The stupid baby books said that around six weeks the baby would begin mimicking. If we stuck our tongue out, the baby would also stick his out. We tried and tried, but he just kept looking at us, and no mimicking occurred. I began to think it was all a farce, but then when I visited my friends Wenona and Eric with their new baby Zane, sure enough little six week old baby Zane would play mimic face, sticking tongues out when one of us did.
In the back of my head I was a little worried that Liam would never imitate, because imitation is a really big part of how you teach a child to do new things. But then one day Terry was sitting in the rocking chair in Liam's room, and this happened.
Its like the moment of contact with alien life in a good sci fi movie: imitation is the beginning of advanced communication.
I am hoping this will also be the beginning of him imitating different sounds, or even starting to pick up baby signs. We've been baby signing to him for more months than I care to admit now, and it isnt entirely clear that he understands them or has any desire to sign back. I hope this interest in imitation games will lead to bigger things in the future. I was always hoping (ok, in my head it was "sure") that he would be baby signing by christmas. He'll do things in his own time, but I'm so eager to actually communicate more with him and learn what he is thinking about.
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