Jasmin is showing first signs of analyzing the world
around her. She is also showing good taste, especially for diamonds and
glittery stuff, just as a little girl should.
Jasmin’s has been going to a daycare center for the last two
months and has been getting endless compliments form the care takers there
about her gentleness and good temper. She eats well and with eagerness, plays
happily, she is adorable (of course) and is always looking about her, so they
say. Recently a new compliment has been added, the team of care givers argue
that Jasmin understands everything. As a mother, I could never argue against a
claim that my daughter is intelligent, yet I admit that I too have been
observing first signs that Jasmin is analyzing her environment and slowly
begins to communicate with people around her and widen her ability to explore
her surroundings.
The first leap came with the ability to crawl properly and
not just on her belly (at the age of 5 months). Then she stood up hanging onto furniture
(7 months) and after that came the ability to sit and climb stairs on her hands
and knees (8 months for the stairs, 9 months for completely sitting up). All
this means Jasmin is mobile and exploring. To this preliminary set of skills is
no added that of response to her environment.
Examples of such responses have already occurred at the
early stages, when she brings her head towards mine in response to me leaning
my head towards hers and making a sound that is a tradition in the family for
this kind of first baby game (the game is putting heads together and smiling
when it works - i.e. the baby responds in kind to the tilt of the head). By the
advanced age of 8 months Jasmin can actually play ball! She roles the ball to
me (albeit a bit awkwardly) and is happy when I role it back. She asks to be
picked up by coming close and raising her hands in the air (an advancement on
the action of thumping her foot against the floor at the age of 4 months).
She is now 9 months old and she puts her hands on her head
in response to a children’s rhyme “clap clap clap, 123 hand on your head “. I
first demonstrated the movements to the song holding her hands, clapping them
and then putting them on her head, she now holds my hands and goes through the
moves. She looks for positive feedback, throwing big smiles at me especially
when she places her hands and mine on her head.
So far, she has shown particular responses to people, but
just yesterday I observed a behavior that shows she begins to understand the
environment. And this is where the diamonds come in. Well, not real ones
actually but rather a picture of scattered diamonds and glittery stones. In her
routine rambles about mommy’s bedroom, Jasmin saw a commercial for some jewelry
on my chest and took immediate possession of the piece of paper it was on.
After looking at it shortly she started attempting to pick out the stones from
the paper, trying to grab the glittery objects she was so clearly seeing. It
was fascinating to see her testing the paper, testing it, and then trying once
more to grab at the stones.
I know Jasmin can
pick up little objects between her thumb and finger; she has been picking crumbs
off the kitchen floor (and shoving then as well as small pieces of paper her
brother leaves behind into her mouth) for the last two months, but it’s the first
time I have seen her trying to grab at an image. I guess its all part of the
learning process. Babies must explore and understand what is the real thing and
what is just an image. Still she is developing expensive taste quite early in
life…Until she can afford a diamond necklace, she will have to settle for some
very attractive images, or compromise on tossing the contents of mommy’s closet
on the floor for self gratification.
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The chair as a mirror for our little beauty queen
