Infant Swim Lessons - Water Familiarization

P had his first swim lesson over the weekend, very exciting for us parents but not for him! He cried and made it known he was not happy for half the lesson and was clinging on to a toy for dear life. Not allowing me to put it away when I was changing him too!

The next day I decided to bring him swimming again, lo and behold he launched in on his own paddling towards a ball we had thrown in. So, here is my summation of babies and swimming.

1. They learn fast but forget just as quickly.
2. Everyone can swim, we are only hindered by fear.
3. Attitude of accompanying parent in the water is important as he/she is the main support.
4. Talking and singing helps a LOT.
5. Prepare lots of balls, squeaky toys and noodles.(where can I find swim noodles in Jakarta?)
6. Start swim lessons young before 6 months if possible. (not easy when in Jakarta)
7. A heated pool is a luxury.
8. Go swimming once a week at the very least.
9. Throw out those floaties! They restrict movement.
10. Make it fun for both parent and child.

There was a 6 month old who could freely swim on his own and willingly went underwater too. It was simply amazing to watch.

Lets hope that P will be able to do so within the next few months!

The Return to Normalcy

Seems like it has been ages since we got back from our year end trip but it has only been a mere 2 weeks! I truly need a break from Jakarta again, but for now playgroups have been keeping me sane.

I can possibly say this a million times but our playgroup routine is definitely a life saver. Meeting other mothers and children, chatting over coffee and cake is a rather relaxing and educational experience for us both. Strangely enough P is very much well behaved whenever we are at playgroups; no screaming fits, no unneccesary crying, no fussiness and when we get home he takes a 2-3 hours nap which is a dream!

Now that I have become much more familiar with the playgroup mums, I have organized for more playgroup sessions and activities with them. Lil P has a bursting activities calendar. 3 days a week at different playgroups, once a week at Kindyroo, once a week swimming (more like water familiarization) and we are now organizing Kindermusik too. His activities pretty much takes up the entire week which means my worry of being confined to malls is gone!

Win-win situation since P enjoys himself immensely at these activities and Mummy gets to have grown up conversations too.

Ah....the life of a so-called expat SAHM.

Autism-Vaccine Researcher a Fraud

Came upon this article while looking through tweets. Now all Mothers should rest assure that the MMR vaccine is perfectly FINE!

(Reuters) - Dr. Andrew Wakefield, the-now disgraced British doctor who published studies linking vaccines with autism, committed an "elaborate fraud" by faking data, the British Medical Journal said on Wednesday.

The journal's editors said it was not possible that Wakefield made a mistake but must have falsified the data for his study, which convinced thousands of parents that vaccines are dangerous and which is blamed for ongoing outbreaks of measles and mumps.

The journal, commonly nicknamed the BMJ, supported its position with a series of articles by a journalist who used medical records and interviews to show that Wakefield falsified data.

For instance, the reports found that Wakefield, who included data from only 12 children in his report, studied at least 13 and that several showed symptoms of autism before having been vaccinated.

Fears that vaccines might cause autism have not only caused parents to skip vaccinating their children, but have forced costly reformulations of many vaccines.

"Who perpetrated this fraud? There is no doubt that it was Wakefield," BMJ editor Dr. Fiona Godlee and colleagues wrote in a commentary, available online here

In 1998, The Lancet medical journal, a rival to the BMJ, published a study by Wakefield and colleagues linking the combined measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine with autism.

The other researchers later withdrew their names from the study and The Lancet formally retracted the paper in February.

DENIAL

Wakefield denied the allegations.

"The study is not a lie. The findings that we have made have been replicated in five countries around the world," Wakefield told CNN television on Wednesday.

A disciplinary panel of Britain's General Medical Council said last February that Wakefield had presented his research in an "irresponsible and dishonest" way and had brought the medical profession into disrepute.

Godlee and colleagues said the work "was based not on bad science but on a deliberate fraud".

"Clear evidence of falsification of data should now close the door on this damaging vaccine scare," they added.

Many experts have tried to show that vaccines might cause autism. Newer suspicions have focused on thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative once used in many vaccines and since removed from childhood vaccines.

But no studies have shown any clear link. The U.S. Institute of Medicine has issued several reports saying not only is there no evidence of a link, but urging researchers to look elsewhere for possible causes of autism, which affects an estimated 1 in 110 children in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Measles is one of the most contagious viruses known, infecting 10 million people a year and killing 164,000, according to the World Health Organization.
Vaccination has reduced the number of measles deaths by 78 percent, WHO says. But refusal by some parents to get children vaccinated has helped fuel a resurgence in Britain.
In a 2007 U.S. outbreak, 127 people became ill and nearly half were children who had not been vaccinated because their parents objected, the CDC said. In 2009, an outbreak in Wales sickened more than 200 people
(Reporting by Maggie Fox, editing by Philip Barbara)

Source - Reuters

Of Resolutions and the Future

A very Happy New Year to everyone.

Now that we are coming to the end of the first week of 2011, realities of the new year would be setting in and everyone getting back into usual routines. 

We came back from holidays a couple of days ago. It was good to be out of Jakarta but we were rained on both in Bali and Singapore. Not to mention the ridiculous crowd in Singapore. It was a feat in itself maneuvering around the sea of people at the lobby of Marina Bay Sands hotel and along Orchard. The queues for shopping, food and taxis were a test to our patience and lil P. Note to self, never visit Bali during monsoon season and never Singapore during festive season!

I'm generally one of those who reflect on the past year and use it as a base to write up resolutions. However, this year I have yet to come up with any or even look back on 2010. Which got me thinking how a small little person can cause a huge shift in our lives. Instead of wondering if I fared well in 2010 and listing out resolutions I find myself looking much further into the future. Among the questions that have been swirling around my head are.

1. Will P grow up in Jakarta?
2. How long will we live in Jakarta and when will we move back to Sydney?
3. How will Jakarta's culture affect Ps upbringing?
4. How Indonesian will I allow P to be?
5. When will I be able to go back to work?
6. Are we ready for a second child?

Although I do not mind living in Jakarta, this city sorely lacks outdoors activities, parks, playgrounds, clean air and even clean water. I yearn for P to grow up rolling on the grass, having picnics, exploring the great outdoors, going for walks and learning various sports instead of being a confined to indoor playgrounds or visiting malls day in day out.

Growing up in Kuala Lumpur, I was blessed to have a maid majority of my life only because both parents were working and they needed someone at home with us. However, my parents did a great job in making sure we knew our place. A task and feat I would need to go through now that we have ample help in Jakarta where the average household has not 1 but 2 maids.

Although I do not have a nanny, we do have 2 wonderful maids at home and I do not want P growing up thinking he can just leave the dining table without clearing his plates, make a mess while playing and not pack up, most of all I do not want him to not be able to say please and thank you. I have seen too many children who run amok at malls, be rude to their nannies, not know how to respect others and I shudder to think P may grow up to be like them.

I remember when I was little, Dad used to tell me about the "Unsung Heroes" such as the street cleaners, the garbage collectors. Honestly, I never did give it much thought till Dad pointed it out and I have carried that lesson right up to adulthood.

Will I be able to instill values and mannerisms into P that isn't influenced by the cultures of Jakarta? Perhaps my resolution for 2011 would be to decipher my childhood and remember lessons taught by my parents so that I will be able to pass it on to P. Cause hey, it's tried and tested and I believe I have grown up to be a decent human being! (I have haven't I? hehe....)