Republican presidential nominee John McCain (R-AZ) and his vice presidential running mate Sarah Palin (R-AK) visit the Kansas City area on Monday for a rally in Lee's Summit . And McCain campaign officials are expecting a huge turnout.

What was initially penciled in as what the Missourinet was told would be a private McCain visit to Columbia was changed, over the weekend, to what Republicans are calling a "Road to Victory Rally," with that rally scheduled for Monday morning at 10:30 in Lee's Summit. No tickets are required for the event.

A statement from Wendy Riemann with the McCain campaign says, "Phones in our victory offices have been ringing off the hook from people looking for more information about Monday's Road to Victory Rally in Lee's Summit. The McCain/Palin ticket is committed to winning Missouri and we are looking forward to a great event."

The conventions are now history and the quest for Missouri's 11 electoral votes gets underway in earnest.

An official with the McCain campaign confirms Republican presidential nominee John McCain (R-AZ) will attend a private event in Columbia on Monday. He'll arrive Sunday afternoon or evening, overnight in Columbia, then visit a Columbia business before jetting off to another location. The name of the business could not be confirmed.

Democratic vice presidential nominee Jo Biden (D-DE) spends some time in Missouri on Tuesday. A press release from the Obama campaign states Biden will visit Missouri, but provides no other details.

Meanwhile, the head of the Democratic National Committee pays a visit to Missouri on Saturday. Howard Dean is touring the Midwest on what is billed as his "Register for Change" bus tour. It's a voter registration event which has scheduled a pair of stops in Missouri - the first in Columbia at 10:30 Saturday morning and the second in St. Louis at 2:30 pm.

Missouri delegates to the Republican National Convention have left or are leaving the Twin Cities of Minnesota, having taken part in four days of conventioneering at the site of the convention in Saint Paul, and hearing from numerous speakers throughout the area.

Among the speakers addressing the Missourians was former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, who puts national security issues at the top of his list of important issues that must be considered by voters in November. Bolton believes John McCain, with his experience in foreign policy, is best suited to lead the country. Bolton says the remaining time between now and November provide an opportunity for McCain and Democrat Barack Obama to discuss the threats and challenges faced by America. Bolton says there is a large gap between the two candidates' views.

Bolton was never approved by the Senate because Democrats filibustered and refused to allow an up or down vote on the nomination. He says that could be a problem in a McCain Administration, but believes the Senate would be much more willing to allow a new President to put his team in place.

Missouri Republicans who traveled to Saint Paul, Minnesota for the party's national convention are leaving or have left the Twin Cities and are headed home to the Show-Me State - energized!

Conservative icon Phyllis Schlafly of St. Louis, an alternate delegate to the convention, believes Alaska Governor and now GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin has brought a new force of energy to the Republican Party, which - only a few weeks ago - appeared to some political experts to be headed for disaster in November.

Schlafly says conservatives throughout the country like what they see in Palin, and even the news of the pregnancy of Palin's unmarried daughter, Bristol, hasn't hurt. Schlafly says part of the reason for that is that Bristol Palin chose life for her unborn child.

Schlafly doubts Democrats will spend a lot of time attacking Palin ... because, in Schlafly's view, that might backfire.

The American Physical Therapy Association is warning parents that infants who spend too much time on their backs risk developmental and cognitive delays such as misshapen heads, motor delays and under developed neck and back muscles.  Parents shouldn't be afraid to let their infants spend time on their stomachs while they're awake, said pediatric physical therapist Sue Allen of St. Louis.

"Anytime they see their child get on their stomach that's a natural occurrence," she said.

One way to get an infant used to being on their stomach is to start as soon as the baby comes home. A parent can rest the child on their chest and lean back into a reclining position. This gets the baby used to different pressure points.

"Often it's a struggle for parent caregiver to get a child to tolerate being on their tummy for any period of a time," Allen said. 

She said it's easy to safely work neck and back muscles using a simple toy, like a block or a doll.

"Be on their tummy and they'll look up and they'll see it on one side and you move it to the other side and so they're going to want to turn their head and when the ground is in the way then their going to pick their head up and turn it the other way," Allen said.

You want to go all the way around the child's head so they look behind, to each side and in front. Allen suggests putting the object at different levels and angles.