Generally speaking, most babies begin to follow an object in a full 180-degree arc, from one side to the other, by three months. I noticed DD could follow a rattle by the end of her second month. She discovered her own hands as the most fascinating tools she could use. Her body also became stronger (see Baby growing, month 3). Therefore, her baby training during month 3 combines hearing, version and muscle excises.

These are the games I play with DD in order to give her more stimulation to her sense of sight, hearing, or touch:

1. Kicking the blanket: DD is an active baby. She began to practice kicking even before she was born. She always kicks, either left leg, right leg, or both legs. First, I covered her lower body with a soft and thin baby wrapping blanket. Quickly she kicked it off.

Then I put the blanket over her stomach. Since her feet couldn’t touch the blanket, she didn’t know how to kick it off. She was frustrated. But I just smiled at her and didn’t step forward to help. She figured it out herself. She twisted and turned her body to gradually inch out. Once her feet could touch the blanket, shortly the blanket was off.

2. Moving a colorful rattle: I held a rattle with high-contrast colors, such as red and yellow, in front of her face. Then I moved the rattle 180 degrees, from the left to the right and from the top to the bottom. Sometimes she followed the rattle by moving her head.

I also placed the rattle close to her hand and encouraged her to reach for it. If she showed any interest, I would put the rattle into her hand and shook her hand together with the rattle. She was delighted by the noise made by the rattle.

3. Eyes-to-eyes: When her eyes locked mine, I would move my head slowly from side to side, and watched her eyes following my movements.

4. Watching pictures: I showed her pictures of men, women, children and seniors from magazines and books. Most times I showed her smiling faces, and talked to her, like “look at this cute baby. She is a pretty little girl. She is smiling. She is happy” or “this is a boy. He is crying. He is not happy. Why? Because he is hungry”.

Later I showed her Minnie Mouse picture book. When I turned the pages, I run the commentary like this:
Who is this lovely little girl? Her name is Minnie. She likes to dress up! Minnie can do the hula. She is also the cheerleader. Look! Minnie is dancing and yelling ‘Ya-a-a-y, team!’ DD, do you want to be a cheerleader too? I think you will become a good one…

Related posts:
Pre- and perinatal education
Parents: child’s life-time teachers
Healthy eating for baby
Baby training: month 1-2

Tags: Baby Training | Baby Training, Baby's Growth, First Year, From Lina | Lina | October 14, 2008 11:30 am | Comments (0)