Today being both relatively quiet and oppressively hot, it was a great opportunity to reflect on what Mimi has been learning. A lot can happen in a week.
Motor Skills:
Mimi has made tremendous strides recently with her gross motor skill development. She has been slightly delayed with crawling and cruising, as was confirmed by her pediatrician, but over this past week she has excelled in both. When Mimi first started exploring our apartment, she'd do so by scooting. She'd sit on her butt, extend her legs, and then yank them back in, scooting forward as she did. After a few weeks she was racing around the apartment. Unfortunately, because she could scoot, which enabled her to both explore the apartment and to reach most of her toys, she was well behind when it came to crawling, sitting up, or standing. She just couldn't be bothered.
Eventually she started doing a bit of crawling on her own, but it wasn't until this past week that everything has come together. She's now crawling on all fours, faster than she can scoot, and she's cruising from one couch to the other. When she first started cruising, she enjoyed it, but would become anxious when it came time to sit down. She just wasn't sure how to do it. She's now switching from standing to sitting with ease, at least with the help of the sofa. The sofa seems to be key, though. When holding on to anything else, such as a dining table chair or her play house, she draws a blank when it comes time to sit down. I watched her struggle today with this, but didn't provide help right away. I held back and let her try to figure it out on her own. Eventually, with a little support to stabilize her, she found her way down. She was so proud of herself that she clapped and giggled. It's so amazing to see the sense of accomplishment on her face with each of her little successes.
While getting down from the couch today, Mimi inadvertently sat on a basket. It was like she was sitting on a chair and, to my surprise, it completely disoriented her. I took her off her new "seat" and placed her on a pillow, which was a bit more familiar. She eventually figured out how to get down from there and, again, was very proud.
Lastly, Mimi is beginning to cuddle. This is so cute to watch! At first she'd only lay her head down on Mama's shoulder, but now that I'm home, she's starting to do this with me as well. She's also beginning to cuddle her stuffed dog. Perhaps the best thing, though, is when she's cuddling one of us she'll mimic our actions: she's taken to patting our backs!
Cognitive Skills:
Mimi's cognitive skills are coming along as well, particularly when it comes to language. She is a constant babbler these days, and what she babbles seems to be getting more complex. She's gone from "di-do, di-do, ah, ooooo," to multi-syllable babbles like "gojibadu." I have no idea what it means, but she seems to enjoy it.
She can still only use one word effectively - "wan-wan," which means doggy - in terms of object recognition. However, her listening vocabulary is getting better. She consistently seems to identify "Mama," "Papa," "Chu and Kissu" (both "kiss" in Japanese, and she'll follow the command), "Kutsuita" (which means "stuck together" in Japanese. When said, she'll touch her head to ours), Grandma, Grandpa, and several character names from books.
I think that books have had a significant impact on her development. Many of the words she knows come from the stories we share. For instance, "kutsuita" is a book about different animals getting "stuck together" and ends with a mom, dad, and baby cuddling. It's very cute and one of Mimi's favorites. Another book, "Colors," has a picture of a bear in it. On one reading, Sumie made a growling sound for the bear, which scared Mimi a bit. She's kept this in her mind and with each read, she remembers the sound and actively hunts for the bear. We're teaching her how to turn pages. It takes a bit longer, and can be a bit confusing given that Japanese and English books work in different ways, but it's allowed Mimi to search books for her favorite characters.
Over the past week Mimi has requested that the same book be read multiple times. She has always loved books, but she was a bit of a frenetic reader. Each night we'd have every single book she owns pulled from her book rack and strewn on the floor. We'd dive into one book, perhaps only a page deep, and then she'd look for another. It was nice to see she was interested, but it made for an awful mess.
With time, though, she started sitting through specific books a bit longer. It seemed her attention span was improving. I was happy to see this, but not as excited as I was to find her requesting the same book over and over. I think that this is a huge milestone in terms of her cognitive development. She is now beginning to discover that the images in the books may be connected, that there is a common thread knitting them together. This is perhaps the first step in following a narrative, beginning to comprehend a simple story, and I'm ecstatic to see my daughter on this track.
There's so much more to share, but given that I'm typing this with Mimi on my lap, and she has just figured out how to use the touch pad on the laptop, it's time to sign off. If you have any questions on what she's been learning, feel free to post them in the comments section and I'll respond. Considering the best path for her ongoing development is perhaps my favorite aspect of my new "job."
-Steve
1 comment:
I remember the funny words Steve. Gina used to say, Phabeedo. Not sure what that meant! It's fun to hear about Mimi's changes and milestones.
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