Confidence tricks.
Self-esteem is a key to successful development and has a far greater impact on future success (and happiness) than intelligence or talent. How can parents help to instill it?

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A new type of pajamas may become an effective way of preventing Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
Unlike the sensors attached to astronauts' bodies, which could cause some discomfort to babies, these pajamas are made with the sensors woven into the fabric.

Have we gone a little overboard? maybe? I know the article says that 2500 babies die yearly because of SIDS in the US alone, and I don't want to be insensitive, but wiring babies to constantly monitor their heartbeat and respiration seems a bit too much. In fact, it just reminded me of an idea I had a few years back, that we should have a day every year that could be called "A day without electricity" or something like that. Nothing electronic or electrical would be used that day. We should rediscover (or remind or educate ourselves about) the world that we had not too long ago. Please note that I make my living working with computers.

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The local Baby Shower.

No doubt our baby has an angel or good fairy looking out for him, and so many great friends that brought great presents for him. Thank you so much all.

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Smithsonian's Notable Books For Children 2001.
For a decade the Smithsonian has surveyed the year in children's titles. That annual excursion has allowed them to range across the realms of nonfiction and fiction, discovering new voices and appraising the most recent offerings from masters at the top of their form.

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Study: Ultra-Sound test can make you left-handed.
Men born in the 1970s who had been exposed to ultra-sound tests while in the womb were more likely to become left-handed.

Mh, interesting. But what -if any- are the real implications of this?

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Ack!

I had a serious bug in the permalink/comments code, that I hope is fixed now.

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There is a long discussion about baby blogs over at MetaFilter.

As is common in MeFi threads, some good and some bad comes out of them. On the bright side, I found out about many other baby-related and parent blogs that I wouldn't know of otherwise. Interestingly, it appears the name of this very blog... mh, er, ... "blows".

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Common pregnancy treatment is questioned.
[NYT] Steroid treatment for pregnant women can improve survival rates for premature babies, but doctors have found dangers in overtreatment.

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Our first baby shower.

A million thanks to all those who came, to those who helped organize, and special thanks to Jim & Deena for hosting the event and us. The presents were very cool. Our baby will be even happier thanks to y'all.

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Anxiety during the last few weeks of pregnancy can affect an unborn baby's developing brain, increasing the chances of children becoming hyperactive or badly behaved. Boys were particularly affected and were twice as likely as normal to be hyperactive.

Another reason to keep Mommy happy during the following weeks.

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Another scheduled Dr. visit today. This time with Dr. Rawls.

Everything going Ok and according to plan. Again we got to listen to baby's healthy heart beat. Mommy's weight gain and growth are what they're suppossed to be at almost 33 weeks. Dr. R. was friendly, helpful and reassuring answering our questions. And as always after these Dr-visits, Mommy was rewarded with a cup of ice cream.

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Active parents, fun activities key for kids' fitness.
Parents who exercise tend to have children who exercise, but researchers say kids are best motivated by fun activities.

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This is a religious war.
[NYT] The religious dimension of this conflict is central to its meaning. It is a war of fundamentalism against faiths of all kinds that are at peace with freedom and modernity. What is really at issue here is the simple but immensely difficult principle of the separation of politics and religion.

Very long, but very well written article exploring the motivations not only of Bin Laden and his sympathizers, but also those of other fundamentalists throughout history and even in America. Well worth a read.

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Hospital's breast-feeding success story.
[NYT] The percentage of mothers who breast-fed their newborns jumped at a Boston hospital when it introduced a 10-step plan that had been widely used overseas to encourage breast-feeding and cut down on formula use.

All good, except for step #8: encourage breast-feeding on demand which we plan on doing differently. We'll try to combine common sense and flexibility with recommendations from the Baby-wise book, that seems to inspire strong pro and con opinions, but few well argumented.

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Amniotic fluid could heal newborn babies.
A common test of an unborn baby's health could also provide a treatment for some birth defects. The cells in the amniotic fluid - which is often sampled for genetic testing - can be grown into the tissue needed to patch up the defects.

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La Sandía.
A daddy-made blog. A "bitácora" really, it's in Spanish.

Thanks Eduardo! I'll be keeping an eye on La Sandía. He, now I can show Mommy at least two other guys doing a baby-blog, you and dotPaul.

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Last night we had our first Lamaze class

We expected this initial session to be pretty basic, but it didn't live up to even that. As soon as we got back home we started commenting on how the instructor did not answer questions to our satisfaction, and after reviewing the program, it looks like she skipped a few things also. I hope next week it will be better.

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