Let's Hope So...

From the BBC News website:

Being bilingual 'protects brain'

The findings are based on tests on 104 people

Being fluent in two languages may help to keep the brain sharper for longer, a study suggests.

Researchers from York University in Canada carried out tests on 104 people between the ages of 30 and 88.

They found that those who were fluent in two languages rather than just one were sharper mentally.

Writing in the journal of Psychology and Ageing, they said being bilingual may protect against mental decline in old age.

Previous studies have shown that keeping the brain active can protect against senile dementia.

For full article:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3794479.stm

Poopy Pants

The day I came home with Noah both Jourdain and Cecilia followed me around the house, watching wide-eyed as I changed his diaper, nursed him, and rocked him to sleep. At one point Cecilia sat down calmly next to me on the couch to watch the baby nurse. After a bit there came a slow, gurgling, gaseous sound followed by a long bubbly-liquid noise emanating from Noah's diaper area. With a look of concern on her face, Cecilia sat up straight, stiffened, and shifted her eyes from right to left without moving a muscle in her body. Feeling her unease I explained that babies always poo when they nurse so that they can make room in their tummies for more milk. A look of great relief came over Cecilia's face as she shifted to look at me and said, "Oh. I thought that was me."

Gabonese Baby

Before Noah was born I had to explain to the kids that no, we could not choose the sex of the baby, nor could we choose his eye color, hair color or even type of hair. That was a tough concept for them, and while Cecilia took quite a while to digest this information, she finally accepted that she would be getting a baby brother rather than a sister, and that while his hair might turn out curly like hers there was a pretty good chance it would end up straight like "everyone else" in the family (a major hang-up for her for most of her short life thus far).

Just a week before Noah's birth we were all riding in the car together when from the back seat Cecilia asked, "Mama? Can we choose the color of the baby's skin, or is it going to be black like the other people in Gabon?" Stifling a laugh I calmly explained that a baby's skin color comes from the mama and papa, and that we were not actually Gabonese, so in our case, no, the baby would not have black skin.

Olivier leaned over from the driver's seat, looked back at Cilia, and announced "He'd better not have black skin, Cecilia".

Noah David Doeff

During our four blissful days in silence at the hospital I kept whispering to Noah that before he knew what hit him our snuggle-fest a deux would be interrupted by

non-stop kisses and hugs
and endless touching and cuddling from his older siblings.
Luckily for all, Noah is proving to be a very calm baby, taking everything in stride thus far. I'm just sorry he slept right through the 0 year birthday party held for him once he and I were back home.
Now all that remains to be seen is how he adjusts to life back in Gabon where we'll try to keep him awake for his 2 week birthday party...

Noah is here!

Here's a shot I took looking down at Cecilia and her little brother about 2 months pre-birth:

Here's Noah and me just a week or so pre-birth:

And here he is weighing in at just over 4 kilos at 12:05 on August 24, 2007!!