Mommymoon at Terranea Resort, Rancho Palos Verdes

Terranea Resort

100 Terranea Way

Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90275

When Baby Makes More than Three, To Terranea Immediately Get Thee!

by Kelly Chang Rickert (mama)

Honeymoons: For newlyweds.

Babymoons: For couples expecting children.

Mommymoons. For moms. ALONE.

mommymoon [mom-mee-moon]

–noun:

1. A vacation taken by a mother expecting her second or any subsequent child;

2. A brief period characterized by uninterrupted tranquility, bliss, and/or pampering;

3. A much-needed and well-deserved escape from the chaos and responsibilities of home or work (or both), for a pregnant woman who is already caring for one or more kids.

Why is this necessary?

Sanity.

Seriously, ever since I became a mother, I have been away a total of only 5 nights away from my daughter and husband. And this is all due to work - court appearances in SF, out-of-town board meetings for the ACFLS, etc. They were all "excuse-able". They were not fun. I had to WORK. (thus, no guilt).

Sure, I've heard of the myth of "girls' weekends", "girls getaways", but honestly, if I ever went away with girlfriends, or my sister-in-law, just for a day to myself, I would never get over the guilt. As a working mother (divorce attorney), I am already away during work hours for most of the workweek, such that when the weekend comes, I have absolutely NO desire to be anywhere but attached to my baby.

This, of course, means, that between handling clients all week and managing a law office, and then being non-stop mama all weekend, I basically have no downtime.

With baby #2 due in about 8 weeks (and a NASTY divorce trial set 4 months after baby #2 arrives), I thought it was time that I finally carved aside some time to myself so I can finally take the lingering bubble bath I've longed for, for over 4 years.

So, I took my bubble bath, and 2 books, and spent one glorious night, and 1.5 days alone before my handsome husband and adorable 3-year-old joined me for the weekend.

And, I didn't work.

I just relaxed.

California moms, Terranea Resort is the BEST place in the world for a mommymoon. Here are reasons why:

1. ESCAPE, BUT BE CLOSE ENOUGH TO HOME FOR EMERGENCIES. First and foremost, a mommymoon must embody escape. This is your chance to NOT take calls, NOT answer emails, NOT grocery shop, NOT fold laundry, NOT cook, NOT play mama, wife, boss, manager, lawyer, whatever! ESCAPE AND DO NOTHING. And if you are neurotic like me, and fear emergencies - it is close enough that the main players in your life can still reach you. Terranea is only 45 minutes drive away, so I was close enough to be reached.

2. BE WITH WHAT GOD CREATED, AND STILL PAMPER YOURSELF ROTTEN. Nature is really good for your soul. Ocean, trees, rocks, mountains, beach. That's why people go camping. However, being 8 months pregnant, "roughing it" is somewhat masochistic. Enter Terranea - a serene place of absolute beauty. Seriously. Just look at the photos from: 1) right outside my suite, 2) a short walk down, and 3) lobby.

BEAUTY surrounds this place, ladies. Yes, unbelievable. Even the Garden of Eden had a evil serpent. I can absolutely, without reservations, tell you that Terranea is unflawed. Ever since they opened their doors in 2009, we have made Terranea Resort an annual destination (we are spoiled rotten). This is the THIRD time, and I have yet to find a minor imperfection in the amazing architecture and nature of this place.

Oh, and their spa? To die for. I am not ashamed to admit - I am a spa junkie. That's right, I am do my best work - litigation planning - when getting a rubdown. I also have discovered long ago that I simply cannot sleep or digest my food to nourish my 96-pound pre-pregnancy body without getting a massage every month. Others exercise, I get massaged.

Yes, they are very expensive. But they happened to be running an Autumn Special. For $150 (plus 20% added gratuity for a total of $180), you get a 50-minute massage or facial AND a mini-treatment: Moroccan hair treatment; eyebrow wax; or hand and foot treatment. I went crazy and had TWO. Even if they weren't running a special though, it is still worth it to pay $185 ($222 total) for a 60 minute pre-natal massage.

Bottom line: I have frequented the best spas in the world, and with that experience, I STILL say Terranea is the best. The therapists are well-trained in pre-natal massage (Advice: NEVER go to an inexperienced parlor for a prenatal rub - it will hurt you, AND the baby.) And they have a RELAXATION ROOM on the second floor smack dab in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, complete with a fireplace.

3. TOP-NOTCH SERVICE. No kidding. From valet to housekeeping to restaurants and front desk - every single person there is ready to serve you. Example: I am clearly 32 weeks pregnant. I check in. I get spa'ed. I order room service. Knock, knock! Complimentary fruits and crackers for you! Example: I am clearly 32 weeks pregnant. At check-in, my favorite front desk person whom shall remain anonymous, because I don't want anyone else getting special treatment (but his initials are J.C.) gives me a complimentary upgrade to an ocean view suite so I can have more space while I am rapidly expanding.

<--------Kelly 32 weeks pregnant

Example: Housekeeping brings extra water (no charge), toothpaste, matches for my Diptyque candle within 5 minutes of calling. Example: Free shoe shine - just leave bag outside. ALL the amenities of a 5-star hotel, minus the snootiness. Everyone here is just happy from inside out and willing to serve you. Which is the WHOLE point of a mommymoon - because as a mom, you are used to serving everyone else.

4. DEFINITELY AFFORDABLE IF YOU ARE ATUNE TO DEALS; STILL CHEAPER THAN OTHER MOMMYMOON/BABYMOONS. I am the researching type. I spent several hours browing the net for mommymoon/babymoons. Basically, if you are looking to be pampered with a package that includes a retreat in a nice hotel, complete with spa treatments, and other special niceties, such as gift baskets, yoga classes, and ambiance, you are looking to pay at least $1500 for 3 nights, including flights, etc. I noticed that most mommymoons/babymoons are in Northern California. For example, there's the Barefoot and Pregnant Spa, located near San Jose and Napa. They advertise packages between $900 - $2800. This does not include the airfare for a flight up there. There is also Miraval in Tuscon, Arizona, which is an all-inclusive resort. So, for all meals paid, complete with all classes, housing, their rates range from $655 - $1090 a night. Terranea Resort ranges from $300 - $1250 a night, depending on room size, room view, etc. They frequently offer return guests deals. I had a Buy 2 nights, get 1 night deal - so the room was approximately $299 (plus $25 resort fee plus $30 valet per night). But I was upgraded to a suite, which is approximately $750 a night. The entire weekend, filled with fine dining, in-room spoiling, spa'ing, cost less than $2000. And I didn't have to pay for a flight. It is expensive, but worth it.

If you are interested in going, you may contact me for a deal code for a repeat customer. I would gladly call you my guest just to prove to you how amazing this place is.

5. PERFECT AMOUNT OF CHOICES SO YOU ARE NOT OVERWHELMED. There are a bazillion things to do at Miraval. I actually got stressed looking at their menu of activities. At Terranea, there isn't too much to do. There is a beautiful trail along the ocean where you can walk. There is a spa. which includes a salon, cafe, and shop. There are three restaurants: Mar'Sel; Catalina Kitchen and Nelsons. There is a Sea Beans cafe/coffeeshop. There is golf. There are tons of firepits where you can make S'Mores. There are 3 pools: main, spa, and adult. There's golf. And that's it, folks. This is a place where you can truly relax, instead of trying to experience all there is. You know what I did all weekend besides spa treatments? I ordered room service, and I read 2 excellent books: Heaven is for Real and The Help. This is incredible. The last 2 books I read were "Llama Llama misses Mama" and "Contempt Citations in Family Court". Mamas, you need to relax on a mommymoon, so you can recharge. It's not about being stimulated, it's about being situated.

Ahhhh, how I absolutely love Terranea. If I had a million dollars, I would find someone else who had a million dollars, and we could buy and share a 3-bedroom villa there. It is the perfect place for a busy mother trying to escape noise in her life. It is also a perfect place for a family get-together. Or a babymoon. It is, in one word, perfect. We will continue to go, every year.

But moms, if you are in your third trimester, and you can afford it, I highly recommend going to Terranea to recharge for a weekend. Your baby and you deserve it.

TERRANEA LOVE OVER THE YEARS

2009

2010

2011

Bi-Lingual Babies

Hearing Bilingual: How Babies Sort Out Language

By PERRI KLASS, M.D.


Once, experts feared that young children exposed to more than one language would suffer “language confusion,” which might delay their speech development. Today, parents often are urged to capitalize on that early knack for acquiring language.

Upscale schools market themselves with promises of deep immersion in Spanish — or Mandarin — for everyone, starting in kindergarten or even before. Yet while many parents recognize the utility of a second language, families bringing up children in non-English-speaking households, or trying to juggle two languages at home, are often desperate for information.

And while the study of bilingual development has refuted those early fears about confusion and delay, there aren’t many research-based guidelines about the very early years and the best strategies for producing a happily bilingual child.

But there is more and more research to draw on, reaching back to infancy and even to the womb. As the relatively new science of bilingualism pushes back to the origins of speech and language, scientists are teasing out the earliest differences between brains exposed to one language and brains exposed to two.

Researchers have found ways to analyze infant behavior — where babies turn their gazes, how long they pay attention — to help figure out infant perceptions of sounds and words and languages, of what is familiar and what is unfamiliar to them. Now, analyzing the neurologic activity of babies’ brains as they hear language, and then comparing those early responses with the words that those children learn as they get older, is helping explain not just how the early brain listens to language, but how listening shapes the early brain.

Recently, researchers at the University of Washington used measures of electrical brain responses to compare so-called monolingual infants, from homes in which one language was spoken, to bilingual infants exposed to two languages. Of course, since the subjects of the study, adorable in their infant-size EEG caps, ranged from 6 months to 12 months of age, they weren’t producing many words in any language. Still, the researchers found that at 6 months, the monolingual infants could discriminate between phonetic sounds, whether they were uttered in the language they were used to hearing or in another language not spoken in their homes. By 10 to 12 months, however, monolingual babies were no longer detecting sounds in the second language, only in the language they usually heard. The researchers suggested that this represents a process of “neural commitment,” in which the infant brain wires itself to understand one language and its sounds. In contrast, the bilingual infants followed a different developmental trajectory. At 6 to 9 months, they did not detect differences in phonetic sounds in either language, but when they were older — 10 to 12 months — they were able to discriminate sounds in both. “What the study demonstrates is that the variability in bilingual babies’ experience keeps them open,” said Dr. Patricia Kuhl, co-director of the Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences at the University of Washington and one of the authors of the study. “They do not show the perceptual narrowing as soon as monolingual babies do. It’s another piece of evidence that what you experience shapes the brain.”

The learning of language — and the effects on the brain of the language we hear — may begin even earlier than 6 months of age. Janet Werker, a professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia, studies how babies perceive language and how that shapes their learning. Even in the womb, she said, babies are exposed to the rhythms and sounds of language, and newborns have been shown to prefer languages rhythmically similar to the one they’ve heard during fetal development. In one recent study, Dr. Werker and her collaborators showed that babies born to bilingual mothers not only prefer both of those languages over others — but are also able to register that the two languages are different. In addition to this ability to use rhythmic sound to discriminate between languages, Dr. Werker has studied other strategies that infants use as they grow, showing how their brains use different kinds of perception to learn languages, and also to keep them separate. In a study of older infants shown silent videotapes of adults speaking, 4-month-olds could distinguish different languages visually by watching mouth and facial motions and responded with interest when the language changed. By 8 months, though, the monolingual infants were no longer responding to the difference in languages in these silent movies, while the bilingual infants continued to be engaged. “For a baby who’s growing up bilingual, it’s like, ‘Hey, this is important information,’ ” Dr. Werker said.

Over the past decade, Ellen Bialystok, a distinguished research professor of psychology at York University in Toronto, has shown that bilingual children develop crucial skills in addition to their double vocabularies, learning different ways to solve logic problems or to handle multitasking, skills that are often considered part of the brain’s so-called executive function. These higher-level cognitive abilities are localized to the frontal and prefrontal cortex in the brain.

“Overwhelmingly, children who are bilingual from early on have precocious development of executive function,” Dr. Bialystok said. Dr. Kuhl calls bilingual babies “more cognitively flexible” than monolingual infants.

Her research group is examining infant brains with an even newer imaging device, magnetoencephalography, or MEG, which combines an M.R.I. scan with a recording of magnetic field changes as the brain transmits information. Dr. Kuhl describes the device as looking like a “hair dryer from Mars,” and she hopes that it will help explore the question of why babies learn language from people, but not from screens. Previous research by her group showed that exposing English-language infants in Seattle to someone speaking to them in Mandarin helped those babies preserve the ability to discriminate Chinese language sounds, but when the same “dose” of Mandarin was delivered by a television program or an audiotape, the babies learned nothing. “This special mapping that babies seem to do with language happens in a social setting,” Dr. Kuhl said. “They need to be face to face, interacting with other people. The brain is turned on in a unique way.”