We are reading the Hairy Maclary books by Lynley Dood and enjoying the beautiful drawings and the delightful verse. We were trying to work out what breeds of dogs are represented and these are our thoughts:
Hairy Maclary: Scottish terrier (Skye terrier?)
Mercules Morse: Bull mastiff
Muffin McLay: On English sheep dog
Bottomley Potts: Dalmation
Bitzer Maloney: Greyhound
Schnitzel von Krumm: Daschund
Sunday, 7 June 2009
Wednesday, 3 June 2009
Egg whites
Today a friend asked me: "Why can't you give babies egg whites?" and I had to admit not knowing. I then waffled on about how egg whites coagulate a lot faster than the yolks - I am not sure why that is either.
Anyway. I did a google search, and this is what I found out:
It turns out that most people who are allergic to eggs are allergic to the whites and the primary culprit is the protein ovalbumin. Apparently, most people outgrow this allergy by the time that they are 5 years old.
These are the two website that I looked at:
When Can My Baby Eat Eggs? Egg Allergy Information
When can I feed my baby eggs and egg yolks to avoid an allergy?
Anyway. I did a google search, and this is what I found out:
It turns out that most people who are allergic to eggs are allergic to the whites and the primary culprit is the protein ovalbumin. Apparently, most people outgrow this allergy by the time that they are 5 years old.
These are the two website that I looked at:
When Can My Baby Eat Eggs? Egg Allergy Information
When can I feed my baby eggs and egg yolks to avoid an allergy?
Tuesday, 2 June 2009
Pram Direction (again)
In my last post, I was guilty of the type of dishonesty that frequently happens "on the internet": I referred to a document before actually reading it.
Last night, I actually read through What's life in a buggy like. There was a lot more in it than I remember being said on the radio or in the bbc article. One point that lept out at me was this:
Was the parent talking to the awake child?
Buggy away: 11 %
Buggy toward: 25 %
Carried: 46 %
Walking: 47 %
Was the child vocalising?
Buggy away: 12 %
Buggy toward: 17 %
Carried: 31 %
Walking: 50 %
I realised that my daughter frequently "asks" to be taken out of the pram, and when I do, I actually do talk to her a lot more - telling her what my concerns/dilemmas are and pointing out objects or people-doing-activities that I think might be interesting to her. Today, I made a conscious effort to pick her up whenever she was awake and it was safe to do so. I think that we both had a lot of fun this way despite the unforgiving heat!
Last night, I actually read through What's life in a buggy like. There was a lot more in it than I remember being said on the radio or in the bbc article. One point that lept out at me was this:
Was the parent talking to the awake child?
Buggy away: 11 %
Buggy toward: 25 %
Carried: 46 %
Walking: 47 %
Was the child vocalising?
Buggy away: 12 %
Buggy toward: 17 %
Carried: 31 %
Walking: 50 %
I realised that my daughter frequently "asks" to be taken out of the pram, and when I do, I actually do talk to her a lot more - telling her what my concerns/dilemmas are and pointing out objects or people-doing-activities that I think might be interesting to her. Today, I made a conscious effort to pick her up whenever she was awake and it was safe to do so. I think that we both had a lot of fun this way despite the unforgiving heat!
Monday, 1 June 2009
The direction the pram faces
Soon after my baby daughter was delivered, this story: Buggy direction 'affects child' was all over the news. The paragraph that leaps out of the page at me is:
"Parents with face-to-face prams were more than twice as likely to be talking to their child, however only 22% of all those observed were chatting with their youngster."
At first this kind of statement makes one's jaw drop - life in the pram is very impoverished indeed. But then, I got to thinking...
Our pram is face-to-face, and to be honest, I don't always want to talk. Sometimes we are just being contemplative. But then again, sometimes, I forget to talk: so the challenge for tomorrow (and always), is to remember to tell my baby what I am thinking about.
...............
The researcher heading this study is Suzanne Zeedyk.
Relevant links: National Literacy Trust
Sutton Trust Research and Publications (scroll down to "What's life in a buggy like?")
"Parents with face-to-face prams were more than twice as likely to be talking to their child, however only 22% of all those observed were chatting with their youngster."
At first this kind of statement makes one's jaw drop - life in the pram is very impoverished indeed. But then, I got to thinking...
- Babies spend a lot of time sleeping. Many mothers bung their children in prams to help them to sleep - not just for a break: the child is clearly tired, but seems to require the motion in order to drop off.
- How long could they possibly have observed each mother for? Is it possible that some of the mothers of awake babies had reached a lull in the conversation?
- Observation without the need for constant commentary does have value.
Our pram is face-to-face, and to be honest, I don't always want to talk. Sometimes we are just being contemplative. But then again, sometimes, I forget to talk: so the challenge for tomorrow (and always), is to remember to tell my baby what I am thinking about.
...............
The researcher heading this study is Suzanne Zeedyk.
Relevant links: National Literacy Trust
Sutton Trust Research and Publications (scroll down to "What's life in a buggy like?")
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