Inspirational Babies

Babies.

Never content to stay at their current level of skill.

Always, always, always learning something new.

They're so inspiring, aren't they?


Damien is 6 months, 1 week old

Stone Upon Stone

"The world has many stately palaces and great cathedrals that tower in their loveliness high above the humble dwellings around them, and their beauty and wonder are the delight of our eyes. We look up at their high walls, their gilded roofs, their slender spires pointing to the sky; we admire the great strength and delicate tracery of their stonework, and whether in sunshine or under the stars, they stand out as monuments of what the mind of man has power to plan and his hands have skill to fashion.

But the foundations on which these buildings rest are hidden from our eyes, buried deep down in the darkness. Yet though unseen and seldom thought of, in every case there has been the patient laying of stone upon stone, without which the stately building could never have been reared.

It is much the same with the great lives which tower above the ordinary ones around us. Here and there we note them; we mark the noble deed, the courage, the heroism, the flash of genius, the habit of self-sacrifice, but we are apt to forget that all this did not come into being suddenly, that in each case there was a long time of preparation, a patient laying of foundations in the years of childhood, act by act, as stone is laid upon stone, before it was known what manner of life would be built up." 

"When They Were Children", Amy Steedman

Ten Months Pregnant

I guess he just wanted to be a June baby.

As it nears midnight, I am approaching being four days past my due date. Six days past, if you are counting by menstrual dating.

I know this is only my second baby, but it is new (and odd) to me, not exactly what I expected. Hunter was a day early and pretty simple and straightforward. One afternoon I started having regular, very mild contractions. They increased in severity and closeness slowly but steadily for the evening until my water broke at eleven pm. Hunter was born six hours later.

With this little guy, we've been playing the waiting game for what seems like an eternity. I've been having contractions, but not regularly. Today, I have had a lot, but they come and go, being three or four minutes apart for a little while, then ten minutes apart, then none for an hour or two. Some are sharp and painful, some just like little cramps, other times I will just notice mild tightening. I seem to have lost my mucus plug. But we're still waiting.

I'm not in too much of a hurry. Things are happening, at least, and this morning the baby was monitored and is doing fine. We have family in town, though, and they can only be here for a few more days. My husband is getting a bit worried, wondering why the baby isn't here yet. I keep getting asked, "Anything yet? Any news?" from anxious relatives. I try to not let any of it get to me, but it's difficult.

Tomorrow afternoon, I am scheduled to be admitted to the hospital and given a cervix softener. That, in and of itself, will hopefully induce labor. If not, they are wanting to put me on pitocin, which I don't want. Either way, three pm tomorrow is waiting anxiously for me. Once I'm in, I'm not going home without a baby in arms. I worry if I'm making the right decision, but don't know what else to do. Hopefully, everything will go well. I have a feeling that tomorrow is going to be a long night.

"Baby binder", with developmental profile cover,
near bags to take to hospital

Our bags are packed, as they have been for almost a month. I have many materials made for the baby, but not all. The baby has plenty of clothes, toiletries, basic necessities. The house is mostly clean, the laundry mostly done.

I'm excited, ready to meet this baby, but so unsure of myself. Unsure of what to expect, in labor and delivery, in the first few weeks. I remember, but at the same time don't remember, what it is like to have a newborn. I don't know what it will be like having a baby and doing the Doman program, and trying to homeschool a first grader, and in a few weeks, trying to do all that plus work with daycare kids ten hours a day. It'll all come together, I'm sure, but I worry, I fear for my inadequacy.

The stuff I didn't get done, I try not to worry about. I know I might be out of commission beyond breast feeding and recovering from labor for the first week or two, but after that, I know that here and there, there will be time to accomplish other things.

Even with all my fears, doubts, and worries, I am as ready as I'll ever be to meet this little guy and begin this new adventure, this new phase in our life. I'm scared, anxious, nervous, but I know that, somehow, everything will be okay.

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted" 

Ecclesiastes 3:1-2

Hunter is 6 years, 2 months old
Baby boy # 2 is 40 weeks, 3 days gestation

Mothers and Glenn Doman: A Photo Journal

“Every baby arrives equipped with a mother—there is good reason for that.” 

GD

“We believe that mothers make the best mothers and fathers make the best fathers.”  

GD

"Children are the greatest gift that we will ever receive. The world over, we cherish our children. Mothers have performed heroic acts and displayed incredible physical strength to protect their children from physical harm. Universally, parents want their children to accomplish more in life than they ever accomplished." 

GD

“From the moment a baby is born, a struggle begins. Mother does her best to keep her baby close to her, and the world does its best to separate mother from baby. This is a mistake because mothers are the best teachers in the world for their babies. It starts with the well-meaning hospital staff who often whisks the baby away to a nursery far from mother. Later, there are the professionals who are certain that a two-year-old is better off in a day care center than home with mother. On their heels comes the school system where the child will spend the better part of his life to age 18. Educators now say they want the child at the age of five, four, or even three. There are strong forces at work to separate mother from child, and most people have come to regard each of these encroachments on mother’s domain as normal. It is as if that is the way it has always been.”  

GD

"She looks into the eyes of her baby and to her utter astonishment and her amazement she sees an intelligence for which no one has prepared  her. Father sees it too. For a moment they are stunned. They are overwhelmed by the potential they sense in the baby, and by the responsibility they have undertaken. They make a thousand unspoken promises to their new baby." 

GD

"Professional mothers are fulltime mother who approach their work with the same passion and dedication that other top-flight professionals devote to being engineers, doctors, lawyers, etc. If you are a fulltime mother, you are a member of the oldest and most honorable profession in the world... You have the most important job in the world - protect it."  

GD

"They love their children very much (as do almost all parents). They respect their children and their innate potential to be magnificent. They enjoy their children immensely. They have given their children a higher priority in their lives in terms of time and energy than have most families. They do not feel this to be a sacrifice of themselves but rather a high privilege. They think that it is more fun to teach their kids than it is to bowl or go to the movies. They are more interested in their kids than the are in the latest craze in television shows... They are lively, bright, aware, happy, effective people who are less involved in worrying about the world and a good deal more involved in doing something about it by raising happier, more effective kids." 

GD

"Every mother who embarks upon this adventure expects to expand her tiny child's ability. She does this with such vim and vigor that she hardly takes the time to assess the changes that are taking palce in her own abilities and viewpoint, until one day when she finds herself happily preparing to teach her child calculus or nuclear physics and is brought up short by her own bravado. She is startled, but not for long. 'I always secrety knew I could learn anything' she says to herself and gets back to work teaching her child."  

GD

"...we have the thrill and honor of taking this superb learner and gently lifting him onto our shoulders. What broad shoulders our professional parents have and what a panoramic view they provide for our tiny kids." 

GD

"Mother have known more about babies than anyone else since the world began. It is mothers who have successfully brought us from prehistoric caves to the present." 

GD

“After almost half a century of nose-to-nose experience with mothers, we have learned that parents should never do anything with their babies that they do not understand and agree with one hundred percent. If parents do something with a child that they do not understand fully, it could actually be dangerous for the child. If parents do something with their child that they do not agree with completely, they will not do it well. If someone must decide what is best for children, thank heaven it is parents who have that right. Parents, and only parents, should decide what is best for their children. They make the best decisions.”  

GD

“Mothers are the very best teachers. They know their children better than anyone else, and they love their children better than anyone else. And it turns out that kids are pretty crazy about their mothers too.”  

GD

"It must by now be obvious to the reader, as it is to all those who know the staff of The Institutes, that we have for all babies' ability to learn and all parents' ability to teach, a respect that borders on reverence."  

GD

“Is it a revolutionary idea that parents and children belong together? Children don’t think so. If every baby had his way, he would have mother or father by his side every minute of every day.” 

GD

 

“In contrast to [the] patterns of modern society, all mothers know intuitively that the first six years of a child’s life are the most important. In this they are absolutely correct.”  

GD

“Every mother, whether she is new to the job or highly experienced, has a marvelous ability and opportunity to observe her baby, and then to act intuitively based on her observations. On her worst day she will do this better with her own baby than most others would do on their best days.”  

GD

"The means to accomplish this gentle revolution are simple, straightforward, and clear. Parents. Parents are not the problem in the world of kids, they are the answer." 

GD

Happy Mother's Day, to all the amazing mothers in the world who often go unnoticed or unappreciated for all you do. You are your child's best teacher and more important than you will ever know. Don't let anyone try and convince you otherwise.

"And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thouwalkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." 

Deuteronomy 11:19