A NEW THING ARRIVES IN THE GARDEN

What are those boys doing? We were being observed by a tiny child with big eyes. The swing was being organised and two brothers were busily trying to strap a tyre to the straps. After a couple of attempts on a dodgy stepladder it was ready for testing.

Theia was busy watching proceedings and smiling at us through the window. The boys can't play for much longer than a few minutes without looking over to Theia and smiling.

The garden is going to be a lovely place for her to play when the weather improves. Having said that the mothers of children in Scandinavia place their children out in the lowest temperatures. Inuit children play freely jumping from ice floe to ice floe. Perhaps we have become too over protective in the west.

We continue to sing and read stories to Theia (no TV) and she is responding very well. We watch as she tries to mouth sounds replicating our movements. Theia is sitting up independently now but still slightly wobbly. She was 7 months old today (1 year and 6 months if you count from conception).

Teeth

Those teeth are causing pain. Theia is very good but now and then the pain sets her off and she bites as hard as she can on her hand. Her attempts to crawl are quite funny to watch. At the moment she has her head on the floor and then she brings her feet up so that her legs are fully extended. It s more like a handstand position than a crawl.

Her vocal noises are changing and there is more variety in the sounds she is making. The changes are so slight at this stage but then it explodes. Montessori observed this and wrote about it. What we are observing is the child's absorbent mind at work.

The Absorbent mind is an unconscious, creative and non-selective process by which the brain takes in everything from the environment, takes it in like a sponge, forming neural pathways and connections.  The brain in the post-natal period is purposely not neurologically fixed so that each child can adapt to the needs dictated by his environment.  This not only allows for variation in behavior but also for change and creativity.  Infants are born into different environments, different cultures all over the world and the Absorbent Mind allows them to adapt to their “time, place and group”. It is a process from which the child grows and the culture that the child is born into is perpetuated.  It is a fundamental mechanism for survival.

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Pasg Hapus - Happy Easter No Theia did not make the bonnet but many children around the world would have made an Easter Bonnet. Theia is teething at the moment so everything she picks up gets put in her mouth. It does look painful as she contorts her body when the pain comes. As adults we do not suffer the same pain threshold. Little is known of that pain during teething. It could be excruciating but they have no way of telling us other than crying. We use a teether which can be placed in the fridge to cool the gel inside.We have never used any of the oral gels or creams because we know how sensitive their digestive systems are at this stage. Theia is being breast fed and will continue to do so until the time is right. All our children have been breast fed and they have never really suffered any chronic illnesses or complaints of the skin, etc. Theia was a large baby at birth weighing 9lb 7ozs. It was a difficult labour for Angharad. When Theia arrived she was alert and all the children were there to greet her. The last 6 months has flown by and I should have documented her progress. I did take some pictures and I will try and enter the memories in subsequent posts. The aim of this blog is to provide a running record of her development but also for Theia to look back on as an early life diary. Developmental milestones at this stage are that Theia is sitting up on her own but is slightly wobbly. She has said her first words and she is already playing games like peek a boo. Theia communicates with us by shouting out when we are not near especially if she has a dirty nappy. Theia has bonded with the other children and will go to all of them for long periods and play. Her sleep patterns are good only waking now and then for a feed or if the teething is an issue. Her first teeth are about to come through. Theia has already shown an interest in what is on the computer screen. She also has a little pad she can press to get songs and stories and she has begin to press those pads. She has a playmat with some rails above. We attached some items to the rails and one of them made a sound when it was moved. We noticed that Theia positioned herself so that her feet were on the rails. She would then kick the rails with her feet to get the sounds. We moved her to see if she would reposition herself and she did. Theia is beginning to crawl now. She can roll over a couple of times. Interestingly her first movements were on her back. She would move along the floor on her back. She is also holding out her arms when you go to pick her up. Theia is also beginning to eat solids. She is being weaned on organic fruit porridge. That is it for now. I will upload the previous 6 months photos to slideshow. Many thanks for stopping by.