Talk to your baby!

My mother sent me a clipping of this article because she thought I would be interested and because she thought the baby was SO cute! 

I agree the baby is cute, but the study described in the article caught my attention even more. This newborn baby, with all the electrodes attached to her head (painlessly, with tiny sticky sponges), is having her brain's reactions recorded. First she hears her own mother say "ah". Then she hear another woman say the same sound. When the baby hears her mother's voice, just that one syllable, the parts of the brain associated with language processing and with moving the mouth during speech were activated. When she heard the other woman speak, only the parts of the brain to do with voice recognition were activated. So not only does the baby know her mother's voice very well, but she recognizes her mother's voice as a source of language learning.  "This is the person who is going to help me learn to talk!"  

Anyone who has been to my baby groups knows how important I think it is to talk to our babies.  But this study adds fuel to the fire. We need to talk to our babies to provide them with data from which they can figure out the system called language. We cannot wait until our babies understand before we speak to them. We must speak for them to be able to learn.

A mom who had nursed her newborn baby in our Resource Room was holding her baby  and making eye contact during one of those fleeting quiet-alert periods. She was talking to her baby and he was staring raptly at her face and moving his little mouth. They were having a conversation. "I feel silly talking to him like this," said the mother, "he can't understand me." He may not understand the words, but he does understand that this person is paying attention to him, that her voice is full of love and pleasure, that this interaction is important, that he has a role to play in it. Those are the beginnings of being a person, of having a relationship.

It is because our babies acquire language in this interactive, personal way that it is vital that we give them a lot of "face time." Nothing can replace the lively and loving face and voice of an involved parent. Stop reading this! Go talk to your baby!

NEW! Mothering Touch Childbirth Preparation Classes on the West Shore!

Beginning on Thursday June 2, Mothering Touch will be offering a Childbirth Preparation Series at the Juan De Fuca Recreation Centre in Colwood. We are so excited to be entering into a partnership with West Shore Parks and Recreation to be able to offer this class.

I have been teaching childbirth classes since 1994. I have taught at the Y, in church basements, community centres, private homes, and more recently in my own, purpose-designed Mothering Touch Centre. Through the years, the growth of the commnities on the West Shore has made it clear that as new families settle there, a need for family-oriented services is growing. Residents of Langford, Metchosin and Sooke come all the way into town for our classes, drawn by our reputation for being warm, thorough and inclusive. And they have asked for years: "Have you thought of running these classes out on the West Shore?"

Well yes, we thought about it, but we were trying to find the right setting.  Now, in the beautiful new Senior's Centre at Juan De Fuca, we have found a new home. A new teacher, Susan Pearson, a british midwife and Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator, will be teaching the classes.  We are delighted to be welcoming her to our teaching team.

Registration for the classes at Juan De Fuca will take place here at Mothering Touch. For all information and to register, call 250-595-4905.

Mother-Fest - Pampering for Mothers' Day

We are planning an extra-special lovely treat for Moms and Moms-to-Be on Friday before Mothers' Day.  From 3-7pm on Friday May 6, a variety of pampering professionals will set up shop at the Mothering Touch Centre. Moms and Moms-to-Be can sample belly painting for beauitful pregnanct tummies, reflexology for tired feet, chair-massage for tight breastfeeding shoulders, mini-manicures for needy nails, There will even be a photographer to document the event and take posed photos for moms who want a mini-photo session. Babes-in-arms are welcome of course, but we encourage you to take a little time off and come by yourself if you can. There will be snacks and lovley teas and, I hope, even live music. A really exciting and unique event! Tickets are $20 and will be on sale in the store starting next week. More detailed information to come on our website.

Recipe of the Month

This recipe was decsribed as 'a tangle of sunshine', and although we've had a few days of spring-like weather here, I've been feeling the need for a bit extra. So here's some sunshine in a bowl for you, I hope it brightens your day as much as it did mine!

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Spaghetti al Limone

1 pound spaghetti or linguine
Salt
3 lemons
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil , plus additional for serving
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 ounce finely grated Parmesan cheese (about 1/2 cup), plus additional for serving
Ground black pepper
Small handful fresh basil or arugula leaves, shredded

Cook the pasta to your liking. Meanwhile, zest the lemons until you have just shy of a tablespoon of zest. Juice the lemons-you'll have anywhere from 1/3 to 1/2 cup of lemon juice.

Drain pasta, reserving 1 1/2 cups of pasta cooking water. Dry out your pot, then boil the olive oil, cream, zest and 1 cup of the reserved pasta water together for two minutes over high heat. Return pasta to pot and stir until coated. Add the cheese and 1/4 cup lemon juice and toss, toss, toss everything together. Add more pasta water, 1/4 cup at a time, if you’d like your dish a little looser. Quickly taste a strand of pasta and see if you want to add the remaining lemon juice. Stir in basil or arugula and season generously with salt and pepper. We like to drizzle extra olive oil on ours and sprinkle on a bit of the extra parmesan cheese too.

This Month's Special

To celebrate our new diaper punch cards, we're offering 15% off all the colourful one-size Mother Ease diapers! Just mention this month's newsletter and stock up on a rainbow of diapers!