When it comes to chic and contemporary baby clothes and accessories, Trumpette is leading the pack. High-quality fashion socks and tights are Trumpette’s signature accessories. We absolutely love their inexpensive and comfortable Moccasins, which are perfect for new walkers and go up to size 24 months. Trumpette also has a wide selection of apparel in trendy designs, including the beloved Peanuts characters and leg warmers (Is there anything more awesome than a baby wearing Snoopy accesories?). Sequin and faux fur diaper bags keep moms looking good, too. A cool feature on Trumpette’s website is the opportunity to design your own personalized wrapping paper, which is perfect for baby showers and other special occasions.

Our sweet friends at www.trumpette.com want you to win a little something for you and a little something for baby. Their gift for our Baby Sign Language May Extravaganza is plain magnificent!

Sequin Schleppbag and 6 pairs of Penny’s (the most adorable socks ever!) worth $175

The side pocket of this awesome bag is perfect to store a few baby sign language flashcards for on-the-road activities!

We really hope someone spoiled you for Mother’s Day or at least we hope you had time to put together a little craft. If life got too busy for goodies or crafts let us be the ones that send something awesome in the mail.

All of our May Baby Sign Language Giveaways will remain open for participation until the end of the month. Here are the links to our prior giveaways. Keep in mind you can earn extra daily entries by engaging socially with each giveaway.

Uh Oh Bands Giveaway

Little Giraffe Giveaway

Guava Lotus Crib Giveaway

AngelCare Baby Monitor Giveaway

On Friday I promised I would tell you a story when I posted the AngelCare Baby Monitor giveaway. Less than a month ago someone emailed with a question and a story. Their baby was signing several signs during their sleep. The writer wanted to know if their baby had a need associated with some of the signs or if the signing was just random. According to the writer she has a video baby monitor that feeds video to her Iphone and she had seen her little girl Sophia sign milk and cookie. Not knowing how to answer I asked a couple of friends, one a pediatrician and the second a child development expert.

This is what I learned: According to pediatric dream expert Dr. David Foulkes we erroneously mistake our baby’s ability to perceive with an ability to dream. While adults spend about 25% of their sleeping in REM babies spend over half of their sleeping time in REM. If babies did dream during REM, then they would dream for the equivalent of a full eight-hour workday. That would be a lot of mileage to get out of the few images they’ve collected of their bedroom, toys and parents’ faces.

If dreaming is not happening, what is then baby doing in her sleep? Many experts believe babies REM has a completely different function. During REM babies build neural pathways which become integrated and later sets the foundation for language development (Similarly, juvenile birds learn songs during REM sleep.) According to Dr. Foulkes and his colleagues, full narrative and sequential dreaming does not begin until 7 or 8 years of age.

The good news is, your baby is most likely NOT expressing a need or want in their sleep. Furthermore, when you spot them signing it simply reinforces the theory that little ones are developing their linguistic and communication abilities!

When my friend Tasha wanted to wean her little boy from a co-sleeping arrangement she did a ton of research on ways to make the transition less painful for baby Adrian and herself. After a great deal of research and asking friends around she decided on the Angelcare Sound & Movement Monitor. I have a wonderful story to tell you about baby monitors and sign language but I will keep that for another day. For now let me tell you a little bit about this great prize:

The Sound and Movement Monitor Model AC401 Has The Following Features:

•  Sound and Movement Monitor
•  Angelcare under-the-mattress movement Sensor Pad
•  Color LCD screen
•  Rechargeable and portable Parent Unit monitor (up to 820-foot open-field range)
•  Nursery-room temperature display on the Parent Unit
•  Crystal-clear sound transmission
•  Sound-indicator lights
•  Soft and soothing night light on the Nursery Unit
•  Deluxe and Deluxe Plus models feature optional second parent unit and optional second sensor pad and (not ideal for twins).

We have one monitor for this sweet giveaway and it is valued at $110

AngelCare products are available at most retailers in the United States. This giveaway is only open to United States participants.

If you have not yet entered our other May Extravaganza Giveaways feel free to use the links below:

Uh Oh Bands Giveaway

Little Giraffe Giveaway

Guava Lotus Crib Giveaway

To keep little babies happy it is important that we give them continuity and routine. While routine is ideal life does not always allow for us to stay in the same place and do the same things. In fact, part of the fun of raising a little one is exposing her to new discoveries and adventures. If you are preparing for your first family vacation with baby there are a few things you can do in anticipation to your trip to ensure a calm and happy baby.

Introduce Baby to New Concepts & Words Before You Head Out

If you are heading to a destination with significantly different landscape it is smart to introduce baby to new objects and experiences she may experience on location. For example if you are heading to the beach you may want to print flashcards of animals, objects and experiences that are more common at the beach and less common at home. a beach deck could contain signs for

beach

fish

boat

bucket

By introducing baby to new visual concepts in advance you will be well equipped to have transitional activities and provide baby with the comfort of familiarity.

Baby Sign Language & Sleeping Routine On The Road

Yesterday we introduced you to a travel crib as suggested by a sweet friend of ours who lives in the Amazon. If you happen to have a travel crib consider establishing a pre-trip bedtime routine that includes this bedding arrangement. In addition you may want to give baby the comfort of reading and signing together a favorite book. Make sure you stick to one or two books and take them on the trip with you. By making this small changes baby will have a sense of familiarity even if everything else around her changes.

Use The Trip as a Classroom

Set time aside exclusively for your little one and take small discovery walks. Pick up rocks, explore gardens and discover little bugs. This will give you the opportunity to introduce baby to new baby signs that you might have not considered in the hustle and bustle of daily life at home.

Have fun above all

Vacations are a wonderful gift. While traveling with baby may add additional challenges embrace the opportunity to enjoy your family and your time of rest!

We could not wait to share this wonderful gift with you and we are so thankful to Guava for agreeing to let us introduce you to what they do. As a reminder to all of our friends all of the prizes we are sharing with you during our baby sign language giveaway extravaganza were provided for free. We are not charging any of the partner brands for promotion and our only goal is sharing with each of you goodies we already use in our homes while giving you a fun activity to make you feel appreciated, loved and part of the baby sign language family.

Guava Family has designed an excellent portable crib called the Lotus Everywhere Travel Crib – and we love it. It’s incredibly easy to carry on your back, and then set it up anywhere, anytime. The zippered side door is our favorite feature. It allows your baby to crawl in and out of the crib when you’re using it as a playpen, and it makes it possible to nurse and snuggle when you need to. Machine washable with no toxins, the Lotus Everywhere Travel Crib is perfectly safe. We can’t wait to see what innovative products the Guava Family of self-proclaimed “parents and adventurers” come up with next!

My friend Delia who lives in Ecuador and provides health services in a very rural area in the Amazon basin has a Lotus crib with the customized mosquito net. Her 16 month old baby has been learning a variety of baby signs specific for jungle living. He knows monkey and snake. We can’t wait to get her baby sign language video submission.

We have one Lotus Everywhere Crib to give to one lucky winner. The crib has a retail value of $249.95

We are giving you a ton of options to enter and encourage you to invite all your friends who are moms or are expecting a little one. This is particularly awesome for parents with a penchant for adventure. The Lotus sets up in less than 15 seconds!

Here are a few baby signs you can incorporate if you are the lucky winner of this awesome baby crib:

 Baby, bed, play, sleep, travel

Did you miss our prior May Extravaganza giveaways? You still have time. Here are the links:

Uh Oh Bands Giveaway

Little Giraffe Giveaway