Morgan Week 10

Morgan continues to expand his repertoire of sounds, expressions and gestures. As noted last week, crying is no longer the only signal he uses when he is starting to feel hungry. He makes quite demanding noises that merge into louder ones that are almost shouts. Inevitably this then becomes his powerful cry for food but it is good to see him going through a gamut of orders at this stage! In response to talking he has also expanded his range of expressions and sounds. His looks range from the serene to the quizzical and he seems to look quite disdainful when he is clearly no longer prepared to tolerate my clowning. In contrast, he seems to respond to and focus on the much more low key interaction Margaret and Joelle effects with him. He appears to select his responses in accord with the mode of communication used.
Physical progress has also been made. He now grasps a finger and smaller objects much more firmly. The grasping toys attract him and he even seemed to reach out to one of them as it dangled above him. As yet there does not appear to be any awareness of externals or that objects are there to be grasped or manipulated. In this he is still at a passive stage and has to be more or less encouraged to grasp and hold. He continues to be vigorous and throws his arms and legs about with great gusto. In so doing he knocks his cot companions about with unconscious glee – it will be interesting to see when he begins to realise that he is able to do this with intent and purposes. He likes to be in the little chair in which he seems to be lulled into a quiet mood through gentle rocking, and this is preferable to being carried in the sarong. In short, he is developing well, physically.
His attention spans are certainly extending. This is most notable with the mobiles. It is now possible to leave him for longish spells watching these with interest. It is now quite clear that he looks at them individually. This can be observed because Joelle has devised quite a wide range of contrasting pictures on the mobiles. For example, he keeps his eyes on the monkey figure as it goes further round in a clockwise direction, and clearly ignores the replacement above him as his attention remains fixed on the monkey. Margaret gets good responses from Morgan with the 3D mobile during her morning ‘exercises’ with him. He also seems to focus on and become engaged with the bears when they are put on the rails of his cot. Margaret sensed that he was puzzled one morning because they did not speak to him. He certainly pays great attention to the shape of the mouth and facial expressions when being talked to. The library story books are a boon and he is starting to notice the pictures. Margaret senses from his responses that the Brandenburgs please him best; he digs Bach! Indeed, jigging his legs and arms to music does seem to induce a good mood. This is also indicated by his responses to Welsh songs and action activities also.
He seems comfortable in company. He responded well to Rowena from the start. In addition, he took a big family gathering in his stride on the Saturday and managed to exchange pleasantries with Keeran! A walk with Grandpa and Grandma around the block proved soporific and induced sleep; this was duly noted! Morgan has commenced his third month in good form!