How To Find The Best Deals And Best Maternity Clothes Online

Being pregnant is the best of times and the worst of times. Maternity is so demanding that everything from preparing the baby’s room to finding the right maternity clothes is absolutely important. In fact, your belly and dressing it when it gets bigger, is one of the recurring things you’ll be thinking about for 9 months.

So why not start shopping maternity clothes early? You really should begin browsing for maternity clothes the moment you confirm that you are pregnant. It is never too soon. Don’t buy just yet, simple browse what’s available so that you’ll be informed and ready when the time comes. Many women put off buying maternity gear because they hope they won’t put on too much weight and won’t need the addition to their wardrobes. But you’ll be much more comfortable if you do invest in a good selection of maternity clothing.

Simply start with a web search using keyword phrases such as "women’s clothing maternity" or "Maternity clothing store". If you are especially interested in budget options search for something like "discount maternity clothing" or "clearance maternity clothing". Whether you need petite maternity clothing or plus size maternity clothing, a quick web search will bring up lots of useful links to maternity clothing stores. Be informed of all online maternity stores, sign up to receive newsletters and information about offers and the like, or even, a copy of the store’s maternity clothing catalogue. Bookmark links to maternity stores in your browser’s Favorites folder so that when you start to bulge you’ll have all the information you need to place your order online.

Be careful not to buy too soon, otherwise you may find that as you continue to grow the maternity clothes you bought earlier on in the pregnancy won’t fit you by the time the end comes. If you are browsing for clothes early on in your pregnancy, also take note of the season. Are you due to give birth in summer or winter or in between? If your last couple of months will be summer months, then fabric and style are important things to consider. In hot summer months you’ll really need to wear cool, light and comfortable fabrics.

Thanks to pregnant movie stars, maternity couture now offers designer maternity clothing labels, which add the option of being completely fashionable while your body undergoes the radical experience of preparing to be a mum.

Even though the household budget and your comfort needs will play a major role in the clothes you’ll end up wearing, don’t forget that wearing flattering clothes will make you feel better when your body starts to change. If you’ll be working until the last minute, you’ll need to keep up appearances with a new set of career maternity clothes and present a professional self despite the growing bulge in your middle. Pregnancy comes with massive physical and emotional changes, so the better you look and the better quality your maternity clothes are, the more positive you’ll remain as you go about your non-maternity-related duties.

About the author

Dean Erickson – Journalist, and web site builder Dean Erickson lives in Texas. He is the owner and co-editor of http://www.maternity-clothes-mall.com on which you will find a longer, more detailed version of this article.

Why A Father is Not A Dad
 by: Brian Maloney

It can be said that any man who procreates is a father, whether present in that child’s life or not. While this is technically true, it really takes a man to be a dad!

There is nothing more insulting than a cavalier man thinking he has every right in the world to see the child he helped to create, but was never there for him or her. It is as if he or she is obligated to him like that of a debt.

As a child of a broken home and now as a father myself, I know the purest definition of being a dad is the time spent with your child that will always prevail in the end.

Would you remember your father more if he was a millionaire but never there, or a near-penniless man who spent time with you and showed you the love you needed?

To me, it’s a no brainer!

However, many dynamics can and do interfere with being a dad. Turmoil-ridden marriages, separations, relocations, resentment from the child, and the ever-abundent brainwashing of a child to hate.

So if you’re a father doing his best to be a dad, how do you overcome such obstacles?

Do everything in your power to maintain the bond you have with your child! If that means following that child to timbuktu and lose your career, getting on better terms with the child’s mother, or simply putting more time into strenghthening the father-child relationship.

If there is anything I can take from my own father, is that of sporadic appearances and child support from over 2000 miles away never satisfied my need for a dad. Today, as a 32 yr. old man, it has never been so evident how important a dad is in a child’s life. My humble opinion is that I would have had a lot less security issues had a dad been present in my childhood.

When your child was created, that little person should have been the most important part of your existence and to vow never to break that mindset should have been paramount. The seriousness of having a child from the conception and subsequently recognizing his or her importance could be the factor with dead beat dads in most cases.

How do you rank your values?

Simply put, if you’re ranked above your child, you’re not being a dad, you’re the father of that child who simply donated your sperm for his or her life.

Instead of just being a donor to another’s life, commit to taking the time to know your child and let them get to know you no matter what the conditions.

With this in mind, you will be doing the most important job of your life and that is helping the life you created become a loving, well adjusted person who can pass these parenting traits down to the next generation.

After all, isn’t that what being a dad is all about?

About The Author

Brian Maloney – ValuePrep.com

Want to improve your personal values? Get high-quality relationship advice for guys and women from a ‘Logical’ standpoint. Visit http://valueprep.com

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How to Make a Time Capsule for Your New Baby

Looking for an unusual and memorable gift? Why not preserve a slice of history by creating a time capsule as a gift for your new baby?

Your personally designed time capsule preserves history, popular culture, special memories and can help link generations of a family together. It is truly a unique and thoughtful gift that will be cherished in later years.

There are a number of steps to keep in mind when creating a time capsule gift.

MAKE YOUR OWN HISTORY
Traditionally, a time capsule provides a “snapshot” of a specific day in history, so focus mainly on the baby’s birth day or events happening near that date.

What information is important? A summary of current events to depict what was happening in the world makes the time capsule very relevant, and details about popular fads, movies, sporting events and books will also be interesting to read about decades later. Be sure to include important information about your child’s family as well, which helps to make it a really personalized gift.

TIME CAPSULE 101
1. Start Early. The best part of any time capsule is the thought and preparation that goes into it. Be sure that you don’t rush the process, so start during the middle months of your pregnancy. If you leave everything until the last minute, it will look that way!

2. Choose a Container. Think cool and dry when you search for just the right container. Check online for affordable time capsules and you will find a variety of styles. Some will even engrave the child’s name on your selected capsule. However, to make it very simple, you can make your own capsule by choosing a sturdy metal container that can be properly sealed.

3. Select an Unsealing Date. Perhaps you want to set a significant date, such as your child’s 21st birthday, high school graduation or marriage. It is exciting for everyone to look forward to the time capsule unsealing, so set a date or event and stick to it!

4. Put it in Writing. This is especially important if the time capsule will be opened far in the future. Make a capsule document that details everything about it, including the contents, unsealing date, purpose of the capsule and who should be present when it is unsealed. Then keep this document in a safe place.

5. Storing the Time Capsule. Although you may be tempted, it is not advisable to bury your capsule. You are likely to move or forget exactly where it is buried, and the contents could be damaged by the elements. It’s a better idea to give the capsule a special place in your home — perhaps the fireplace mantle or on the family piano. Let the capsule become a conversation piece as you show it to friends and family and talk about its significance.

CAPSULE CONTENTS

The key to a meaningful time capsule is to make it personal, relevant and interesting. Following are some ideas on items to include and more importantly a few to leave out.

First, it is strongly recommended not to include food, drinks or liquids — basically, anything that could ruin the contents or create a bad odor.

Instead, consider coins, money, stamps, a small keepsake album, baby’s first photos, a video, an audiotape that you recorded for your baby, your family tree and finally a variety of newspapers and magazines. Write a letter or card to your child explaining the time capsule’s purpose — be sure to use acid-free paper that won’t deteriorate as quickly. Cards and photos are an excellent choice, but consider creating them with acid-free paper as well.

You can choose contents that are lighthearted and funny or more serious and reflective. Just remember that you set the tone. Your baby’s time capsule is your creation, so have a great time making this personalized and unique gift.

To learn more about the history of the time capsule and how to register your personally created capsule, please visit the All About Baby website.

About the Author

Nancy Wurtzel is the founder and owner of All About Baby, an ecommerce site located at http://www.allbaby.com. All About Baby specializes in personalized and memorable gifts for children as well as interesting and helpful child-related site content. Ms. Wurtzel has over 20 years of marketing and communications experience. She consults with small businesses seeking to enter the marketplace or grow their existing ecommerce business.

The Science of Mother Love

A growing body of scientific evidence shows that the way babies are cared for by their mothers will determine not only their emotional development, but the biological development of the child’s brain and central nervous system as well. The nature of love, and how the capacity to love develops, has become the subject of scientific study over the last decade. New data is emerging from a multitude of disciplines including neurology, psychology, biology, ethology, anthropology and neurocardiology. Something scientific disciplines find in common when putting love under the microscope is that in addition to shaping the brains of infants, mother’s love acts as a template for love itself and has far reaching effects on her child’s ability to love throughout life.

To mothers holding their newborn babies it will come as little surprise that the ‘decade of the brain’ has lead science to the wisdom of the mother’s heart.

According to Alan Schore, assistant clinical professor in the department of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at UCLA School of Medicine, a major conclusion of the last decade of developmental neuroscience research is that the infant brain is designed to be molded by the environment it encounters.1 In other words, babies are born with a certain set of genetics, but they must be activated by early experience and interaction. Schore believes the most crucial component of these earliest interactions is the primary caregiver – the mother. "The child’s first relationship, the one with the mother, acts as a template, as it permanently molds the individual’s capacities to enter into all later emotional relationships." Others agree. The first months of an infant’s life constitute what is known as a critical period – a time when events are imprinted in the nervous system.

"Hugs and kisses during these critical periods make those neurons grow and connect properly with other neurons." Says Dr. Arthur Janov, in his book Biology of Love. "You can kiss that brain into maturity."

Hormones, The Language of Love

In his beautiful book, The Scientification of Love, French obstetrician Michel Odent explains how Oxytocin, a hormone released by the pituitary gland stimulates the release of chemical messengers in the heart. Oxytocin, which is essential during birth, stimulating contractions, and during lactation, stimulating the ‘milk ejection reflex’, is also involved in other ‘loving behaviors’. "It is noticeable that whatever the facet of love we consider, oxytocin is involved.’ Says Odent. "During intercourse both partners – female and male – release oxytocin." One study even shows that the simple act of sharing a meal with other people increases our levels of this ‘love hormone’.2

The altruistic oxytocin is part of a complex hormonal balance. A sudden release of Oxytocin creates an urge toward loving which can be directed in different ways depending on the presence of other hormones, which is why there are different types of love. For example, with a high level of prolactin, a well-known mothering hormone, the urge to love is directed toward babies.

While Oxytocin is an altruistic hormone and prolactin a mothering hormone, endorphins represent our ‘reward system’. "Each time we mammals do something that benefits the survival of the species, we are rewarded by the secretion of these morphine-like substances." Says Odent.

During birth there is also an increase in the level of endorphins in the fetus so that in the moments following birth both mother and baby are under the effects of opiates. The role of these hormones is to encourage dependency, which ensures a strong attachment between mother and infant. In situations of failed affectional bonding between mother and baby there will be a deficiency of the appropriate hormones, which could leave a child susceptible to substance abuse in later life as the system continually attempts to right itself.3 You can say no to drugs, but not to neurobiology. Human brains have evolved from earlier mammals. The first portion of our brain that evolved on top of its reptilian heritage is the limbic system, the seat of emotion. It is this portion of the brain that permits mothers and their babies to bond. Mothers and babies are hardwired for the experience of togetherness. The habits of breastfeeding, co-sleeping, and babywearing practiced by the majority of! mothers in non-industrialized cultures, and more and more in our own, facilitate two of the main components needed for optimal mother/child bonding: proximity and touch.

PROXIMITY, Between Mammals, the Nature of Love is Heart to Heart

In many ways it’s obvious why a helpless newborn would require continuous close proximity to a caregiver; they’re helpless and unable to provide for themselves. But science is unveiling other less obvious benefits of holding baby close. Mother/child bonding isn’t just for brains, but is also an affair of the heart. In his 1992 work, Evolution’s End, Joseph Chilton Pearce describes the dual role of the heart cell, saying that it not only contracts and expands rhythmically to pump blood, it communicates with its fellow cells. "If you isolate a cell from the heart, keep it alive and examine it through a microscope, you will see it lose it’s synchronous rhythm and begin to fibrillate until it dies. If you put another isolated heart cell on that microscopic slide it will also fibrillate . If you move the two cells within a certain proximity, however , they synchronize and beat in unison." Perhaps this is why most mothers instinctively place their babies to their left breast, keep! ing those hearts in proximity. The heart produces the hormone, ANF that dramatically affects every major system of the body. "All evidence indicates that the mother’s developed heart stimulates the newborn heart, thereby activating a dialogue between the infant’s brain-mind and heart." says Pearce who believes this heart to heart communication activates intelligences in the mother also. "On holding her infant in the left-breast position with its corresponding heart contact, a major block of dormant intelligences is activated in the mother, causing precise shifts of brain function and permanent behavior changes." In this beautiful dynamic the infant’s system is activated by being held closely; and this proximity also stimulates a new intelligence in the mother, which helps her to respond to and nurture her infant. Pretty nifty plan – and another good reason to aim for a natural birth. If nature is handing out intelligence to help us in our role as mothers we want to be awake ! and alert!

TOUCH

"The easiest and quickest way to induce depression and alienation in an infant or child is not to touch it, hold it, or carry it on your body." – James W. Prescott, PhD

Research in neuroscience has shown that touch is necessary for human development and that a lack of touch damages not only individuals, but our whole society. Human touch and love is essential to health. A lack of stimulus and touch very early on causes the stress hormone, cortisol to be released which creates a toxic brain environment and can damage certain brain structures. According to James W. Prescott, PhD, of the Institute of Humanistic Science, and former research scientist at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, sensory deprivation results in behavioral abnormalities such as depression, impulse dyscontrol, violence, substance abuse, and in impaired immunological functioning in mother deprived infants.4 For over a million years babies have enjoyed almost constant in-arms contact with their mothers or other caregivers, usually members of an extended family, receiving constant touch for the first year or so of life. "In nature’s nativity scene, ! mother’s arms have always been baby’s bed, breakfast, transportation, even entertainment, and, for most of the world’s babies, they still are." says developmental psychologist, Sharon Heller in, The Vital Touch: How Intimate Contact With Your Baby Leads to Happier, Healthier Development.5

To babies,touch = love and fully loved babies develop healthy brains. During the critical period of development following birth the infant brain is undergoing a massive growth of neural connections. Synaptic connections in the cortex continue to proliferate for about two years, when they peak. During this period one of the most crucial things to survival and healthy development is touch. All mammal mothers seem to know this instinctively, and, if allowed to bond successfully with their babies they will provide continuous loving touch.

Touch deprivation in infant monkeys is so traumatic their whole system goes haywire, with an increase of stress hormones, increased heart rate, compromised immune system and sleep disturbances.6

With only 25% of our adult brain size, we are the least mature at birth of any mammal. Anthropologist, Ashley Montagu concluded that given our upright position and large brains, human infants are born prematurely while our heads can still fit through the birth canal, and that brain development must therefore extend into postnatal life. He believed the human gestation period to actually be eighteen months long – nine in the womb and another nine outside it, and that touch is absolutely vital to this time of "exterogestation."7

Newborns are born expecting to be held, handled, cuddled, rubbed, kissed, and maybe even licked! All mammals lick their newborns vigorously, off and on, during the first hours and days after birth in order to activate their sensory nerve endings, which are involved in motor movements, spatial, and visual orientation. These nerve endings cannot be activated until after birth due to the insulation of the watery womb environment and the coating of vernix casseus on the baby’s skin.

Recall Dr. Janov’s claim that you can kiss a brain into maturity. Janov believes that very early touch is central to developing a healthy brain. "Irrespective of the neurojuices involved, it is clear that lack of love changes the chemicals in the brain and can eventually change the structure of that brain."

BREASTFEEDING: Liquid Love

Breastfeeding neatly brings together nourishment for baby with the need for closeness shared by mother and child; and is another crucial way that mother’s love helps shape baby’s brain. Research shows that breastmilk is the perfect "brain food", essential for normal brain development, particularly, those brain processes associated with depression, violence, and social and sexual behaviors.8

Mother’s milk, a living liquid, contains just the right amount of fatty acids, lactose, water, and amino acids for human digestion, brain development, and growth. It also contains many immunities a baby needs in early life while her own immune system is maturing. One more instance of mother extending her own power, (love) to her developing child.

LIMBIC REGULATION: The Loop of Love

Another key to understanding how a mother’s love shapes the emerging capacities of her infant is what doctors Thomas Lewis, Fari Amini, and Richard Lannon , authors of A General Theory of Love, call limbic regulation; a mutually synchronizing hormonal exchange between mother and child which serves to regulate vital rhythms.

Human physiology, they say, does not direct all of its own functions; it is interdependent. It must be steadied by the physical presence of another to maintain both physical and emotional health. "Limbic regulation mandates interdependence for social mammals of all ages." says Lewis, "But young mammals are in special need of it’s guidance: their neural systems are not only immature but also growing and changing. One of the physiologic processes that limbic regulation directs, in other words, is the development of the brain itself – and that means attachment determines the ultimate nature of a child’s mind." A baby’s physiology is maximally open-loop: without limbic regulation, vital rhythms collapse posing great danger, even death.

The regulatory information required by infants can alter hormone levels, cardiovascular function, sleep rhythms, immune function, and more. Lewis, et al contend that , the steady piston of mother’s heart along with the regularity of her breathing coordinate the ebb and flow of an infant’s young internal rhythms. They believe sleep to be an intricate brain rhythm which the neurally immature infant must first borrow from parents. "Although it sounds outlandish to some American ears, exposure to parents can keep a sleeping baby alive."

The Myth of Independence

This interdependence mandated by limbic regulation is vital during infancy, but it’s also something we need throughout the rest of childhood and on into adulthood. In many ways, humans cannot be stable on their own-we require others to survive. Recall that our nervous systems are not self-contained; they link with those of the people close to us in a silent rhythm that helps regulate our physiology. This is not a popular notion in a culture that values independence over interdependence. However, as a society that cherishes individual freedoms more than any other, we must respect the process whereby autonomy develops.

Children require ongoing neural synchrony from parents in order for their natural capacity for self-directedness to emerge. A mother’s love is a continuous shaping force throughout childhood and requires an adequate stage of dependency. The work of Mary Ainsworth has shown that maternal responsiveness and close bodily contact lead to the unfolding of self-reliance and self confidence.9 Because our culture does not sufficiently value interpersonal relationships, the mother/child bond is not recognized and supported as it could be.

The ability of a mother to read the emotional state of her child is older than our own species, and is essential to our survival, health and happiness. We are reminded of this each time a hurt child changes from sad/scared/angry to peaceful in our loving embrace. Warm human contact generates the internal release of opiates, making mother’s love a powerful anodyne. Even teenagers who sometimes behave as if they are ’so over’ the need for a mother’s affection must be kept in the limbic loop. Children at this age might be at special risk for falling through the emotional cracks. If they don’t get the emotional regulation that family relationships are designed to provide, their hungry brains may seek ineffectual substitutes like drugs and alcohol.

Children left too long under the electronic stewardship of television, video games, etc., are not receiving the steady limbic connection with a resonant parent. Without this a child cannot internalize emotional balance properly.

Our hearts and brains are hardwired for love, and from infancy to old age our health and happiness depend on receiving it.

As the research keeps coming in and we gain a gradually expanding vision of how mother love shapes our species, we see an obvious need to take steps to protect and provide for the mother/child bond. We can take heart knowing that all the while we carry in our genes over a million years of evolutionary refinements equipping us for our role as mothers. The answers sought by science beat steadily within our own hearts.

Notes 1. Schore, Alan, Effects of a Secure Attachment Relationship on Right Brain Development, Affect Regulation, and Infant Mental Health, 2001 2.Verbalis, J.G., McCann, McHale and Stricker, ‘Oxytocin secretion in response to cholecystoknin and food: differentiation of nausea from satiety.’ Science 1986, 232: 1417-19 3. Prescott, James W., PhD, Breastfeeding: Brain Nutrients in Brain Development For Human Love and Peace, From Touch The Future Newsletter, Spring 1997 http://www.violence.de/prescott/ttf/article.html 4. Prescott, James W., PhD, The Origins of Human Love and Violence, From Pre and Perinatal Psychology Journal, Volume 10, #3: Spring 1996 5. Henry Holt, 1997 6. Prescott, James W. , Ph.D , Rock A Bye Baby, Time Life Documentary, 1970, Executive Producer: Lothar Wolff, Scientific Consultant. (last modified 2001/04/16). 7. Montagu, Ashley Touching : The Human Significance of the Skin, Harper, 1986 8. Prescott, James W., PhD, Breastfeeding: Brain Nutrients in Brain Development For Human Love and Peace, From Touch The Future Newsletter, Spring 1997 http://www.violence.de/prescott/ttf/article.html 9. Ainsworth, M.D.S., "Attachments Across the Life Span." Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine 61, 1985

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Fazzolari-Nesci, A., Domianello, D., Sotera, V. and Raiha, N.C. (1992). Tryptophan fortification of adapted formula increaes plasma tryptophan concentrations to levels not different from those found in breast-fed infants. J. Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition. May. 14(4): 456-459.

Ferris, C.F., Foote, K.B., Melster, H.M., Plenby, M.G., Smith, K.L., Insel, T.R. (1992). Oxytocin in the amygdala facilitates maternal aggression. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. June 12. 652:456-457.

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About the Author

© 2004 Cori Young

Cori Young is a writer and herbalist living in the Pacific Northwest. Visit her website HerbalRemediesInfo.com

 Dog Safety with baby equipment

An article in CNN really caught my attention this week. This article highlighted a very important topic and one I emphasize in our Dogs & Storks program with new & expecting parents, Grandparents and childcare providers. Safety with the family dog while using mechanical baby swings in the home. The article discussed several attacks that involved an infant in a mechanical swing.  It suggested that the motion of the swing may trigger the instinct of chasing prey. 

( http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/parenting/02/23/baby.swings.dogs.ap/index.html )

Is this really true?  Is this possible?   My experiences strongly support this finding.  I have seen some dogs become desperate to chase and catch the moving swing while others seem to find it soothing.  A human moving in the air is not normal to dogs and can be quite confusing even though the swing is grounded.   It is important to know your dog’s reaction to different situations and stimuli.  Here are some things to take into consideration:

1.      Does your dog love to chase ANYTHING and everything?

2.      Is your dog reactive to sudden motion? Startle easily?

3.      Is your dog sensitive to noise? If so, loud, soft or sudden?  High or low pitch?

Adults in charge of supervising a baby must never allow the dog to remain in the room alone with a baby for even a second!  This is a consistent key factor in most reports of attacks with newborns and dogs.  This point must not be taken lightly.   If the adult is not there for the dog to defer to and the baby makes noises the dog may be the first to respond and possibly tend to the baby.  This is very dangerous as dogs communicate and relate very differently then we do as humans.

http://www.familypaws.com/communication

What can caretakers and parents do to prevent such incidents?

It is best to introduce baby swings and all baby equipment to the family dog prior to the arrival of the baby.  Baby swings have all sorts of gadgets these days!   They vibrate, make music and even rotate.  It is important to know your dog’s individual sensitivities and prepare him well ahead of time.  Some points to consider with baby swings:


1.  Once in motion some dogs find the natural desire to chase hard to control around baby swings.

2.  The noise of a vibration device in the swing can have an irritating humming noise for some dogs.

3.  Spinning objects that are meant to be visually stimulating to an infant may be enticing to a dog to catch.

4.  Noises of the music may be irritating to some dogs’ sensitive ears.  

 

  It is important that family dogs learn how to behave calmly around all baby equipment prior to its use with an infant.   Practice before your baby is home with a doll in the swing.   Some dolls make noises and blink eyes etc.   It sounds silly but it does help you role play and visualize the real situation.  This allows a time

for your dog to safely explore as you teach him how you want him to behave.   Reward positive and appropriate behavior.  Make this a positive experience.  Ignore unwanted behavior and teach desired behavior.  You do not want the first time your dog sees this new equipment to be when you REALLY are hoping the baby will go to sleep!    Many dogs learn that the swing is just part of the new furniture and ignore it.   This is ideal but still does not mean that it is safe to leave the room when a real infant is resting in the swing.  Refreshing and practicing obedience now goes a long way towards a smoother transition once baby arrives.  


Have a plan for the situations such as the phone ringing.  Here are some ideas.

1.      Close the door to where the baby is.

2.      Take dog with you.

3.      Put a leash on your dog in the house to keep him near by or to use as a tether to furniture to safely secure him.

4.      Use a baby gate that you must physically lock in place to gate off area when the baby is. (not for those that like the high jump!)

5.      Offer your dog some great outdoor activity in a secured area.

 

As always it is NEVER safe to leave a baby and dog unsupervised for any reason at any time.  

 
About the Author

Jennifer Shryock B.A.  CDBC

www.familypaws.com

www.doggonesafe.com  U.S. Rep

Creator of Dogs & Storks programs (featured in Dog Fancy April & May 2005)

919.961.1608

 

** To order a copy of the informative Dogs & Storks CD filled with photos, exercises and information please visit www.familypaws.com