US Cesarean Rate: 31.1%

News alert. This is in from the Childbirth Connection: Relentless Rise in Cesarean Section Rate The National Center for Heath Statistics has just released the preliminary U.S. national cesarean rate for 2006: 31.1%. This rate has increased by 50% in the past decade, reaching a record level every year in this century. The most common …

Kapla Building Blocks

Ok, I think we finally found the ultimate building blocks! (Baba and Amie play with the Kapla blocks)  Looking for a birthday present to give a thee-year-old, we stumbled upon these Kapla Blocks.  My first reaction was: huh, so what? They are simply wooden blocks or rather miniature planks. But then you take them out …

Puzzling Again!

Have you seen Amie puzzling (video to the right)? She was only 18 months old and really into it: fit-the-shape peg puzzles as well as jigsaw puzzles. After a while she lost interest and moved on. I wasn’t heart-broken, because I knew that by then she had memorized all the puzzles and wasn’t, therefore, really puzzling …

It’s Snowing and Construction Progress

It started snowing here on my way to pick up Amie from her daycare, around one. On the way back she found it so peaceful she fell asleep in the stroller (it’s a ten minute walk). It really is rather magical and eerily calm when those flakes start coming down. While she naps I stole …

Doll House Construction Site

The day after Anja commented on the dollhouse in the background of a recent picture, Amie took a sudden interest in it. It had been sitting on that ottoman for months… The first thing she asked for was steps. The Manushes couldn’t get into the house! So I made steps, which the Manushes now use …