Your Baby Can Read - Week 2

Your Baby Can Read - Week 2 - 1/23/2012 to 1/29/2012

I am now reporting our son's second week using Your Baby Can Read. He just turned 13 months old and has been using this early reading system for 9 days as of 1/29/2012 (he only watched the video and used the sliding word cards for two days on the first week). I will post these reviews on Tuesdays, so that I can share the information during "Teach Me Tuesdays" when I have the time. If you missed my first blog post and video, you can read my last report / review on the Your Baby Can Read - Week 1 Review page. Here is the 2nd week report and video based on his using the sliding word cards and watching the video 5 days.

END OF WEEK 1 SUMMARY & WEEK 2 RESULTS

On Monday, January 23, 2012, I made a 1st Week Video of our baby's previous weeks results. He said "Hey Baby" and sang "Clean Up" while fidgeting, though did "clap" on demand by the end of the video. That was a summary of the 1st week's progress and started our second week with results to improve upon. WEEK 2 RESULTS- Your Baby Can Read has helped add "cat" and "dog" to his vocabulary. He also growls when he sees a picture of a tiger and perks up when he sees an elephant. Our baby will sometimes lifts his arms when I say "arms up" (which we have been teaching him since he was a few months old, but he would not do it until this week) and he has started clapping on demand a lot more now. He already knew how to say "hi" and "hello", but now he says "hi" whenever we come in the door or a room. He does not always wave when saying "hi", though sometimes when he wants our immediate attention.

WEEK 2 YOUR BABY CAN READ VIDEO OF OUR BABY



VIDEO NOTES: If you listed closely, he replies "a dog" to my first attempt and I totally missed it because I was trying to have him say "cat" in this video. He says "a dog" once when he had the yellow toy to his mouth (as if he thinks them in order" and then he repeats cat several times; one time saying "a cat" because when we ask "what is that" (when reading an animal book) the reply would be "that is A cat" opposed to "what does this word say" where the reply is "cat". I mistakenly called Caillou's cat "Rosie" instead of Gilbert. He still went to the TV to see, though typically will touch the TV screen when I ask "Where's Calious's cat Gilbert". Either way, "cat" is a word that he says all day long and gets excited to see in books or when we do the sliding word cards.

SLIDING WORD CARDS & COMPREHENSION

I have noticed that our baby REALLY enjoys the sliding word cards. He looks at the words as intently as he does the pictures. He sometimes laughs in anticipation of a picture being shown and / or gets really excited. In fact, he seems more excited to have us understand him on the few things he says more than anything. If he catches us look at him, he will say one of his new works and the say "clap" while clapping (as if to say YEAH!). It is really cute and encouraging; therefore, I am anxious to see what his vocabulary and enthusiasm for learning will be like in a few more weeks because even his focus while reading and playing on he mat, with me, has improved. For example, he sat and stacked rings on his own the other day. He never slowed down enough to do that before. He also opens and closes the animals on his Playskool Busy Basics: Busy Poppin' Pals. He was not doing this a week ago. * I am not saying that Your Baby Can Read definitely made these improvements in him; MAYBE it did help stimulate his understanding / comprehension (logic).



As I mentioned last week, our baby does better at watching the Your Baby Can Read video when he is sitting in his high chair and when I am not participating during that time. I did test this again one day. He started out well by watching the video while sitting on his boppy pillow. He eventually stood up and started walking around the room, though sat there for about 1/2 of the video. While walking around the room, he did turn to watch Your Baby Can Read at certain points in the video. He turned to watch the 2 songs and he watched the portion where Your Baby Can Read asks the baby to choice between two words to determine which is the correct word.

Want to try this program with your infant or toddler? Visit this Your Baby Can Read page to learn more!

Let's compare notes! Are you finding Your Baby Can read useful for your child? Do you have a blog post or video to share with us? Please feel free to add the link and let us know what you think of Your Baby Can Read!


In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child

Monday Marketing Tip | Image Optimization

Have you ever wondered why HER mom blog pictures show in Bing / Yahoo and Google Images, but YOUR Blogger images do not?

This Monday Marketing Tip will explain how to optimize your pictures, so that people can find them in Bing / Yahoo and Google images. They will also see a message you have written when they put their computer mouse over the pictures. This is called image SEO and is part of the organic search engine optimization (SEO) process. It doesn't matter whether you have a website or blog; Blogger, Typepad or Wordpress, the need for image SEO optimization is the same for everyone and it does make a difference in the great scheme of things in the Internet Marketing world. Please keep in mind that this is just one type of "image optimization" and is also called optimizing an image with search engine optimization and / or image seo.

How Pictures / Images Upload To Your Blog

When you upload a picture to your blog, it stores in a virtual space on your server (hosting account). You do not realize the complexity of it because your blog generates an image code for you. You can see this code in the HTML tab in your blog editor. It looks like this  and is in the upper left hand corner of your Blogger editor page. I edit my images and blog code a lot because blogs puts a lot of junk around our image code (this is why your pictures are clickable to a larger picture) and show up in a certain style. I typically remove this extra code unless I want my pictures to align or link to a different page. This is why my code example (below) will look a little different that what you might see in your  editor. The next section explains what to look for in your image code, so that you can optimize them.


Image Code Basics

The basic image code looks like this:

<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinL8U8kIwE3aLUn4k4xS95t9j3uhN5BBQGgF7eRTcy7-YfnKQw8t_K7ZE5e7MFxOT0hRl7MlpOKo4RXGPwVEJTThUDf9VZ8cRUd1QIs2V6ugDB5c5yhbSZoAOTrTjDDBr7pC3hMGR7YFc/s1600/check-this-out.jpg" alt="Image Optimization - Monday Marketing Tip" style="border: none;" width="500" height="64" title="Learn how to optimize your Blogger images to get better website traffic and search engine rankings." />

The image code typically begins with the <img src= and has the link to the image in quotes ... some text editors (the area where you type posts in a blog) put the image HTML code out of order, therefore you have to look for the src="http://your-image.jpg"  part even if it is not next to the <img

For example, the follow src=" is not next to the <img

<img style="border: none;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinL8U8kIwE3aLUn4k4xS95t9j3uhN5BBQGgF7eRTcy7-YfnKQw8t_K7ZE5e7MFxOT0hRl7MlpOKo4RXGPwVEJTThUDf9VZ8cRUd1QIs2V6ugDB5c5yhbSZoAOTrTjDDBr7pC3hMGR7YFc/s1600/check-this-out.jpg" alt="Image Optimization - Monday Marketing Tip" width="500" height="64" title="Learn how to optimize your Blogger images to get better website traffic and search engine rankings." />

Both snippets of image code will still produce the same result. All that matters is that you can find the <img and src=" in your  editor, so that you can seo your images.

---

Your image code will need both an ALT and TITLE attribute. The following is example is for the CHECK THIS OUT picture at the top of this blog post. I have highlighted the 2 sections of this image code as follows: title=" " is marked yellow highlight and alt=" " is marked purple

Optimizing Image Code by Using The ALT Attribute

img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinL8U8kIwE3aLUn4k4xS95t9j3uhN5BBQGgF7eRTcy7-YfnKQw8t_K7ZE5e7MFxOT0hRl7MlpOKo4RXGPwVEJTThUDf9VZ8cRUd1QIs2V6ugDB5c5yhbSZoAOTrTjDDBr7pC3hMGR7YFc/s1600/check-this-out.jpg" alt="Image Optimization - Monday Marketing Tip" width="500" height="64"  title="Learn how to optimize your Blogger images to get better website traffic and search engine rankings.

ALT = " "
As you can see, my image has an alt=" " that says "Image Optimization - Monday Marketing Tip" this tells the search engine to read this ALT attribute as if it is text on my blog, though specific to this image. So, using this  alt="Image Optimization - Monday Marketing Tip" tell the search engine that my image is about or relative to the content of this blog post and, ideally, what the image is showing.


Notes on using the ALT=" "

It would be more appropriate for me to put alt="Check this out" if I wanted to the search engine to read this image as "Check this out" opposed to "Image Optimization - Monday Marketing Tips". Try to keep the alt=" " text relative to what the content of your page is about or specific to what the image is for sites that are about photography / photographs.

The key to using the alt=" " attribute is not to SPAM the search engine with what is called keyword stuffing (marked in red text to signify that stuffing images with keywords is a bad / horrible thing to do ~ Bing / Yahoo and Google can BAN your blog from showing in the search engines). Image stuffing is when you put a lot of text (keywords and sentences) in the alt=" " attribute. For example, alt="image optimization, picture optimization, best keywords, best image optimization, blog optimization, website optimization, image seo, picture seo, blog seo, website seo, wordpress seo, blogger seo, typepad seo, blogspot seo, blogger image seo, wordpress image seo, blogspot image seo, typepad image seo" and so on (some people stuff their images with even more "keywords" or a bunch of keyword rich sentences). DO NOT STUFF YOUR IMAGES!!! You should only put a few relative words (keywords) or a small keyword rich sentence in your images.

---

Optimizing Image Code by Using The TITLE Attribute


img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinL8U8kIwE3aLUn4k4xS95t9j3uhN5BBQGgF7eRTcy7-YfnKQw8t_K7ZE5e7MFxOT0hRl7MlpOKo4RXGPwVEJTThUDf9VZ8cRUd1QIs2V6ugDB5c5yhbSZoAOTrTjDDBr7pC3hMGR7YFc/s1600/check-this-out.jpg" alt="Image Optimization - Monday Marketing Tip" width="500" height="64" title="Learn how to optimize your Blogger images to get better website traffic and search engine rankings."

TITLE=" "
Additionally, my image code also has a title=" " attribute that says "Learn how to optimize your Blogger images to get better website traffic and search engine rankings." - this TITLE attribute is what your website visitors can see when they sit their computer mouse over the picture. *** GO TRY IT! Put your mouse on the Check this out! picture. ***

Notes on using the TITLE=" "

Similar to what is stated above in the Notes on using the ALT=" ", do not Keyword stuff your title=" " attribute because it can hurt your blog or website. Search engines can ban your blog from their results and this will most certainly happen if a human editor find that mess. You can get creative and write more personal messages in the title=" " area; just not too long. Your message should be short and sweet to guide the website user.

---

This is what your image code should look like with both the TITLE and ALT Attributes

img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinL8U8kIwE3aLUn4k4xS95t9j3uhN5BBQGgF7eRTcy7-YfnKQw8t_K7ZE5e7MFxOT0hRl7MlpOKo4RXGPwVEJTThUDf9VZ8cRUd1QIs2V6ugDB5c5yhbSZoAOTrTjDDBr7pC3hMGR7YFc/s1600/check-this-out.jpg" alt="Image Optimization - Monday Marketing Tip" width="500" height="64" title="Learn how to optimize your Blogger images to get better website traffic and search engine rankings."

That's it ... Now, you know how to optimize your images by adding the ALT and TITLE attributes. Other details like width, height, border and alignment are other useful image code details. You can see the width="" and height="" attributes in this example. Adding a border is as simple as border="1" (you can make this number larger if you want a thicker border) and the align="" property is written as align="left", align="center" and align="right". There is a more advance way to do all of this through additional programming called CSS, but this standard HTML code examples work, too.


I hope this was understandable and will help you get more website traffic from your images. There is a lot more to image optimization, but these 2 basic changes can make a huge difference for your marketing.


ONE MORE THING ... Don't forget to take the link code from around your images if you are not planning to link it to a page or blog post. There is nothing more annoying, to a person visiting your site, than to click an image and it goes to nothing but your original picture (well unless it opens to your Google image viewer). People will just steal your images this way, so remove the link code OR link it to a relative page. Learn how to make your image HYPERLINK TO A NEW POST or page that will add value to your blog!

Need help with your website, blog or marketing online? Does this feel like Chinese to you? Feel like you could use some help with design, content or marketing? Visit Mom Business & Blog Marketing page!


In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child

Florida Pictures & Follow Me Friday Blog Hops

(This Barred Owl visits all of the time and lets us get close to photograph. You can get a closer look by clicking the picture. He really is quite beautiful!)

I cannot believe that it's already Friday! This week went so quickly and I am STILL getting caught up on website design work. I better get cracking, but first I want to say hello and wish you a wonderful weekend. Welcome to friends and new blog hoppers, too :) Under the pictures and video of the Florida birds is list of social sites where we can connect and a link to my Blog Hops page. Enjoy :)

I'd like to share that this has been one of the most beautiful weeks here in Florida. It rained this morning, but all of the other days were warm and sunny; just a really nice winter in Florida thus far. We spent most of Christmas outside these past two years. Now that we are towards the end of January, the animals and birds are becoming more active. This week's "best" was when all of the robins arrived from the northern states. It was kind of freaky at first (made me think of Hitchcock's movie, THE BIRDS ), yet it was an incredible experience to see all of the robins arriving at once (mostly females). I tried to take a lot of pictures and videos, but only these few came out well enough to post:


Video of the female robin birds flying over the water and in the trees in our back yards. They fly so quickly that I could barely get a good shot, but you can hear how it sounds like an aviary - too cool.

On the first day, there were so many robins chirping that we ran out to see what was going on. They were in our yards and a bunch of them sat in the field across from my house (about 1 1/2 to 2 inches apart). The picture below are JUST of one section of that field. It is at least as long as a football field. They landed there after flying all over the neighborhood and you cannot imagine how fascinating it was to see a flock of robin birds walking across the street all day ... they looked like little ducks. Now, it sounds like an Aviary every morning. The sky is filled with their chirping and the waters have families of ducks, cranes, etc. One interesting fact about the robins is that they hang with the barred owls. This summer, a robin couple came to visit each day with one of the barred owls (I guess our yard was part of their daily rounds) ... Of course, the squirrels have been going crazy. They are jumping from tree to tree and run along the yards almost as quickly as the robins. WOW! I haven't spotted any manatee lately, but I am sure they'll be here soon! There have been a few adult woodpeckers.

(I know it's hard to see in this picture, but there were 100s of female robins flying, walking down the street and sitting in the field the other day - Click the picture to get a better look)

Welcome to those who are visiting from your favorite Friday Blog Hop. I look forward to reading your comment and visiting your blog :) Please make sure to SUBSCRIBE to my blog before hopping on. I would love to have you join me at these websites (I do follow back):

Facebook


Twitter


Google +


YouTube


Pinterest


Klout

I have listed some of the Friday Blog Hops I follow on this Blog Hops page (make sure to scroll down to Friday to see the list). Please make sure to let them know that Lea @ Mother Baby Child sent you and feel free to add your blog hop to the Linky at the top of that page.

Have a great weekend and God Bless!!!


In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child