Welcome to this week's issue -- Learning & Education. From the moment our beautiful babies are born, we dream of all the wonderful things our children will learn as they grow. We also come to realize all of things we have yet to learn as new parents! We hope you'll find this week's collection of features offers you something from both aspects.

Part of the joy and wonder of parenthood comes from sharing in experiences where you can watch your children's minds blossoming. Learning through play is one of the tools used in early childhood education and Mariah Bruehl has created a wonderful website to educate and inform parents just how to do it and share their experiences along the way. Go to www.playfulearning.com to discover simple, playful learning experiences that parents can easily share with their children. 

Why is my baby suddenly scared of strangers? Why do certain noises cause my baby to react that way? As new parents we have a million and one questions about what makes our baby tick. And now, with this great educational website, www.justaskbaby.com, every video clues you in on what your baby sees, says, thinks, does and feels at various stages of their development - giving you a never-before-seen baby’s eye view of life, complete with relevant parenting tips that help you make positive decisions for your unique child. This and many of their other features, including a blog written by Dr. David Elkind, Just Ask Baby's Chief Scientific Advisor, who is one of the leading thinkers, researchers and teachers on child development in his generation, makes this an invaluable tool for new parents. Visit now to get your 15 day free trial membership!

Through the almost three years that I have been a mom, I've encountered countless times when toys were not enough to stimulate my daughter's sense of exploration and wonderment with her world. Last Christmas we were given a wonderful gift from my uncle, an architect, who at times we think is unplugged himself! Unplugged Play written by Bobbi Conner, available at www.amazon.com, is a fantastic book of activities and games that you can engage your child in (ages 1 to 10) that do not require batteries or plugs. Literally speaking, these are games that you create with household objects and/or their imagination. And well put in the introduction, The Power of Play, are the simple pleasures of this book: Play for Joy, Play for Intelligence and Play for Connection.

The importance of reading to children plays out in a myraid of developmental, emotional, and learning issues from bonding and security, to learning to read, to future success. There are so many wonderful books out there to share with your child and if you are seeking to purchase them online, you need to visit www.lookybook.com. This website allows you to preview the book from cover to cover before you purchase it. This is wonderful since most websites you would normally buy from do not allow you to do that. Lookybook's mission is to create a comfortable place where a curious and devoted audience can search, view, talk about, and buy from a diverse and rapidly expanding collection of picture books. Check it out. We bet you'll love it as much as we do!

We hope you've enjoyed this week's issue and look forward to bringing you our next feature -- The Winter Fashion Issue.