Contributing to Scientific Research

When I'm not spending my time taking care of a squealing, wiggling, bundle of energy, I have a career as a chemical engineer. Dave is similarily employed in the area of environmental science. Needless to say, we are a family that is very into science. So, a few months ago, when I was asked to sign Isla up to participate in some baby language studies at the University of Calgary, I immediately jumped at the chance.

Earlier this month, I got a call saying that Isla was the right age for a study taking place on Learning Speech Sound Combinations and was I interested in taking her. I, of course, said yes and this Monday (since it was Family Day and Dave didn't have to work), we headed off as a family to the University.

The study was really simple. Isla and I sat in a room in front of a Smartboard monitor and two speakers. Certain images appeared on the Smartboard to draw the baby's attention to the monitor and then sounds were played to see if the baby had a reaction to them. During this time, I got to listen to an excellent Disney song about Huns on earphones so that I wouldn't skew the results. After Isla's part in the study, I participated in a dialect study where I had to read several short books into a microphone.

All in all, it took about 20 minutes to complete the study and in the end we got a certificate recognizing Isla's contribution to research and a little t-shirt that said she was an Infant Speech Scientist. We are supposed to head back in a few months for the next stage of the study as well so that should be something fun to look forward to.


Location: University of Calgary
Cost: Free (they met us in the parking lot with a pass so we didn't even have to pay anything to park) and we got a free t-shirt out of it.
Gear for Isla: Nothing at all

Getting in touch with my Latin roots

Several years ago my husband Dave and I took a local Latin ballroom dancing class through Mount Royal College. Really all we learned was that our Scottish, English, and Austrian heritages have not given us the hips that we needed to make a career out of Latin dancing. Since we learned early on in the 10 week course that we were hopeless, we spent the remainder of our classes bumbling through the moves and adding our own special touches along the way (such as an enthusiastic high-five in the middle of a salsa :o))

At a baby fair last fall, I came across a booth that was advertising Salsa Baby classes. I was at a point where I wanted to get back into shape, but it needed to be something fun to keep me motivated. I decided a new, cuter (sorry Dave) partner might be just the trick for mastering a few of those Latin moves that failed me so many years ago and so I signed myself up for a course.

I'm not sure if I'm much better than I was previously (my hips are still more Celtic dancer than sexy mamacita) but I'm onto my third class already in as many months so I would definitely categorize this endeavour as a success. The other moms in the class are fabulous and we have a ton of fun trying to work out the moves. The dancing is easy to follow (for those of you who are thinking about trying it out and have no dance experience), Isla thinks being in the carrier is a blast, and my waistline has definitely seen some positive effects. I would definitely recommend it to other moms out there.

The only thing that you do need for the class is a carrier. Anything will do and we started off with a Baby Hawk carrier in our first class. I liked it when Isla was younger but the carrier doesn't allow the baby to face forward and I've noticed as she gets older, that is definitely what she would prefer. I've seen a few of the wrap style carriers in class and decided that's what I wanted as well but I wasn't impressed with the $100-200 price tags (especially since I already had a perfectly good carrier). Instead I went out and bought 6 yards of jersey fabric for $12 and sewed myself a wrap (I even had enough fabric for a sling carrier as well). I used 4 yards of fabric for the wrap, folded it in half lengthwise and then sewed the edges. You could easily get away with just cutting the fabric in half lengthwise but I wanted something a little thicker since Isla is a heavy baby. I used the Moby Wrap instructions to learn how to tie it.

Class: Salsa Babies www.babybusy.ca/
Location: VRRI, Calgary
Cost: The class varies in price depending on how long of a session you are taking but there are also promos that are offered for referring other moms or if you are a repeat customer. The instructor also offers discounts and deals for various baby oriented stores and organizations in Calgary while you are taking a class.
Gear that we used for Isla: Baby Hawk Carrier ($85), Homemade wrap ($12)