Karp is a smart man and made a DVD (with a CD of soothing sounds) too! Today I finally got a chance to watch it and I really wish I'd watched it sooner! It's literally magic and transforms babies into calm comforted bundles from wailing fuss budgets!

I'd heard about it and thought it sounded like nothing special, and nothing extra than what I've been doing. I was right, but he really shows you technique for things we already know calm babies and the result is that it takes less than 2 minutes to soothe Alexiss instead of hours or portions of hours. The video actually shows it working instantly on some babies, they go from wailing messes to fine at the snap of my fingers!



So it perfects swaddling, shushing and swinging (bouncing or jiggling) adds in the colic side or upside down hold and finishes it off with suckling (the five s's). I know, what's the big deal, right? Do all those things now and it helps a bit, but not enough? Well put away that gripe water and slap me silly, but by the end of watching the DVD it had already soothed Alexiss more than doing these things even an hour before, with his little finishing touches! Better yet, it's things I already knew how to do so it's not something total foreign that takes watching over and over and trying a few times to get it just right!

fun things online

This little interactive animation from the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago amazed me, it shows where the baby is throughout pregnancy. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click "Make Room for Baby Interactive"

This creative list of "Top 20 List Of Things I Wish I Had Known About Newborns Before Having One" had me in stitches, specially:

1.) A “newborn” and a “baby” are two completely separate creatures. All new parents who tell you how awesome parenthood is, this is because they now have a baby, and have forgotten what it was like having a newborn. The baby is interactive, has thoughts and emotions, plays with you, makes cute noises. A newborn does 4 things only: cries, eats, sleeps and poops. Your role right now as parents of a newborn is to give love to someone who doesn’t know you exist (remember that girl/guy from high school? Just like that) Your role is to help your newborn to survive the next 3 months to the baby stage, where you’ll then start to have fun.

5.) Babies’ respiratory systems are not very well developed when they’re born, so it’s quite normal to have them snort, squeak, squeal, croak, make all sorts of pig noises, sound like they’re coughing up a lung, etc. Basically, every moment they’re alive, they sound like they’re taking their dying breath, so you stop worrying about it pretty fast. This gradually improves over the first month.

and

18.) Newborns do not understand the irony of you crying at them.