CatchaAAA!!!!

This is a fun game for everyone. Usually there are two parties involved: Maria and smb else but most often this is me. It is a great stimulation for movement and action which is crucial in any age. So, we proceed in the following way: Maria is lazily creeping on the floor… I appear behind her and loudly go to the floor with all four telling: I will catch you now! Catchaa! Catcha! Will Catch you in a second!..

I start to approach her loudly continuing to encourage her to run away from me. She somehow understands it (maybe it is an instinct) and moves away as fast as she can. We both laugh crazily and both move – it is enjoyable!

Of course, soon I reach her but I allow some time for her to move forward. When I catch her I hug and kiss her! Then we change our roles and she tries to catch me. I am not creeping very fast to allow her to catch me to, so she can feel proud of herself!

Age of Learning

7-8-9 months is a wonderful time for studying. At this age children start to consciously respond to the requests and remarks of the adults. It is a great time for exploring the world and developing the skill to study, which, I am sure, will definitely benefit the child in adult life.

I’ve noticed Maria is able to memorize lots and lots of information every day. We are looking through the book and I show her various animals, Sun, a boy, a girl, a house etc. painted in the book. Later I ask: “Sun.. Where is the Sun? ” and she shows it to me with her little fingers. Of course, if she is right I always praise her. If she is not, I show the thing myself. She seems to be fond of demonstrating her knowledge. I know, Glenn Doman does not approve testing of the child, but I see she likes it and I know that my efforts are not in vain.

We started with just 2 things on one page: a lion and a turtle. Now she can show me almost all things painted in the book. The “lesson” (if I may say so) is relatively short, we stop studying when she is still not tired.

Our studies are not limited by the book, we study the things surrounding us. Frankly, this learning was started by my parents who patiently were showing the things around and explaining their qualities. Now Maria has fun when studying all around.

Second Wave

Hmm… Maria seems to be growing up fast and to demonstrate her character, her likes and dislikes. First, we seized to read books every day, which became impossible as Maria did not want to lie down, she wanted to move around. Second, we stopped to dive in the pool, which was most probably because of fear. Third, which was quite a recent behaviour demonstration, we stopped doing gymnastics – a great dislike when somebody tried to do smth (to bent knees or to raise hands) with Maria.

First and second issues lasted for 1.5 -2 months (third is still in process). And finally… we started to read books and dive again, but these things are done now with putting in much more sense, thought and emotions that it was before. Now Maria likes to turn over the pages herself, to look through the pictures, to listen to the poems (hope, soon she would be glad to listen to some fairy tales, too). She does not mind diving in the pool, she even seem to feel proud of herself after she dives out.

Watching this behaviour, I can conclude that one definitely needs a pause in doing smth. Afterwards, we can hope that baby will continue doing it, even with much greater wish and power.

Airplane

Definitely children need to feel their closest people; they need to touch their mums and dads. They love also tactile games.

We play a very short but efficient game (I always manage to lift Maria’s mood with this game) calling it “Airplane”. The game is as follows: we imagine that my hand is an airplane, which slowly approaches Maria with the appropriate sound, crashes into her and starts to tickle her. LOL both of us! And then start it once again while we are not bored with it =D!