Storm Baby in Michigan: Born in a Car

"Baby born in car during storm"
Alex Piazza, Brian McGillivary, Traverse City Record-Eagle (December 14, 2010)

"Bradley Porter will have quite a story to tell his friends about the first major snowstorm of the winter.

"First, though, he'll have to learn how to talk.

"Jessica Porter went into labor with newborn son Bradley early Sunday morning, just as the weekend blizzard was picking up steam. Her husband, Greg, packed up their belongings, and the couple started the treacherous trek from their home in East Jordan to Munson Medical Center in Traverse City....

"...The Porters pulled to the side of the road in Elk Rapids because of slick road conditions and called authorities. Village police arrived, and Officer Michael Courson helped deliver Bradley in the Porter's vehicle. The baby and mother finished their long, snowy trip to Munson in the back of a North Flight ambulance....

"...'This is the best birthday present,' he[Greg Porter] said of his 8-pound baby boy with a full head of hair. 'It's a good story for the whole family.'

"The Porters' trip took them into the teeth of the fierce winter storm, which hit Grand Traverse and Wexford counties the hardest, the National Weather Service reported...."

The Lemming checked: East Jordan, Michigan, is roughly 40 miles northeast of Traverse City.


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Driving would be longer, since Grand Traverse Bay is in the way.

The Lemming is glad to hear that everybody involved is okay.

Related post:

• "Midwest Blizzard: Dome's Down; Next Stop, East Coast"
  (December 12, 2010)

Babies and Language: What We Hear is What We Cry?

"Newborns Pick Up Language in the Womb"
AFP, via DiscoveryNews (November 6, 2009)
Babies and Language: What We Hear is What We Cry?
"Comparing the gurgles, coos and cries of French and German newborns, a team of scientists from both countries found that baby talk is not, as previously assumed, universal.

"Earlier research showed that human fetuses start to memorize sounds from the external world by the third trimester, and are especially keyed in to the melodic qualities of music and speech.

"Previous studies also showed that newborns prefer the voice of their mothers, and can decipher different emotional content -- anger, joy -- from the intonation of maternal speech...."

"...The French newborns tended to cry with a rising melody contour, while the German tots wailed with a 'falling' tone, a signature feature in each language, the study found.

" 'Contrary to orthodox interpretations, these data support the importance of human infants' crying for seeding language development,' Wermke said in a statement...."

The AFP article gives a pretty good overview of the research - and tells where to look for more. (An upcoming issue of Current Biology) The article implies that differences in the 'music' of babies' cries is learned, rather than hardwired - which may be the case.

On the other hand, although 'all Europeans look alike,' I think it would be interesting to see if it's what the babies hear, or what's in their genes that makes a difference. It should be possible to test that by studying babies whose parents or ancestors moved to another country - and switched languages - and comparing their cries to those of more sedentary families.

Just a thought.

There's a video that goes with the article - "Understanding the Brain: Development" (0:59 (April 4, 2006)) 59 seconds? Obviously, a few details are left out.

Bottom line? This is a pretty good look at one set of information that's been collected, about how we develop - and how assumptions about how we learn language are getting changed.

Related posts:

• "You Mean Germans, Japanese and Kenyans aren't All Alike?!"
  (October 29, 2009)
• "Broca's Center Multitasks: Big Brain Breakthrough"
  (October 15, 2009)
• "The Brain: Things We Know That Just Aren't So"
  (September 29, 2009)
• "Dead Fish Thinks! - or - fMRI Analytic Methods Need Evaluation"
  (September 18, 2009)
• "Boy Monkeys aren't Like Girl Monkeys: Who'd Have Thunk?"
  (July 30, 2009)
• "People's Right Ears are More Obliging"
  (June 26, 2009)
• "So That's Why We Doodle"
  (March 30, 2009)
• "'Brain Subconscious Smart' "
  (March 7, 2009)
• "Neural Interface for Stroke Victims: New Medical Technology"
  (May 22, 2008)
• "Language, Verbs, and How Our Brains Work"
  (October 17, 2007)

Enthusiastic Baby, Patient Cat

"funny-cats-and-babies.jpg"

Actually there's only one baby, and one cat, in this photo: but they are funny, and appealing.

How Not to Dry a Baby, and Other Obvious Advice

"Do's and don'ts with babies Hilarious Pics"

Done in the style of those instructional line drawings. I think it's a funny lot, but some of the illustrations might not be everyone's cup of tea.

Robotic Go-Karts for Crippled Kids

"Babies Do the Driving in Delaware Lab"

Researchers at the University of Delaware are letting a baby drive a weird contraption, and hope to "help immobile, disabled children move and explore."

Aside from the feel-good aspect of helping crippled kids, there's a very practical goal to this research. If this works, youngsters who can't move on their own can have the learning experiences that babies and toddlers normally get by moving around and exploring.

As someone who spent a fair percentage of his childhood in one sort of cast or another, my response is, 'go baby, go!'

The article gives links to

• University of Delaware
  Where James C. (Cole) Galloway and Sunil Agrawal are designing robots to help babies with Down Syndrome, cerebral palsy, autism and other disorders move around and learn
• Bath Institute of Medical Engineering
  home of the Wizzybug
• Dragonmobility Ltd,
  home of the Dragon, DragonFly and SnapDragon

On the down side, with something like the Whizzybug, I probably wouldn't have developed the upper body strength I got by dragging myself around. These robots should really help youngsters with serious mobility problems, though.

"How to Hug a Baby" for Dogs

"How to hug a baby." A 5-step how-2 for dogs. Each step has a illustrative photo.

(Moderate cuteness levels: Sensitive individuals should exercise caution.)

A Baby Laughs

"Baby laughing hysterically over paper" featuring the video "Ethan Laughing (Short Clip)." "If this doesn't make you laugh then you have a heart of stone."

This is one seriously cute video. Enjoy.

A Spiritual Dog Blog

"Pawhealer," "A Spiritual Dog Blog" - "This is the journey of our dog pack family ; Orbit who the senior member, Pinky (Pink Pinkerton) the adolescent, the new baby, Daisy Girl, that Bad Dog Chico ...then there is me....A 50 somethin' single woman, just tryin' to find my way."

I mentioned this blog, in passing, in a post about another blog, on August 18. Apparently, that post was insulting, so I'm trying to make up for it today.

That's "Pawhealer," "A Spiritual Dog Blog."

Cuteness: Two Babies, a Kitten, and a Baby Otter

These posts contain extremely cute content. Viewer discretion is advised.

• Milestones (The early life and times of Miles G.)
• CUTE baby! (August 27, 2007)
• Cute Baby Kitten (August 26, 2007)
• Cute Baby Otter (August 22, 2007)