Issue link: http://hvparent.uberflip.com/i/218076
In this issue FEATURES 16 Favorite docs guide Annual review of the best healthcare professionals 10 Diary from the trenches first 6 weeks of motherhood The THERESA NARVESEN BY 12 Sleep Training 101 Expert tips on making it through the night LEANNE SOWUL BY 30 Ice, ice baby! Hudson Valley's best skating rinks The KATHLEEN WILLCOX BY 35 Stress-free holiday ways to relieve strain this season Five JANINE BOLDRIN BY What's happening only at HV Parent's Facebook community HVP'S SOCIAL STORIES We asked our Facebook friends: What are some of your favorite holiday traditions in the Hudson Valley? Here's what they had to say: "Christmas on the Farm with Eggbert at Devitt's Nursery in New Windsor. My parents took me every year and now I take my kids." — Kelly Halvorsen, Cornwall "Saltsman Christmas Tree Farm in Rhinebeck and Cornell Street Studios Holiday Craft Fair in Kingston on Saturday, Dec. 7." — Renee Darmstadt, Kingston "Visiting Santa Claus at Adam's Fairacre Farms in Kingston, and attending Christmas Eve midnight candlelight services at St. James UMC." — Tory Lowe, Kingston Mohonk Mountain House's award-winning pavilion ice rink makes our list of region's best places to skate. Check out the full story on page 30. Photo by Jim Smith Photography COLUMNS 6 Editor's Journal: We love our doctors. BY KATY WEBER 8 Child Behavior: Understanding Asperger's DR. PAUL SCHWARTZ BY 5 Family Life: Play with your food! 3 New Moms: Sleep safety tips 36 Calendar: Holiday events and more 45 Marketplace: Hudson Valley products and services 46 Dining Out: The Dautaj in Warwick ON OUR COVER This month's cover kid is Raquel, a 14-year-old from Poughkeepsie who loves horseback riding, cheerleading, acting, shopping and reading. Raquel was photographed at Ice Time Sports Complex in Newburgh. Photo by Kit DeFever; kitdefever.com 4 Hudson Valley Parent n December 2013 "The Christmas lights at the Poloniak house on Spanktown Road in Florida. They open their yard to the public and have an impressive display! I grew up in Florida and love to go to their house on Christmas Eve." — Alyssa Jahrling, Bloomingburg "We have a town decorating day the Saturday following Thanksgiving. Volunteers set up trees all through town and then families and friends choose a tree to decorate with lights, bows and silver painted pine cones. Once the sun goes down there is a huge parade of lights! Fire trucks, floats and much more!" — Amber O'Neil, Pine Plains