Tuesday 23 June 2009

Maya moves forward.

Not being able to move forward has been a source of frustration for Maya. She would see something just out of her reach and not be able to grab it. For weeks now I have watched her flap her legs and then groan or even cry in frustration.

I decided to see if there was a way I could help her to learn to crawl. I was either told that there is nothing I could do or that it's much better if she doesn't crawl.

Well I knew that before babies crawl they often start by getting up on their knees and rocking. So I held Maya up on her knees, rocked her and said "weeeeeeeeeeeee". She laughed and smiled. I had created a fun game. :) We did this a couple of times a day over a few days. Then I noticed she would get up on her knees without me. Only briefly - but it was a start. Next I noticed that if I said "weeeeeeeeeee" she would automatically get up on her knees and rock. I realised that I had in fact taught her how to get up on her knees and she associated a word with an action. Then yesterday as she was playing she realised she could inch forwards if she got up on her knees. I managed to capture this on the video below.

Not only am I extremely proud of my darling daughter of picking up this new skill so quickly but I am proud of myself for teaching and guiding her towards this new achievement.

Plus as a bonus she is now less frustrated.

Monday 22 June 2009

Maya's first word.

For about a month now Maya has been saying "Dada" and I finally caught it on video.

Tuesday 9 June 2009

Cause and effect.

Maya is discovering that she can make things happen. Yesterday she kept picking up the rug and dropping it - If I pick this up and let go, it will fall. I've also noticed that Maya now gets upset when something is taken off her. Before I would take something she was playing with and she wouldn't react at all. Now she gets annoyed and upset. I guess I would too if someone took something off me while I was using it!

Thursday 4 June 2009

Turning in circles.

Maya is adept at moving about now, using a combination of rolling and turning. Recently she also discovered that she can move backwards by pushing with her hands. However, she is yet to discover how to move forwards and at the moment this is a source of frustration for her.