Abi's First Vacation in Poland

We got back from our first family vacation in Poland a while back, but with all we've got going on it took a while to write this post and get all the pictures. Actually we are not going to use all of the pictures in this post ;-)

Abi and I (Art) left to Poland one week before mommy could join us, so it was our first, this long flight, just the two of us.

I can't say enough about how wonderful Abigail was all this time. Starting from the airport in the USA through Germany all the way to Poland. She was a delight to travel with. No, it was not easy, it was exhausting, but it could have been so much worse if she wasn't as wonderful as she was.

We both had a lot of patience for each other and Abi even took a 4 hour nap on the flight to Germany. Sure I wish she slept 7 or 8 hours out of the 9 hours flight, but better this than nothing, right? :-)

This is Abi at the airport and on the plane.




I took Abi to the church I used go to in Poland. She was playing with some of my friends' kids and it was so fun to watch her interact with kids that did not speak English. The conversations were priceless, but most importantly, all the kids had fun.

She also got to meet her cousins for the first time, spend some time with them and get to know them ;-)




Since Abi loves animals and zoos, we took her to this nice Zoo in the place we lived. We walked and took this fun train that she enjoyed a lot.




Since Abi and I arrived in Poland a week earlier Abi got to greet mommy at the airport. Mommy was showing a lot at the moment, but since no body had known about our next little girl, she put all the cloths on to cover the belly and not to spoil the fun of telling everyone through a fun t-shirt we had made back home.



It took everyone some time to pay attention to the t-shirt, but here you have both grandmas the moment they read the what was on the t-shirt, namely " I'll be a big sister! February 2013"




Then at my parents we made Abi's first bonfire which she loved.





And here's Abi at her first dentist visit ;-) Yes, no stress, no fear, rather fascination ;-) Luckily she has beautiful and healthy teeth.




There is so much more to tell about this trip and so many more pictures, but there's no way we could do it in one post here.

It was amazing to watch Abi interact with our families and friends, with people she met for the first time in her life, people from different culture and speaking mostly or only Polish. Before going to Poland we had to work hard on reminding Abi to speak Polish with J.

Since J was often forgetting to be consistent and require Abi to speak with her Polish only, they used to carry bilingual conversations, what led Abi to believe no matter what language she speaks, everybody understands English. It caused some challenges in Poland at the very beginning, but the change in Abi and her Polish after spending only 2.5 weeks in Poland was unbelievable.

We didn't have to remind Abi to speak Polish with J once since we got back. She switches between both languages automatically, very fast and without getting confused.

I so wish my brain had the same potential now, at my age hehehe.

I couldn't be any more proud of my little girl ;-)

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Abi growing up - playground skills :)

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Abi's project: bird house

Abi and I had so much fun making little bird houses this summer. She did most of the painting and really enjoyed the project.








Now do we hang them outside or just keep them at the house to preserve our little project :)?

~J

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Abi is 3!!!

Happy birthday my sweetness












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Day with mommy

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At the pool & lake

My silly diva! :)

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Infant and child CPR once again

I know I have blogged about Infant and Child CPR importance before and mentioned this one app, but since I was approached by someone with medical background and directly involved in CPR awareness and education, I would like to bring this subject up once again.

Dr. Raymond Wu, being as surprised as me by the fact that not all parents are taught how to perform CPR on an infant, started looking for relatively easy ways to at least introduce parents to CPR. One thing led to another and he created a really cool, interactive iPhone/iPod/iPad app called BabyCPR. 

I had the pleasure of testing this app and I need to say it's a very interesting concept. Of course, nothing can replace a dummy/doll and a professional standing right next to you to teach you CPR, but this gets pretty close. I would say, much closer than any video I've seen so far.

The app, BabyCPR, was developed by Transcension HealthCare LLC, and the developer can be contacted at contact@babycpr-app.com. Here's the link to their site.

Chicago Parents Magazine and Two Peds in a Pod talked about this app as well, so I thought I would provide the links and you can check out the articles on your own. 

As for the app, let me just use the app description below, Dr. Raymond sent me, so you know what to expect:

FEATURES:

♥ Skills Practice

Learn and become more comfortable with the techniques and critical timing of CPR by doing hands-on practice on your device. In BabyCPR, you can use the accelerometer and microphone to simulate rescue techniques such as chest compressions, rescue breaths, and more!

♥ Multiple Levels of Learning Support

BabyCPR makes it very easy to learn by walking you through the material step-by-step. This app presents the information in several different ways so that you can learn at your own pace. Go through the modes listed below and you'll be able to go from zero to hero in no time!

✓ Interactive Tutorials

✓ Demonstration Tutorials

✓ Practice Mode with Prompts

✓ Practice Mode without Prompts

✓ References with pictures and animations

♥ Real-time Feedback

The BabyCPR AI gives you detailed guidance as you learn and practice so that you can master even the trickiest parts of infant CPR. Feedback includes pacing of compressions, positioning of the baby, duration of rescue breaths, and more. It's the best way to get good fast!

♥ Unlimited Unique Scenarios

The BabyCPR simulator can create an unlimited number of unique cases so that you can be sure you're truly learning the material, not just memorizing case scripts.

♥ Scenarios Covered

✓ Mild Choking

✓ Severe Choking

✓ Unconscious - Breathing

✓ Unconscious – Not Breathing

♥ Based on the latest American Heart Association 2010 Guidelines

♥ Designed and developed by an integrated team of parents, physicians, nurses, engineers, and simulation experts

♥ Quick navigation to References and Summary Flowchart 

Infant CPR is appropriate for babies up to 1 year old.

And here are some screenshots:

OK, this post is already long without me typing too much, so to sum it up. I liked the app. I think it's a great way to learn on-the-go if you don't have the time or resources to do an in-class training. 

CPR is not a joke and when it comes to it, it is really easy to freeze, panic and feel lost, and trust me it's not the right time to freeze. 

It is always good to get at least familiar with the techniques and steps. Seeing how it's done, seeing the steps and even, I know this will sound silly, but seeing a video or reading the steps when someone is calling for help may help you respond properly, in case you find yourself in such situation. 

Art