By now many of you have met Bellani’s smallest helper, Emilia. She’s an affable little girl who loves to coo, smile, laugh, and is just about ready to start rolling over.

I know this because I see her do these things all the time with mom. The problem is that when I have her and mom is not around she cries, no, screams for long periods of time. Considering this is our third child I thought that I would be adept at calming and entertaining a baby by now, …clearly I was mistaken. Last night, however, I may have finally found a solution; a Haba rattle. This one to be exact: She transformed from the crying baby that I know to the happy, giggly baby most of you are familiar with in an instant.
Now, I know you might be thinking “oh great, this guy is trying to sell us a rattle” but believe me, if I were going to use this post to try to sell something the preceding sentence would probably have read something like “No matter how hard I try, the only way I can truly feel connected to my daughter or get her to stop crying is to sit with her in the $700 Monarch Nursing Chair.”

I am very excited about my small victory last night for a couple of reasons. One is my sanity. The other, and much more important reason, is when I have all three children by myself (which isn’t often) and Emilia spends much of that time fussing I, unfortunately, am relegated to futilely attempting to calm her rather than engaging our other 2 children, Caden and Abriella. I am sure this situation will improve and as I said, maybe last night is the first step in that direction. We shall see.

Have you taken a Little Van Gogh class yet? If the answer is yes, chances are you will know why it won the 2008 Parents’ Pick from Nick Jr. award! It was voted the Best Artsy Class for Little Kids in Rhode Island. If you haven’t joined the Best Artsy class for Little Kids in RI, why not join us this fall for a class that is full of color, exploration and fun?

Registration is currently open for fall for Little Van Gogh Art Class. Please note if you have taken the class in the past, that this upcoming session is on Tuesdays, not Wednesdays.

Miss Lisa’s Book Signing - Tuesday, August
12th 9:30-11:00 (Open House)

Join Miss Lisa and her twin sister Heather as
they make their book signing debut right here
at Bellani Maternity. Many families at
Bellani inspired the 200 activities within
the book and she wants to celebrate with you.
Stop by anytime from 9:30-11:00 to purchase
your copy of The
Sibling’s Busy Book and you and your
family will be invited to participate in
activities from the book that will include
Time Capsules, Camping In and more. Reserve
your copy of the book now!

Ham and pineapple wraps
from Real Simple

Serves 6

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• Kosher salt and pepper
• 1 head Napa cabbage, thinly sliced
• 1/2 pineapple, cut into thin strips
• 2 carrots, cut into thin strips
• 12 ounces deli ham, cut into thin strips
• 12 large flour tortillas

DIRECTIONS

In a large bowl, whisk together the sour cream, vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Add the cabbage, pineapple, and carrots, and toss to combine.

Divide the slaw and ham among the tortillas, and roll into wraps.

Total prep time: 30 minutes (took me less than that! What are the chances?)

I’ve been telling everyone about these and several have asked for the recipe…so here you are. You must post a comment telling me your thoughts after making it though!

Happy Birthday to my inspiring woman
Happy Birthday to my children’s Grandmama
Happy Birthday to my cheerleader
Happy Birthday to my mom

Em loves, loves, loves to be swaddled. Well, who knows if she likes it, but I certainly prefer her while she is swaddled. I have rules for swaddling, I won’t do it all of the time because she then sleeps too well. She doesn’t like air conditioning (clearly she can’t be my child) and my bedroom gets little air circulation. She has been living in her gorgeous Aden & Anais Swaddling Blankets.

They are perfect when it is 90 degrees in our home at night, the muslin is so breathable. At Bellani I have her swaddled while in her clothing in the air conditioning and they work for that as well. My “baby” is over twelve pounds now, so I love how BIG they are, we also used them this week at the beach on the sand, as a nursing cover up, at the water park over she & I in a sling and as a great way to entertain her while I twirl it in the air.

The only problem we have run into is that my husband can’t figure out how to swaddle with it. There is nothing worse than a frustrated husband and a screaming infant. I went out and picked up one of the Kiddopotamus SwaddleMe for him. The velcro just makes it easy for swaddling, plus you can keep her swaddled while doing a diaper change, which is priceless!

I may never want to stop swaddling, I met a Mom the other day who was using her Aden & Anais for a llight sheet when we had our mini heat wave last month. Let me know what you are using your muslin for….

Mom Potluck Lunch on July 15th. So many moms come into the store hoping to meet other moms. We know, this is like going back to dating. Sometimes you hear us say, “you should meet…” this is your chance. Next time you are in the store sign up to bring a treat and then come and enjoy meeting others This is a lunch for moms of 0-6 month olds. and will give you an opportunity to meet other moms, and have lunch too! We hope to do this more in the future with older age groups, let’s start with those who can’t walk

At the ripe old age of 15 (soon to be 16), Elizabeth Beisel from Saunderstown is in Omaha at the 2008 Olympic Swimming Trials. She is a native Rhode Islander who has been swimming since before she can remember. When she was two years old she went running out the back deck of her home and jumped into the deep end of her in-ground pool, and swam to the low end, got out, and repeated. Over the years she has proven just how extraordinary her talents are, but in the meantime as stayed entirely normal to her peers. She attends school five days each week and hangs out with friends. My family and I are thinking of her this week, she swam last night and came in second in the Women’s 400M Individual Medley. Eight more trials to go before we find out if she is off to Beijing. How do I know Elizabeth? I was her babysitter, my they grow up fast. Good luck Elizabeth!

update: She made it! Elizabeth will be in Beijing in August!!! Congratulations.

“Selecta began to produce wooden toys for nursery schools over 40 years ago. Names such as Fröbel and Maria Montessori have been our role-models.

From the first idea until their realization, Selecta toys are subjected to many tests. These tests are carried out together with the assistance and advice of experienced teachers, in families, nursery schools and playgroups. The focus during the development of Selecta toys and games is placed on high value playtime. Our products have very high expectations in order to animate the children into playing independently.

There is very much, especially for babies, to learn and discover, First grasping toys promote the development of the senses.”

These amazing toys are made in Germany

They arrived today here at Bellani, someone has already made googly eyes at them!

My son is six and a half years old, and yes, he just learned how to do this. From this evening: