Monday, April 25, 2005

Honkers

I did not make matzoh ball soup yesterday.

Instead of waking up from his nap refreshed and ready to party with kosher chickens and the Times Review of Books, Noah crabbed it up to the point where we didn't do much of anything but try to keep him entertained. Turns out he likes to see old dad jump up and down and go "Ooh ooh ooh," literally, like a monkey.

Which is great, but I am still sniffling and we did finally get to go to Trader Joe's and get some grapefruit juice, after Noah took an astounding doze, his best nap ever - until today.




Noah is delightfully smart and engaging, but he has not to date been what one would call a great sleeper. The last couple of days though he has taken nice sound naps and been cheerful in the afternoon. I'm cautiously optimistic that it could be a trend.




Sometimes when we're up we watch some Noggin, which has no commercials and only educational programming - hence the Honkers. There are some great shows, but I am concerned because I read several studies today correlating television under age two with ADHD later in life. The major study could not show causality, but it does make one think that a little bit is plenty, even of the good stuff. Still, Noah smiles at Moose A. Moose whenever he comes on, and it is amazing to me that a five-month-old can recognize an animated moose from the television. To me there is some good stuff going on with Noggin regarding memory/repetition and song and learning, but at the same time, is the pace too fast for an infant? Lots of people really love their Baby Einstein videos, but is it because the baby is learning or because you can go throw in a load of laundry? If anyone with experience would like to comment, I'd be interested.

1 comment:

Judy said...

You knew I'd throw in my 2 cents here! HAHAHA

I am guilty of the TV babysitter thing. Tyler watches a bit after lunch and before nap - it keeps him entertained long enough for me to get the kitchen cleaned up and do a bit of light cleaning. We do Baby Einstein, and sometimes I can time it just right for Sesame Street, but Tyler's favorite TV programming is the news. I finally figured it out, too. There are close-ups on people's faces and he thinks they are talking to HIM. Strange, I know. The boy will do a back-flip to get a glimpse of the news on the TV. I don't necessarily LIMIT his time on TV, but there are far more important (and more fun) things to do. However, if I have something to get done and he's tired but not napping yet, the TV is the best way for me to grab about 10 minutes.

As for the ADHD thing, I had read that somewhere, but I don't hold much value to it. It isn't like he's sitting there in front of the TV for hour after hour. I think if you are interacting with your baby and teaching him how to play, imagine, and entertain, then a little TV here and there isn't so horrible.

Just my opinion!