Be A.W.A.R.E.

So I took a break from my quest for new style today to take a self defense class from the Denver Police Department. (Although side note, I dropped five HUGE boxes and bags of clothes from Book Club Clothes Exchange off at Goodwill today... That felt good!)

Ambro / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Years ago I got pretty into kickboxing. Not the Billy Blanks Tae Bo kind, but the real deal with wraps, gloves, strike pads and all, and I LOVED it. Unfortunately I moved too far away to make the classes feasible, and I fell off the kickboxing wagon. What I learned today, however, is that once you know the basic moves they do not go away - and they can serve you really well!

I'm admittedly out of shape, but when it came time to act out some self defense moves today at one point after I kneed the instructor a few times and then threw a crazy hammer punch, he said, "Well - okay then!" and gave me a big smile. I've still got it.

That's not to say I'm ready for an attack (who is?) but I feel way more prepared today than before. Here are some great tips I came away with today - all around the acronym A.W.A.R.E.:

• A(lert): be alert to your surroundings all the time. Get off the phone when you're walking around downtown, make eye contact with someone you pass on the street, don't sit with your back to the door... be alert.
• W(ary): be wary. If a nice-looking person approaches you randomly and tries to strike up conversation, ask yourself what he (or she) wants. If someone knocks on your door and asks to use the phone, offer to call 9-1-1 for them.
• A(ttitude): ladies, it's okay to be come across as a bitch. When you're talking about your safety, who cares if someone you don't know thinks you gave them a dirty look if they approached you a little too quickly? Let them know you mean business.
• R(esponsible): you have a responsibility to yourself and your friends/family to stay in control and make good decisions. Don't give away your power. You have to respect yourself, too.
• E(mpowered): pay attention to the news, practice your self defense moves, have a plan in case something happens. An expert can give you all the tips in the world, but you need to empower yourself to put them to use.

If you've always wondered about taking a self defense class I highly recommend it, and the police trainers were awesome. These guys live out self defense every day, and they have the benefit of learning from lots of situations, so I recommend you contact your local police department if you're interested in a quick course!

Da-da-da, Ma-ma-ma, Doy-doy-doy, and other Baby F-isms

Baby F is changing so much every day, and lately he's been talking up a storm! We had a play date today with some friends and were talking about what it takes to get a baby talking, and wouldn't you know I then came across this interesting article from Babble.com (aptly named for this topic... but a font of knowledge for many other parenting-related stuff!) about how to jump-start infant language.



Some of the highlights for me happily resonate with the Montessori approach, which fits in with what Baby F learns at school - yeah! I really like the point about letting the baby drive the conversation (we try very hard to encourage Baby F every time he engages with us, even though we have no idea what he's saying!) I also like the suggestion that babies learn by reading lips. This makes so much sense as Baby F gets really excited when you lean in to him and really annunciate. I guess we were doing something right and didn't even know it!

Current favorite words (at 7.5 months old) include Da-da-da (we try to associate this with Daddy or dog, depending on who's in the room) and Ma-ma-ma. I try to reply, "Yes, Finny?" when he says Ma-ma-ma and I'm around. Will be interesting to see if this approach works, and what his "real" first words will be!

Bookworm In Training

I love the fact that when my husband reads to my son before bed he reads him the title, then the author, then launches into the story. Not sure why, but I think including the author adds a little something.

We love reading to Baby F and he really loves his books! My personal favorites are the Berenstain Bears books, but thanks to my amazing Book Club Girls who held a very meaningful book shower for me before Baby F was born, we have been introduced to a whole host of kid books that I wasn't familiar with before. Everyone was asked to bring their favorite childhood book (or books) to the shower and believe it or not, there wasn't a single duplicate! It tells me that we are all truly book lovers, even though "Book Club" is more often focused on drinking wine, eating cheese and talking about everything except the book.

I have referenced a particular research study a lot lately, so I wanted to note it here. The study shows that children raised in a home with a 500-book library achieve on average 6.6 more years of education. Amazing! We have a pretty healthy collection of books - and now we have even more reason to continue to expand our collection. Outside of the Berenstain Bears books, some personal favorites in my collection include classics The Great Gatsby and Lady Chatterly's Lover; beach favorites such as The Other Side of the Story and Watermelon by Marian Keyes; childhood staple The Little House on the Prairie series; and a favorite love story from my college years, Coming Home.

My husband has totally different taste in books, but together we're hopefully turning our little man into a bookworm all his own. Can't wait to see what his favorites end up being! I found some Bobbsey Twins books for him that were mine as a kid. I loved them... Wonder if they'll translate to today's kid when he's old enough to read them? What are some of your favorites?