Baby Scientists

The girls are officially baby scientists! They participated in a university psychology study this morning. The study looked at 6-month old babies and whether they were able to recognize a person despite changes in their facial expressions. The babies sit in front of a computer screen for about 5 minutes and are shown many photos of the same person posing different facial expressions. Once the baby got bored (ie. started looking away), the test phase began. The baby was then shown two photographs side by side. One photo was of a face that they'd seen before and the other was an unfamiliar face. They wanted to see if the baby would recognize the face that they had seen previously. The girls' faces were videotaped so that they could measure how long the baby looked at each photo. Since emotional facial expressions are the first way that babies communicate with their caregivers, they are looking to figure out whether this ability actually develops in infancy.

I was with the girls for the entire time. They sat on my lap for the duration of the test. I could not see their faces during the test unfortunately. Apparently most babies smile when they're shown a happy face, but Teagan smiled and/or laughed when she was shown EVERY face! This included faces exhibiting fear, sadness, happiness etc. The testers thought that this was hilarious. She's such a ham!

Anyways, it was quite interesting so I was happy to let the girls participate to help out the students. They received 'baby scientist' awards for their participation!

First Food!

And the firsts continue! The girls tried butternut squash this morning and it was a success! Teagan was a little unsure at first, as you can see from the picture. She seemed somewhat indifferent, which isn't surprising, given how much she loves nursing. Quinn, on the other hand, LOVED it! She picked it up quickly and was leaning into the spoon before we knew it.

Why did I pick butternut squash? It is very nutrient-rich, low on the allergen scale, slightly sweet and easy to digest. Contrary to popular belief, starting your baby on a slightly sweet veggie or fruit will not cause them to develop a sweet tooth. Breastmilk and formula are very sweet themselves and so the sweeter item can help a baby adjust to real foods more easily. We opted to skip rice cereal entirely. In my opinion, rice cereal isn't necessary. It is a processed food and I would prefer to give the girls whole, real foods from the beginning. But, my pediatrician says that my baby needs rice cereal for the iron? Yes, a baby's iron stores are almost depleted by their 6-month birthday, but there are plenty of other ways for them to get iron. I am still breastfeeding and do not have an iron deficiency. Therefore, the girls will be getting iron through my milk, which is highly absorbable. If you're formula feeding, most formulas are fortified with iron. There are also plenty of iron-rich foods out there.

I'm not going to write too much about foods right now, but fear not, there will be plenty of food-related posts in the near future!

Here are a few pictures of this morning's meal:

Teagan's first bites of real food

Quinn's first bites of real food!

She loved her butternut squash!

Teagan was a little bit unsure

Mom gives feeding a whirl

{this moment} Winter Swimming

A single photo capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.


Apparently, 1 degree weather (34 degrees for you American folk) is perfect for swimming, according to Riley and Finn. See bottom left on picture below. It's amazing that this was taken in the middle of the city. I love Toronto.