Asbury Park Press from Asbury Park, New Jersey • Page 76

JERSEY LIFE ONUHE INSIDE celebs 2 ante up 3 mi planner 4 puzzles 5 6 television 7 ASBURY PARK PRESS I JAN. 7, 2005 ASK BRANDY MIDI VMftnmm LJ vjU Li 5y Brandy Roon m. v. IS SV $sl Hi nnn 1 1 i ii II i Li A family that skis together stays together provides warmth and comfort. Seeing that restaurants such as Poncho's Wreck, the Silo, the Hermitage Inn and the Cup N' Saucer diner still were in business was an added bonus.

Needless to say, we didn't take one car to the cozy (read rented house just two miles from the slopes; it took two SUVs and two cars, all filled to the point that the rear- It's a boy! It's a girl! (How to tell) Q. Is there any truth to the myth that a baby's gender can be predicted by various symptoms or physical details of a pregnant woman? Lucy, 35, Monroe A. Meaning, if a father gains weight, it's a boy, and if the mother puts on a few extras pounds, it's a girl? No, but it's fun to think about. Let's take a look at some of those old wives' tales concerning a baby's gender: If a mom is carrying low, it is said to be a boy; high, a girl. Craving sweets? It's a girl.

Sours? It's a boy. A fetal heartbeat above 140 means it's a girl; below 140 and it's a boy. Acne during pregnancy a girl. None, a boy. As most people know, a baby's gender is determined through its father.

Dr. Robert Schmer-ling, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School, writes, "If the father provides the chromosome, the baby will be female, and if he supplies the chromosome, the baby will be male." Cut and dried. There are many books on the market that focus on this very subject. One that seems to get some good reviews is "How to Choose the Sex of Your Baby" by Landrum B. Shettles.

Another is "Baby Girl or Baby Boy: Determining the Sex of Your Child Explained in Plain and Simple Language" by Mark and Lisa Moore. I have read neither book, so you'll have to do some of your own research here. I've heard it said that couples who have three boys in a row believe their next child would have to be a girl, just based on the odds. But let's face it: You always have a 5050 chance of having either one or the other. Schmerling says there is the possibility of changing your chances for a baby of either sex that depends on when you try to conceive.

"Sperm carrying chromosomes apparently swim faster but do not survive as long as their X-carrying counterparts," he says. "So if a couple has intercourse right at the time of ovulation, the faster-swimming male sperm have an advantage, and a male baby is slightly more likely. "But if the timing is a day or two earlier, more of the male sperm die out, and a female baby is a bit more likely." He goes on to say that pinpointing the time of ovulation is difficult, though, so your chances of determining a baby's gender really don't change much. Though it could make for some interesting experimentation. Ask Brandy accepts questions on the bizarre, the ordinary and everything in between.

Questions are answered Fridays in the Jersey Life section of the As-bury Park Press. E-mail your question, name, age and town to or fax your information to (732) 643-4014. -i tp, By SAMANTHA CRITCHELL THE ASSOCIATED PRESS A four-generation ski trip to a picturesque and pastoral village in West Dover, sounded like the ideal family vacation. It had something for everyone: sports, shopping, great restaurants many of them with children's menus, ambient fireplaces and plenty of baby sitters, which to the mother of a 6-week-old baby might have been the most tempting of all. What we didn't realize until we packed for the two-week vacation at Mount Snow was that a vacation that had something for everyone meant bringing something for everyone about 10 times over.

In addition to the ski gear for six it was decided ahead of time that 91-year-old great-grandma and baby were probably better suited for lodge life there was the oatmeal, peanut butter, books, board games, Barbies, laptop computers, diapers, videos, art supplies, medicine, sleds, shampoo and econo-size bottles of laundry detergent that would sustain us for two weeks. And that's not including the three large dogs and their Top: Children and adults can have fun "tuber" rides at Mount Snow Ski Resort in Vermont. Above: Skiers take a lift to the top of one of the trails, (photos: associated press) view mirrors were unusable. We're a family that has been going to Mount Snow for years. My parents, now married 36 years, first met there and we had a second home in nearby Wilmington growing up, so the much-unchanged landscape is like a comfortable parka that The Mount Snow Valley, which spreads mostly over West Dover, Wilmington and Wardsboro, also has things to do for nonskiers or bad weather days.

In the Mountain Park Plaza, there is a "multiplex," See Snow, Page F2 Snowboarding is another activity available at the resort. OUR TOWNS Route 35 is just one part of eclectic Ocean Township I I -M! i i nesses that run along Route 35. Shoppers scurry up and down the Ocean Township part of the corridor that begins with Sears, Value City and Target at the old Seaview Square Mall site on the south end of Route 35. Shoppers traveling north from there can find the new Wegmans. The bargain mecca Tuesday Morning is on the west side of the road, and the fashionable favorite Pier One is on the east.

Actually, scurrying might be a bit of an overstatement if one attempts to venture east or west off Route 35 or needs to get to its opposite side. Here is where another side of Ocean Township tends to come into play. With 11 square miles, Ocean Township is one of the larger municipalities on the Jersey Shore, especially in the eastern part of Monmouth County, where most of the towns By KARYN D. COLLINS STAFF WRITER Ocean Township doesn't have an ocean running through it. And no, a river doesn't run through it, either.

But Ocean Township does have a sizeable portion of Deal Lake to the east. And, of course, there is the town's major artery, Route 35. It would be easy to identify Ocean Township solely by the many busi that surround it only measure 1 or 2 square miles. By contrast, Ocean Township is so large more than 27,000 call the township home, according to 2000 U.S. Census figures that residents typically identify themselves by such neighborhood names as West Al-lenhurst, West Deal, Wanamassa, Wayside and Oakhurst.

Some Ocean Township residents See Ocean, Page F2 0 1 v- lays Seaview Square Mall, Routes 35 and 66, is a major shopping and dining area in Ocean Township. (STAFF PHOTO MICHAEL SVPNIE1ASKI).