Our Halloween Baby - Home Waterbirth

During the evening of October 30, 2003, Jennifer went into labor with baby #3, ecstatic that the baby would be born on Halloween!

Ara Wilson Cerda Tan (we call him Wilson or Wil) was born gently into a warm waterbirthing tub at home, unassisted, after 4.5 hours of labor. The birth was peaceful, powerful and pleasurable! Pure bliss....

Ara: Armenian Great-grandfather's middle name, "king"

Wilson: English Great-great-grandfather's surname, "protector"

Cerda: Filipino Grandmother's surname, "handsome"

Tan: Father's Chinese surname

We utilized yoga, meditation, acupressure, aromatherapy and flower essences. The warm water was amazing, too! Daddy sat outside the tub, Grandma and big brother Ricky sat nearby on the bed, and big sister Joey sat in the waterbirthing tub, sharing a raspberry leaf tea popsicle with Mommy. Wilson was welcomed into the world with the hushed, excited tones of his loving family in a warm, happy, familiar environment. He didn't cry, but looked at us with his glorious little eyes. An exquisite birth....

Happy 6th Birthday to our Halloween baby!

Wilson's Song (played on flute and harp)

Once, there was a baby

Inside of me

He danced with such glee

We named him Ara Wilson

Because he's a king

Protected by thee

Now, he's about to be born

As night turns to morn

He is water-lorn

Magic abounds

As the fairies and frogs

All leap up

At the sound of the horn

Now, there is a child

A brother and son

He can jump and he can run

His gifts and talents are many

He plays with a smile

And flies towards the sun

Once, he was my babe

Bright as the day

A pleasure in the bay

Magic abounds

As the fairies and frogs

All kneel down

To sleep as he lay

The stories of his birth, as told by Jennifer, Ricky and Joey, may be found in issue #12 of The Mother magazine.

Holistic Therapies at Syrendell

Daddy graduated from medical school (but became a stay-at-home-dad...yay!), and Mommy is a retired elementary school principal (and now a stay-at-home mom...hooray!). Besides these conventional educational backgrounds, they love to infuse their holistic therapies throughout Syrendell. Daddy is a Feng Shui consultant and plays harp for pregnant mommies and premature babies. Mommy is certified in Leclaire Hypnobirthing, Wholebirth Prenatal Yoga, Infant Massage, Aromatherapy and Bach Flower Essences.

Two of the children were born at home, unassisted, and the last one was a pleasurable waterbirth, utilizing flower essences, essential oils, yoga and hypnobirthing techniques. The children enjoyed receiving massages from Mommy and Daddy! Harp, aromatherapy and Feng Shui continues to be a natural part of our daily rhythms at Syrendell.

In case other parents are interested in holistic trainings, we highly recommend the following:
1. Leclaire Hypnobirthing: http://www.leclairemethod.com/ She does 3-day trainings in beautiful Pacific Palisades, CA, near Malibu.
2. Wholebirth Prenatal Yoga: http://www.wholebirth.com/ Robin's approach to teacher training is amazing, and you leave with a renewed sense of yourself as a person! 5-day trainings in the Santa Cruz, CA area, although she'll travel other places if you get a group together.
3. Infant Massage: http://www.infantmassageusa.org/ These wonderful trainings are held all over the US. Teaching couples (some before the baby is born, but most of them after the baby is born) how to massage their babies is one of the most rewarding experiences. Be sure to go to a training by this organization, as they are the founders of IM.
4. Aromatherapy: http://www.theida.com Jade is a gifted aromatherapist and a wonderful person. She teaches in Washington state, but also offers a distance learning option. Info. on pregnancy is included.
5. Flower Essences: http://www.bachremedies.com/Training_Bach-International-Education-Program_pg24.aspx Bach is the most well-known and purchasing their products is fairly easy, world-wide. Trainings are all over the world. I also recommend Flower Essence Society, located in N. California: http://www.flowersociety.org/, Masters Essences (home study option, too): http://www.mastersessences.com/, and Star Essences (trainings annually in Santa Barbara, CA) http://www.mastersessences.com/.
6. Feng Shui: http://www.westernschooloffengshui.com/ Trainings in San Diego, CA.

7. Harp Therapy: http://www.harprealm.com/ Trainings in San Diego, UK, Netherlands, Japan.

Mommy created a holistic childbirth preparation course, Meditative Mama, that incorporates the above therapies into a 2.5 hr. workshop for pregnant mommies and their partners/families. She also trains others on how to teach this class.

Circle Time!

Hey, hey let's start the day

Sitting in a circle

Hey, hey what do you say

Let's start the day in a circle...

Circle time is a precious opportunity for the 4 of us (or 5 if Daddy is home!) to be together. We do this on Mondays and Fridays after breakfast. Starting off with our "Circle Time" song that the kids composed, we sing, play guitar or piano, and sometimes throw bean bags to the beat!

Circle time may include yoga stretching, reading stories (fairy tales, folk tales, myths) that go with the current season, holiday or S.S. theme, singing/movement songs, bean bag throwing while counting by different numbers, and singing the calendar song. On Mondays, we also talk about the upcoming week and we create a poem together. We type up the poem, print it out, and then use pastels to decorate it. On Fridays, we do form drawing to a story first on chalkboards, then on paper with crayons. We also play geography ball, throwing the inflatable globe around and asking each other to find continents and countries. About every other week, we do a drum circle at the end of Friday's circle time.

Circle time occurs in the living room. We sit around one of our naturally-dyed cloths or silks. On the cloth we'll have tree blocks, yarn, wood puzzles and bean bags out. This keeps fingers busy (especially for the 5 year-old!), when needed. Sometimes, we meditate or just close our eyes and focus on something positive. Some weeks, we talk about what we enjoy doing, and give each other praise, or say a nice comment to each other. It's a wonderful time to bond, plan, evaluate, experience the arts and bring a sense of opening, and then closing to each home-learning week. Feel free to use our circle time song!

Syrendell

Welcome to Syrendell!

We are the Tan Family: Jennifer (mother), Rick (father), Ricky (son 11), Joey (daughter 9), and Wilson (son 5). As a home-learning (homeschooling) family, we share our experiences with others...always teaching, and forever learning.

Our motto is, "LAPHH". Yes, it sounds like "laugh", which is something we do a lot of as a family!

L = Love
A = Abundance
P = Peace
H = Health
H = Happiness

Whether we are learning at home, traveling, attending lessons, visiting relatives, or walking our labyrinth, we do our best to stay true to our motto.

We are inspired by a variety of teaching and learning techniques and philosophies, including Waldorf education, Montessori, and Earthschooling. Music, art, nature and stories are part of our daily rhythms. Holistic pregnancy, home waterbirthing, attachment parenting, and natural healing are some of the many pathways that we explore. Come join us and follow our blog so that we may learn from each other!