We’re Having a Baby!

Do we make babies smile--or do they make US smile?

Yes, a baby boy!

And how very fortunate we are. A lovely baby named Elliot is going to visit our class. He’ll teach us a lot about how to care for and about him and the people around us. I bet your curiosity has been piqued. I will leave the details about Elliot and his visits to two of our hardworking Huzzahnian bloggers.

From Sophie:

We recently found out that we are getting a new student! His name is Elliot and he is barely 2 months old! Elliot will be coming into our class every three weeks for a visit with his mom. He is coming in for a special program called Roots of Empathy. It is basically where a baby comes into our class and we learn from him/her by their actions. What is empathy? Empathy is a way of showing compassion by reading other peoples’ body language and acting on it. For example, if you noticed someone was hurt you would show empathy by helping them.

Just from our first visit with Mrs. Kennedy I have already learned lots about babies. One of the things that I was most surprised about was that newborn babies can hear just as well as adults can. When Elliot comes to visit, we will all sing songs because babies enjoy the sound of singing. Did you know that babies like the sound of soft, high voices? That is why we will be singing.

From Mara:

Roots of Empathy is a program that is designed to help stop violence in youth. We are learning about understanding other people’s feelings. We do this program with a baby because babies don’t know how to mask their feelings as apposed to kids where they can look happy but inside feel very sad.

Our baby’s name is Elliot; he is now 2 months old and although we haven’t met him yet we are still having classes to prepare. Today is Monday, our first class and on Thursday Elliot will come to our class to visit us.

What is empathy you ask ? Empathy is the ability to put yourself in some one else’s shoes, to understand some else’s perspective.

(You can read other responses to our first ROE lesson with Mrs. Kennedy on the student blogs.)

So, Huzzahnians, today you met Elliot for the first time. What did you observe about him? What did you notice about your reactions to him? Think about Mrs. Moore’s relationship with Elliot–how is she helping him as he grows?

And guests–we value your thoughts. Do you have a little brother or sister? What can babies and toddlers teach us about how to treat each other?

Image: Look at my chompers! by nick see

43 comments

  1. I look forward to working with your class on the Roots of Empathy program. I am also looking forward to reading these well-written and well-thought out responses to our lessons and baby visits. Welcome to our class, Baby Elliot and Mrs. Moore!

  2. Babies!
    Elliot was so cute and small! He had tiney little eyes and two tiney little legs that wiggle around, baby Elliot had to be supported a lot because he couldn’t hold up his head that well. But still I think he is so cute!
    Julia

  3. Hi Mrs Smith,
    I observed that baby Elliot was a lot smaller than I thought he would be. I think Mrs Moore is really protective of him and would do anything in her power to make sure he doesn’t get hurt. I think those are good traits to have as a mother with a newborn baby.
    Colton

  4. I observed that baby Elliot liked when we sang to him and when his mom held him. He didn’t like it when he was being measured. I thought he would be a lot bigger than he was. I also thought he would weight more.

  5. I thought it was a lot of fun and a great experience to see baby Elliot move around and mostly sleep.
    My favourite part was when he would react to the songs we were singing. His eyebrows would move up and down, and his eyes light up with joy.
    I can’t wait to see Elliot again.
    Jackson

  6. He was so cute! His little feet, his little hands… Everything was cute! Although he was asleep most of the time, we observed a lot about him. We learned that babies must NOT be shook. Their neck muscles aren’t developed enough to withstand that shock, it can damage their spines. I was surprised by how small he was, I thought at two months old he would be bigger. I am sad that we have to wait three weeks to see him again.

    Babies are part-time annoying, part-time cute.

    Bye for now, Max

    1. Your last comment is an interesting one, Max, because it is true that being a parent means coping with the difficult parts of parenting as well as the joys. Mrs. Moore talked about the challenges in understanding what Elliot was communicating when he cries. I think most parents would admit that there are times when raising children is frustrating, confusing, exhausting, and yes, annoying. But it’s part of being a parent, and getting through those experiences makes us a better parent, and we hope, communicates to our children how much we care.

      1. Really? I’ve never once been annoyed or frustrated in my parenting experience. Is sarcasm allowed on this blog? You might have to block me.

  7. Hey Ms. Smith,
    I very much enjoyed having baby Elliot there. It was nice seeing a new face and a little one at that. I went to my Dad’s for Christmas and I got to see my brother who’s 2 and that I never get to see. I miss him sometimes so I really like seeing small ones. I look forward to his next visit.

    Griffin

    1. I think getting to spend a bit of time in StrongStart with the pre-school children will also be enjoyable for you, Griffin.

  8. Hello Ms. Smith
    From my experience I think I learned lots of interesting stuff including: I didn’t know that babies at two months of age could lift their heads off the ground while laying belly flat. I also learned that he likes higher voice to lower voices.

    Jack

  9. Hello Mrs.Smith
    I observed Baby Elliot and what I saw was pretty cool like how he could pick up his head by himself and he was very cute. What caught my eyes is when he opened his eyes.

  10. Hi Ms.Smith,
    I learned that babies can’t lift their heads up when they are lying down on their backs or on their stomachs. I forgot babies are so small when they are so young.

  11. Hi Ms. Smith!

    Getting to meet baby Elliot was a great opportunity! It was very interesting. When we measured him he didn’t seem very happy. But we figured out how he reacts to things like singing and when we shake his foot. Meeting him and Mrs.Moore was great. I hope the weeks go buy so we can do it again.

    Thanks to Ms.Moore, Baby Elliot, and Ms.Kennedy for doing this.

    Summer

  12. Hi Ms.Smith!

    Today’s experience was amazing. Baby Elliot was so cute. But he was sleeping most of the time, but at the end he decided to wake up and say hi. He was pretty sensitive when we were doing the test on him. After he calmed down pretty easily. I hope he liked our singing. He didn’t cry so I guess that means he liked it! How did you like getting a visit from him?
    Talk to you later!

    1. I thought the visit was perfect–we learned a lot about his temperament–like most of us he likes to sleep, but he seems comfortable with noise too. I loved watching your reactions.

  13. Wow Mrs.Smith,
    I never new baby Elliot was going to be so small! He has such cute eyes. Too bad he was asleep for most of the time. I can’t wait to see him again. What was your favourite part about his visit?
    Bye Bye
    Kyle

    1. I completely agree–he is a sweetie. My favourite part–could you tell? I got a little snuggle time–how wonderful!

  14. Hi Ms.Smith!
    I learned from baby Elliot that you are not very big when you are two months old and you prefer to stay in your mom’s arms. I wasn’t sure if Elliot liked our singing or if it just surprised him. He was very cute and I am looking forward to seeing him again! ~Sophie

  15. Dear Mrs.Smith

    Being able to meet Baby Eliot was a great chance to see how he is able to do things such as opening his eyes, listening to people’s sound of their voices when they’re singing! I also thought it was cool to see when he was laying on the ground and Mrs. Kennedy shook a toy and he looked the way the sound of the toy was. Well, Mrs.Smith did you see any of those things? Hope you can get back to me. ~Brianne

    1. I noticed that too–I loved all the smiles from the students in the class. I have a little video of Elliot that I will post. 🙂

  16. ZZZZzzzZZZZ.
    Baby Elliot was asleep, only near the end did he open his eyes. Everyone had a smile on their faces, admiring how cute he is anyway. Baby Elliot is still very small and he can lift his head up a little while lying on his stomach. He can only drink “mommy milk” and he needs help to support his neck. I think Mrs.Moore helps him grow by supporting him and nurturing him with love and care. Also, Elliot is dependent on her for survival, to feed, take care of and love. I had a lot of fun during R.O.E today and look forward to doing it again.
    From, Mara

  17. Hello Class,
    Baby Elliot is so cute with his little feet and his little nose… he is one of the cutest babies I have ever seen. I like how he reacts when we sing him a song.
    He is just the cutest.
    Mya

  18. He was SoOo0 tiny!!!!
    Was I that small?
    Our little baby is Completely dependent on his mother for support. His only method of expressing distaste is by being….. VERY LOUD!
    He was sleeping for most of our visit with him, but when he awoke he was still half asleep, it seemed even opening his eyes was hard!
    He had very little neck strength and could barely lift his head up off the ground!

    I loved seeing our new baby and I can’t wait for him to visit again.

  19. Hi Ms Smith

    I learned a lot about baby Elliot and one of the things I learned is that baby Elliot does turn his head when he hears a sound. I’m looking forward to the next Roots of Empathy class with him.

    Tristan

  20. Dear Mrs Smith, if you had any say in letting the Roots of Empathy program into our class, I thank you very much. I love every single thing about babies (except crying, barf, poop and other things someone immature would laugh at).
    P.S. Elliot is the best!

    1. That made me laugh really hard. You can thank Mrs. Kennedy for suggesting this program. I was reluctant to go along with it as you are such an anti-social lot, but I figured I might get some baby hugging in and as you know “it’s all about me”.

  21. Hi Mrs. Smith, I was really surprised when he looked like a baby doll but he was asleep. Near the end though he was awake.

  22. I was shocked a little by the title, considering the amount of responsibility it is to take care of a child. There’s the sacrifice of the time having to be spent, and fact that you will have committed many years in to raising a child.

    But the joy of their love and success for most is all worth it.

    I hope we have a great time with baby Elliot!

  23. Hi Mrs Smith and Huzzahnians,

    What a great experience for all of you to have baby Elliot visit your class Roots of Empathy sounds like a really interesting topic and you are all obviously learning a lot from Elliot and his mum.
    I was also really impressed by all your thoughtful and insightful comments about your post. I think baby Elliot is lucky to have such great role models to look up to when he gets bigger!

    I’m looking forward to seeing what else you are all getting up to.

    From Miss Tindle in New Zealand

    1. Hello Miss Tindle! I hope you and your students are enjoying your break. We are looking forward to connecting with you. I too was impressed by the sensitive and funny comments made by my students. Babies seem to bring out the best in us!

  24. Hello Huzzahnians

    Just wanted to let you know that Elliot and I really enjoyed our time in your class and we are really looking forward to seeing you again in a few weeks. He was wide awake today at 12:30 so hopefully he’ll be awake the next time we visit. He was giving me a whole bunch of smiles today and has been quite alert. Right now he is practicing sleeping in his crib which is not his favourite thing to do.

    Thanks for all your wonderful observations. See you soon.

    From Mrs. Moore and Baby Elliot

    1. Hi Mrs. Moore! I agree the student observations were really thoughtful. Glad to hear all is well with Elliot (we think it is because of our excellent singing). Looking forward to seeing you both soon.

  25. Hello Huzzahnians,
    I loved reading all the comments above on how your class is enthralled with baby Elliot. I like how you connected the word empathy to “compassion” as we need to think of all the wonderful qualities babies tend to bring out in us and compassion is an important one.

    I just had to respond as this past Thursday, a kindergarten student sat down at carpet time and said to me, “Ms Clayton, what is compassion?” Our conversation after comes to my mind all the time now.

    Thanks for sharing. Hope you are all doing well all those many kilometres away from us.

    Sincerely,
    Ms Clayton

    1. Hi Ms. Clayton, I am so impressed that such a young child would want to know the meaning of compassion. Our classroom conversations about compassion and empathy (being different from mere tolerance or sympathy) have been very enlightening. Hope all is well across the bridge!

  26. Hi Guys

    I love your blog, I like it how it says your names and what you like doing or eating. You have lots of things on your blog, keep up the good work and I hope to see some more things!
    See you for now!

Comments are closed.