Do Brain Building Toys Make Babies any Smarter? on Yahoo!

The study concludes that brain development before 3 is inconclusive. Thanks, but this should make parents feel a bit better about not rushing out and breaking the budget on every ‘genius’ toy out there.

If stimulation is the key, there are plenty of other things out there that are free. A public zoo and funny faces come to mind. Use your imagination.

The 1st birthday party gifts introduced us to some fantastic new books that my son loves to flip through by himself and have his mom and dad read to him. Just thought I'd share them with everyone else!

If you haven’t heard of them and want to read something besides I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly twelve times a day, check these out.

• Bear Snores On - A brown bear slumbers in his cold, dark cave while all the other animals in the forest have a party. This one is a TON of fun to read and act out, especially when the bear finally wakes up.
• Baby Einstein Alphabooks - A book for every single letter of the alphabet. Each one has three words and pictures associated with the letter. My son loves to go through all of them and open them himself. It’s a great way to teach the alphabet, we work on the same five letters every day for memory. And then he has fun surprising himself when we go through the rest of them for fun!
• Baby Cakes - This one always gets my son moving when we sing it to him. It’s a catchy rhyme that you can easily act out and get them to play along with as your baby’s toes, nose, hug them tight and laugh out loud.

Buy it today for $9.99

Wish your baby came with a manual? Here it is. A day-by-day guide to surviving the craziest year of your life - your first child's first year.

You can learn from our hands on experience of being first-time parents. It's the next best thing to going on a dry run at having a baby.

From day 1 to day 365, you'll find answers to real questions that you thought there wasn't an answer to or were afraid to ask:

• How do you eliminate a nighttime feeding
• What should you do if your baby has a fever?
• How do you raise a smart baby?
• Should you breastfeed when you're sick?
• What should you be feeding your baby as they grow?
• What do you do with a picky eater?
• How do you help your baby sleep through the night?
• What are the symptoms and remedies to common sicknesses like ear infections, the flu, pneumonia?
• Is it O.K. to switch brands of baby formula?
• Plus the answers to many, many more typical parenting questions

You'll find the answers to all these and more, based off my experience, inside.

You can read a tip every day and discover something new as your baby grows, or you can read them all while you're waiting for junior to arrive.

Buy it today at the special Minti Member price of $9.99

A full year is over and we're all grown up! Not really, actually, toddler years are staring us right in the face.

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