Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Updates on Rachel


Rachel is getting to be extremely expressive. She doesn't know many words yet but that hasn't stopped her. She carries on as if babbling is a language, complete with different intonations, rhythms and changes in volume. Most delicious of all are her gurgles. And her giggles? Oh my, they are so infectious. She's our ray of sunshine.

Babydoll is growing well, eating well. Her top two teeth sprouted without any fuss, so now she can really bite into biscuits and crackers. I am giving her less breastmilk compared to what Ryan was getting at her age, because she is happy to take solid food unlike Ryan. Having said that, her breastmilk intake should be still about one liter a day, or slightly less.



I am starting to introduce some basic concepts to Rachel. I tell her about big and small, as well as top and bottom, using whatever we have around the house. She doesn't sit still very long, so I keep it quick and simple. I point and say "Big", point and say "Small", repeat a couple of times (or for as long as she is still around). That's it.

Rachel is also getting exposure to these basic concepts in her Shichida and Heguru classes now, so it is a good time to coordinate the learning at home with what is happening in class.

One tip I learned from Montessori: in these presentations, it is a lot more effective to use items that are identical in all respects except for that one characteristic that you want to highlight. So, for a Big and Small presentation, everything should be the same except for the size of the objects. As Rachel does not know her colours yet, it can be confusing for her if I were to show her a big red spoon and a small blue spoon and expect her to know that the words "Big" and "Small" refer to the difference in size rather than the difference in colour.



On a more sentimental note, I don't know if it's just me, but I feel as if Rachel is growing up faster than Ryan did. She seems so eager to grow up, to join the older children, to dive into everything that life has to offer. She's always on the go, as if she needs to catch up, catch up, catch up! Whenever I swoop in for a hug, she always squirms away unless I lift her high into my arms. I want to tell her to slow down, to be still, to be my baby for as long as I need her to be. Can I hit the pause button please?

1 comments:

My Amazing Days said...

Oh, she is so cute!!! I love little babies and toddlers. Thank you so much for your birthday wishes :D

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