The Bub in the Belly

Hello, how was your weekend? We had a fairly quiet weekend at home. I took advantage of the slowness to undertake a little sewing project for Rachel, but I haven't got a decent photo of it, will share when I do.

I had a gala dinner to attend on Friday night. I slipped into a slinky gown with a train and felt glamourous while Richard was left alone to fend for himself with our two children. I didn't get any SOS signals and I didn't have to rush home, so - job well done!

Some quick updates:

Rachel has been doing a half-flip throughout the past week. Lying flat on her back, she now turns over onto her side easily. Pretty soon, she will plop over onto her tummy! Exciting!

As with Ryan, I do not initiate "tummy-time" with Rachel. I simply place her on her back on a mattress, trusting that she will get onto her tummy in her own time, through her own process of self-discovery. There is lots of research which explains why parent-initiated "tummy-time" is not good (and incidentally, Montessori does not recommend parent-initiated "tummy-time" either). Read this excellent article, if you are interested. Among other things, it says, "When we place babies in positions that they are not yet able to achieve on their own, we may place them at risk of injury, of developing poor co-ordination and posture, and equally importantly, we risk cutting off their own inner agenda, and their self initiated exploration." Do watch the video of baby Liv in that article - excellent!

As for Ryan, he has been doing more jigsaw puzzles lately. The one in the photo above is a 25-piece puzzle from Orchard Toys called Dolls House. 25 pieces is a very comfortable size for him right now, he can complete it in a blink of an eye. We have introduced him to 54-piece puzzles, which he can still do, taking a longer time of course. He doesn't like to look at the picture provided for guidance; he usually just goes by colour, shape, etc. and maybe his gut feel?

I wanted to share this particular puzzle because we also use it to play "I Spy". I have been playing "I Spy" with Ryan when we are in the car and when we are just walking about outside. I play it as a phonics game - I ask Ryan, "I spy with my little eye, something that starts with /k/". Richard incorporated the game into this puzzle by "spying" objects in the puzzle and getting Ryan to point them out. For example, in the photo, Ryan is pointing out a dog. We also use it to talk about different rooms in a house - kitchen, bedroom, living room, etc. - so, it's really quite useful.