Friday, April 23, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Learning Life Skills
I have wanted to be more disciplined about posting something on the 30th of each month to reflect on all the new preferences and skills and personality traits that Liam has developed in that month of his life, but sometimes little moments are so fantastic, that I just have to write about them when they happen. It isnt even something bit or momentous this time. It is just a hundred little ways that he is becoming his own independent person.
For a while he has been demonstrating a desire to put things around his neck. At Miss Ariana's house there is a large wooden bead necklace that he is frequently wearing when we come to pick him up. He also loves to put goggles around his neck and let them hang there like a necklace. Sometimes he tries to put my sunglasses around his neck and then looks all confused and perturbed when they don't actually hang around his neck.
This morning he was doing the usual "around my neck" motion with a sock he picked up off the top of his dresser. So I took his t-shirt for the day and opened the bottom up so he could hold it in his hands, and sure enough, he put the shirt on and got it down around his head. Then he took it off. Then back on. Then off.
The Montessori book I had read emphasized that children learn meaningful tasks for the pleasure of doing them, not the pragmatic end result (getting the shirt on). That they repeat cycles of activity as a means of building up competency. And there he was doing it in front of my very eyes. He needed a little help for me to position the arm holes for him to (eventually) get the whole shirt on. But he could do it 80% by himself.
It also emphasized for me how much I think Montessori is right on in allowing children to move at their own pace, but also recognizing that it may mean that kids are ready for a real life skill way before current experts think they are. Liam can competently use a small fork all by himself to eat an entire banana, or any other food that is cubed and soft enough to pierce with the fork tines. Our Early Intervention Teacher tells us that is usually considered a skill for 2 year olds and higher. But he was actually able to use a fork the very first time we ever gave him one (around 13.5 months). Montessori lists "setting the table" as a skill for a 16-18 month old, whereas my Parents magazine suggests it is for a six YEAR old. Likewise, our teacher was impressed with how long he was able to concentrate on a skill. We were working with her music box yesterday trying to get Liam to be more precise in his signing of "more" and he worked consistently without getting distracted or wandering off for about 12 minutes. The teacher said she usually considers 2-4 minutes a victory. I've seen him work at the same task over and over for almost 20 minutes if he gets really absorbed by it.
I think it is fantastic, and it encourages me to stay back sometimes, not to hover over him and be constantly ready to provide parental entertainment and assistance, but to allow him to experience his environment and to figure it out for himself when he encounters a challenge.
Right now, what prompted me to write, is the sweet and consistent concentration he is giving to his shoes. While Grandma and Pops McDonnell were in town we went shopping and they bought Liam a nice pair of summer sandals with velcro. For the last ten minutes he has been patiently sitting on the floor undoing and redoing the velcro straps. Occasionally he will take a break from the straps and hold the shoe up to his feet as though he's trying to put it on. Once I also saw him set the shoe on the floor in front of him, get up onto his feet and then very carefully step his foot on top of the shoe. He will also sometimes try to step into my shoes or terry's shoes if they are left out where he can find them. Of course the shoe didn't magically afix itself to his foot, but that's some good thinking buddy!
For a while he has been demonstrating a desire to put things around his neck. At Miss Ariana's house there is a large wooden bead necklace that he is frequently wearing when we come to pick him up. He also loves to put goggles around his neck and let them hang there like a necklace. Sometimes he tries to put my sunglasses around his neck and then looks all confused and perturbed when they don't actually hang around his neck.
This morning he was doing the usual "around my neck" motion with a sock he picked up off the top of his dresser. So I took his t-shirt for the day and opened the bottom up so he could hold it in his hands, and sure enough, he put the shirt on and got it down around his head. Then he took it off. Then back on. Then off.
The Montessori book I had read emphasized that children learn meaningful tasks for the pleasure of doing them, not the pragmatic end result (getting the shirt on). That they repeat cycles of activity as a means of building up competency. And there he was doing it in front of my very eyes. He needed a little help for me to position the arm holes for him to (eventually) get the whole shirt on. But he could do it 80% by himself.
It also emphasized for me how much I think Montessori is right on in allowing children to move at their own pace, but also recognizing that it may mean that kids are ready for a real life skill way before current experts think they are. Liam can competently use a small fork all by himself to eat an entire banana, or any other food that is cubed and soft enough to pierce with the fork tines. Our Early Intervention Teacher tells us that is usually considered a skill for 2 year olds and higher. But he was actually able to use a fork the very first time we ever gave him one (around 13.5 months). Montessori lists "setting the table" as a skill for a 16-18 month old, whereas my Parents magazine suggests it is for a six YEAR old. Likewise, our teacher was impressed with how long he was able to concentrate on a skill. We were working with her music box yesterday trying to get Liam to be more precise in his signing of "more" and he worked consistently without getting distracted or wandering off for about 12 minutes. The teacher said she usually considers 2-4 minutes a victory. I've seen him work at the same task over and over for almost 20 minutes if he gets really absorbed by it.
I think it is fantastic, and it encourages me to stay back sometimes, not to hover over him and be constantly ready to provide parental entertainment and assistance, but to allow him to experience his environment and to figure it out for himself when he encounters a challenge.
Right now, what prompted me to write, is the sweet and consistent concentration he is giving to his shoes. While Grandma and Pops McDonnell were in town we went shopping and they bought Liam a nice pair of summer sandals with velcro. For the last ten minutes he has been patiently sitting on the floor undoing and redoing the velcro straps. Occasionally he will take a break from the straps and hold the shoe up to his feet as though he's trying to put it on. Once I also saw him set the shoe on the floor in front of him, get up onto his feet and then very carefully step his foot on top of the shoe. He will also sometimes try to step into my shoes or terry's shoes if they are left out where he can find them. Of course the shoe didn't magically afix itself to his foot, but that's some good thinking buddy!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
First Words!
This will be a quickie post because I'm in Evanston preparing for a presentation for the department, but I wanted to be sure to let everyone know: Liam said his first word!
Sunday night it started with him imitating the "woof woof" sound in his Boynton "Puppies barking and counting" board book. Every time I got to "five dogs woof woof" he would say very quietly "woof" and when we got to "9 dogs in the moonlight aahhhhooooo" he would say "aooo" We were thrilled that he was imitating sounds he heard. And we didnt have to wait long.
The next morning there was an orange on the floor in the kitchen that I had been letting him play with. He saw it, and the entire time he was crawling towards it, he said "bah, bah bah" and when he picked it up he proudly said "bah!" and held it out to me. We put him through the paces, putting several different things on the table in front of him and saying "Liam, which one is the ball?" and each time he would pick up the ball, hold it out and say "Bah!"
This morning while feeding him breakfast before we headed to the airport I could swear he started to say "more" as well. We do the baby signs religiously at every meal, so he signs for "eat" and then "more" when he wants more. I asked him "more?" and he made the sign and said "mah." Each time he repeated the sign, he said "mah."
What an awesome little baby. No video yet though. He is too enamored of the camera so when he sees it he stops what he's doing. Will keep trying.
side note, in case you are wondering: I'm glad for the help the early intervention teacher gave us to really get signing and language practice going for him. And even if this would have happened on its own without any help from us, I'd still rather be wrong (about him needing help) than too stubborn or proud to get him help he may have needed. My understanding is that we continue with the Early Intervention teacher once a week for at least 6 months when he will be re-evaluated, and that if at any time we want to quit the program before then we may.
Sunday night it started with him imitating the "woof woof" sound in his Boynton "Puppies barking and counting" board book. Every time I got to "five dogs woof woof" he would say very quietly "woof" and when we got to "9 dogs in the moonlight aahhhhooooo" he would say "aooo" We were thrilled that he was imitating sounds he heard. And we didnt have to wait long.
The next morning there was an orange on the floor in the kitchen that I had been letting him play with. He saw it, and the entire time he was crawling towards it, he said "bah, bah bah" and when he picked it up he proudly said "bah!" and held it out to me. We put him through the paces, putting several different things on the table in front of him and saying "Liam, which one is the ball?" and each time he would pick up the ball, hold it out and say "Bah!"
This morning while feeding him breakfast before we headed to the airport I could swear he started to say "more" as well. We do the baby signs religiously at every meal, so he signs for "eat" and then "more" when he wants more. I asked him "more?" and he made the sign and said "mah." Each time he repeated the sign, he said "mah."
What an awesome little baby. No video yet though. He is too enamored of the camera so when he sees it he stops what he's doing. Will keep trying.
side note, in case you are wondering: I'm glad for the help the early intervention teacher gave us to really get signing and language practice going for him. And even if this would have happened on its own without any help from us, I'd still rather be wrong (about him needing help) than too stubborn or proud to get him help he may have needed. My understanding is that we continue with the Early Intervention teacher once a week for at least 6 months when he will be re-evaluated, and that if at any time we want to quit the program before then we may.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Darth Baby
Liam went through a weird phase where he seemed really interested in breathing through objects. We gave him one of those long decorative plastic straws that is sort of crinkled like an acordion all along its length. He quickly learned that he could breathe out it rapidly and make a sound like a flute. But mostly he liked sitting around and breathing deeply through the straw like some creepy crank caller.
Ditto when he managed to pull down the wine aerator off the shelf. He plopped it right in his mouth and started that silly deep noisy breathing. Darth [breathe, breathe] I am your baby.
And yes, I supervised his use of the aerator the entire time and shortly after this video I took it away from him and removed it to a higher shelf.
Ditto when he managed to pull down the wine aerator off the shelf. He plopped it right in his mouth and started that silly deep noisy breathing. Darth [breathe, breathe] I am your baby.
And yes, I supervised his use of the aerator the entire time and shortly after this video I took it away from him and removed it to a higher shelf.
Monkey Joes Slide
Remember me talking about how much Liam loved going to Monkey Joes, the kids place full of inflated play areas? This clip gives you a little idea, though without a separate camera man, it was hard for me to capture the look of total rapture on his face. you can sort of tell by the way he tries to climb up the slide on his own at the end...
Peekaboo Pantry
I would say that Peekaboo is, hands down, Liam's favorite game. He loves all forms of the game. He likes hiding his face behind the curtains while I change his diaper and then peeking out. He likes hiding under a piece of laundry that he steals from the couch while I'm folding a load. His favorite book is a peekaboo book where he finds things that are hiding behind other things, and every single time he uncovers the elephant and I read "peekaboo! braaaloooo" he laughs like he's never heard it before.
He likes crawling up on the bed in the morning and uncovering Daddy's sleeping head from beneath the covers--peekaboo alarm clock. And he will even on occasion hide behind his own hands and play a straight peekaboo game. People who try to play just the hands part of peekaboo, hiding and uncovering their face silently, that's okay. But throw in a good enthusiastic proclamation "peekaboo!" and he falls over in gales of giggles. If it is his first discernible word I would not be surprised.
But by far and away his favorite incarnation of the game is peekaboo pantry. Whenever the pantry door is even slightly ajar, he crawls inside, gets himself seated, and...well, I won't spoil the rest. Just take a look for yourself.
The other thing that I find precious about this video is that there are not a lot of domains where it seems clear that he is reacting to verbal speech in a particular way, but in this video you can see that he opens the door when I talk about "where's Liam?" and the one time I wait for a while without saying anything, he also waits inside without opening the door.
He likes crawling up on the bed in the morning and uncovering Daddy's sleeping head from beneath the covers--peekaboo alarm clock. And he will even on occasion hide behind his own hands and play a straight peekaboo game. People who try to play just the hands part of peekaboo, hiding and uncovering their face silently, that's okay. But throw in a good enthusiastic proclamation "peekaboo!" and he falls over in gales of giggles. If it is his first discernible word I would not be surprised.
But by far and away his favorite incarnation of the game is peekaboo pantry. Whenever the pantry door is even slightly ajar, he crawls inside, gets himself seated, and...well, I won't spoil the rest. Just take a look for yourself.
The other thing that I find precious about this video is that there are not a lot of domains where it seems clear that he is reacting to verbal speech in a particular way, but in this video you can see that he opens the door when I talk about "where's Liam?" and the one time I wait for a while without saying anything, he also waits inside without opening the door.
Pbllllllt
For the life of me I cant recall if I already posted this, but it seems like not. Its from December 11th, before we left on the great holiday tour of 2009. This was the first time we saw Liam doing intentional mimicking, so I like to think of it as the dawn on baby communication.
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