Just wanted to remind Crocs wearers out there about the dangers of Crocs and escalators. Being a new disciple of the Fugly but oh so comfy shoes, andhaving recently been on an escalator wearing them, I thought I'd check to see if the rumors about crocs and escalators are true (they are). Check out this article to read about it (make sure to click through and read the Consumer Reports article about safety recommendations.) I just started wearing these shoes and so far I really like them (and Peter does too)Most likely we will not give them up...we're just going to be careful on escalators.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Careful with your Crocs
Just wanted to remind Crocs wearers out there about the dangers of Crocs and escalators. Being a new disciple of the Fugly but oh so comfy shoes, andhaving recently been on an escalator wearing them, I thought I'd check to see if the rumors about crocs and escalators are true (they are). Check out this article to read about it (make sure to click through and read the Consumer Reports article about safety recommendations.) I just started wearing these shoes and so far I really like them (and Peter does too)Most likely we will not give them up...we're just going to be careful on escalators.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
The Science of Babies
Last week, Lauren participated in another study at the UC Davis Center for Mind and Brain, Infant Cognition Lab. It was her third time to participate. This time, she was part of a new study comparing the development of babies with Fragile X Syndrome and Down Syndrome. Lauren is part of the control group of typically developing babies.
The tests/activities were simple. She sat on my lap looking at a TV Screen while they tracked her eyes with an infrared eye-tracking do-hickey that showed what part of the screen she was looking at. They were trying to detect how well she could notice movement in her peripheral vision. There was an attention getting picture in the center (like a moving circle or spinning pinwheel) and then some very faintly visible wavy lines appeared near the left and right edges of the screen. They wanted to track how soon she noticed them and how close to the center they had to be before her pupils moved to look at them.
The second test involved looking at stationary faces in her peripheral vision. Faces on one side of the screen were upright, the faces on the other side were upside down, warped, or had eyes/ears/nose/mouth scrambled up. They were trying to see how well she recognized the upright faces depending on the how close to the center they were positioned. As the faces got closer to the center of the screen, she recognized the upright faces right away and focused on them faster and longer. As the faces got further and further apart, it took her a while to distinguish between scrambled up face and upright face.
After the tests, they let us view the results and replayed the videos with the eye-tracking . There were red dots on the screen that represented where she was looking . It was neat to see how she looked back and forth between them until she finally recognized the upright face and focused her attention on it.
The researcher explained that babies with Fragile X syndrome have trouble noticing movement in their peripheral vision but don't seem to have problems with stationary things in the periphery. It's very interesting stuff. If you want to read more about this study, you can check it out by clicking here.
The tests/activities were simple. She sat on my lap looking at a TV Screen while they tracked her eyes with an infrared eye-tracking do-hickey that showed what part of the screen she was looking at. They were trying to detect how well she could notice movement in her peripheral vision. There was an attention getting picture in the center (like a moving circle or spinning pinwheel) and then some very faintly visible wavy lines appeared near the left and right edges of the screen. They wanted to track how soon she noticed them and how close to the center they had to be before her pupils moved to look at them.
The second test involved looking at stationary faces in her peripheral vision. Faces on one side of the screen were upright, the faces on the other side were upside down, warped, or had eyes/ears/nose/mouth scrambled up. They were trying to see how well she recognized the upright faces depending on the how close to the center they were positioned. As the faces got closer to the center of the screen, she recognized the upright faces right away and focused on them faster and longer. As the faces got further and further apart, it took her a while to distinguish between scrambled up face and upright face.
After the tests, they let us view the results and replayed the videos with the eye-tracking . There were red dots on the screen that represented where she was looking . It was neat to see how she looked back and forth between them until she finally recognized the upright face and focused her attention on it.
The researcher explained that babies with Fragile X syndrome have trouble noticing movement in their peripheral vision but don't seem to have problems with stationary things in the periphery. It's very interesting stuff. If you want to read more about this study, you can check it out by clicking here.
The tests only took about ten minutes and afterwards we paid a visit to my lab and said hello to everyone in the office.
Got Adobo?
Mmmm. Pork Adobo and rice.I have this cool little gadget for grinding up baby food. My sis-in-law used it to feed all 3 of her babies and even though it's low-tech, it works just as well as a food processor. You basically put bits of food in there and turn the crank until it oozes out into baby friendly pieces. It's nice because she gets to eat whatever we're eating and is starting to get little tastes of different kinds of foods.
I think she likes it!!!!
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Celtics Win! Celtics Win!
Peter and his good luck charm. Peter once again assumed the role of insufferable New England Sports Fan after the Celtics won the NBA finals last night. What makes it even sweeter? Peter put down a bet that they would win the championship in 6 games. SCORE! Baby needs a new pair of shoes!
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Happy Father's Day
Happy Father's Day Daddy!!!!
- Tocilog for breakfast (a Filipino breakfast of sweet cured meat, fried garlic rice and fried egg)
- Father's Day card from Lauren that plays "Take me Out to the Ballgame" when opened
- Tiger Woods playing an exciting round of golf at the US Open
- The Celtics are in the NBA Finals
- Rib Eye Steak for dinner.
- Best. Father's. Day. Ever. (Even though the Celtics didn't win, it was still the best)
Peter, Lauren and a Bone
Friday, June 13, 2008
Ten Months!!!
With every day that passes, Lauren takes another step. She's up to about 5 steps now and so I guess that means she's practically walking, just in time for 10 month birthday. Crawling is still her preferred method of locomotion, especially when she has to get away from the Tickle Monster
As you can tell from that little video snippet, she is SO MUCH FUN! She's speeding through her milestones (waving bye bye..check. Pointing...done. Walking....you bet) and growing up waaay to fast.
I see a toof!
She sprouted a tiny little tooth on the bottom and she eats her cheerios like sunflower seeds...she holds each cheerio between her upper gum and bottom tooth until she hears a little crunch. I'm still nursing and so far that tooth isn't bothering me because her tongue covers it when she nurses, but I bet when those top two start popping out...OUUcch! I can see the top of another bottom tooth starting to break through. Luckily, no bad teething episodes lately (:::crossing fingers::::) I love seeing her smile with her cute little tooth...but sad to think her gummy smile won't be around much longer.
She's an adventurous eater, she rarely turns down any table food that we offer (Adobo? Nori? Tofu? YUM!) but she now wants to feed herself and gets it all over her face (and hair, and legs, and arms) in the process. She doesn't use a spoon yet (except to bang on the counter or table) so I just put a mound of steamed rice or little bits of bread on her tray that she can pick up. I sneak in spoonfuls of baby food or ground up versions of whatever we're eating while she's feeding herself.
What's your sign?
Just like many parents of babies in this day and age, we are trying to teach Lauren to sign. The woman who started this whole Baby Signs revolution was actually my sister's professor in college and so she has wanted to teach baby sign language as soon as she found out I was pregnant. She didn't even realize there was a Baby Signing craze going on! The only signs we're trying to teach her are the basics: "Milk", "More", "All Done", and "Cereal". So far she just stares blankly at us while we do our goofy hand movements paired with our even goofier facial expressions. Most likely her first sign will be a big "L" on her forehead to teach her silly parents a lesson.
I scream, you scream, we all scream..... 'cause it's FUN!
Ask either of us or any of her caregivers and we will agree that she loses all her cute appeal when she screams. She has this high pitched, eardrum-busting scream and it can come out anytime. When she's happy, sad, angry, or excited...oh, and of course when she plain just wants attention. Ayaaah...if Grandma's and Grandpa weren't hard of hearing before, they're gonna be pretty soon if this continues!
Musically inclined
Turn on the radio and get ready to dance! This girl loves to shake it, and sometimes sings (screams) along while bopping to the beat. She loves sitting on my lap and banging on the piano keys and sometimes I leave the piano uncovered so that she can walk/crawl over and reach up to tickle the high notes. I hope she inherited the Reyes musical genes. I can't wait to drag her out in front of company and force her to sing/dance/play the piano. Hey, I had to do it when I was a kid! (But wait, didn't I hate that?)
Her eleventh is going to be an exciting month! More about that in a future post!!!!
As you can tell from that little video snippet, she is SO MUCH FUN! She's speeding through her milestones (waving bye bye..check. Pointing...done. Walking....you bet) and growing up waaay to fast.
I see a toof!
She sprouted a tiny little tooth on the bottom and she eats her cheerios like sunflower seeds...she holds each cheerio between her upper gum and bottom tooth until she hears a little crunch. I'm still nursing and so far that tooth isn't bothering me because her tongue covers it when she nurses, but I bet when those top two start popping out...OUUcch! I can see the top of another bottom tooth starting to break through. Luckily, no bad teething episodes lately (:::crossing fingers::::) I love seeing her smile with her cute little tooth...but sad to think her gummy smile won't be around much longer.
She's an adventurous eater, she rarely turns down any table food that we offer (Adobo? Nori? Tofu? YUM!) but she now wants to feed herself and gets it all over her face (and hair, and legs, and arms) in the process. She doesn't use a spoon yet (except to bang on the counter or table) so I just put a mound of steamed rice or little bits of bread on her tray that she can pick up. I sneak in spoonfuls of baby food or ground up versions of whatever we're eating while she's feeding herself.
What's your sign?
Just like many parents of babies in this day and age, we are trying to teach Lauren to sign. The woman who started this whole Baby Signs revolution was actually my sister's professor in college and so she has wanted to teach baby sign language as soon as she found out I was pregnant. She didn't even realize there was a Baby Signing craze going on! The only signs we're trying to teach her are the basics: "Milk", "More", "All Done", and "Cereal". So far she just stares blankly at us while we do our goofy hand movements paired with our even goofier facial expressions. Most likely her first sign will be a big "L" on her forehead to teach her silly parents a lesson.
I scream, you scream, we all scream..... 'cause it's FUN!
Ask either of us or any of her caregivers and we will agree that she loses all her cute appeal when she screams. She has this high pitched, eardrum-busting scream and it can come out anytime. When she's happy, sad, angry, or excited...oh, and of course when she plain just wants attention. Ayaaah...if Grandma's and Grandpa weren't hard of hearing before, they're gonna be pretty soon if this continues!
Musically inclined
Turn on the radio and get ready to dance! This girl loves to shake it, and sometimes sings (screams) along while bopping to the beat. She loves sitting on my lap and banging on the piano keys and sometimes I leave the piano uncovered so that she can walk/crawl over and reach up to tickle the high notes. I hope she inherited the Reyes musical genes. I can't wait to drag her out in front of company and force her to sing/dance/play the piano. Hey, I had to do it when I was a kid! (But wait, didn't I hate that?)
Her eleventh is going to be an exciting month! More about that in a future post!!!!
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
One small step for Lauren....
...One Giant rush to babyproof the house even further. It's starting! Lauren took her first step today. Well...she definitely moved her right foot forward to take a step, but then she hasn't learned how to transfer her weight and move her left foot to comlete the step. She just ends up pivoting around on her left foot and doing a complete 360. That counts, right?
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