Morgan Month 8

Good physical progress being made this month. Huw & Joelle gave Morgan a swimming lesson and managed to get him to put his face under the water. He certainly enjoys the water. In the middle of the month he started to sit up by himself very well. He now does so very easily and sitting him in the high chair facilitates this. On Friday (15/05/09)he was on his knees holding onto the rails of his cot. He found it difficult getting down from this position. The next day, lo and behold, he was found standing and holding on to the top rail of his cot. Given his rapid commando-type crawl he is now making good physical progress.
He is enjoying his solid food now, especially the fruit. He eats it much more quickly, and is able to drink from a small cup. His banging is more constructive and he actually turns his plastic spoon so that he is able to hit with the rounded side, thus making a better sound. He gets pleasure from playing with spoons and small containers, and he is showing progressive dexterity in handling them.
He still follows his reading books and likes an action story such as Dancing Matilda. His cloth book is a favorite. He responds to his name more, and is now anticipating the tickle with “this little pig went to market ….” and “round and round the garden …”. His range of sounds continues to expand, and he constantly uses new ones as if he is experimenting with noises he can make. He responds more when on his walks, and at times interacts with certain people and even babies – and now takes more note of Baron. The family portrait photo shoot session was good, and he got on well with the photographers. He was particularly vocal at times, and seems to enjoy making his presence felt by his sometimes very frequent bellowing. When he is out of the house he is generally subdued because he is watching everything that is going on. When Keeran came to visit it was amusing to see the way he responded to Keeran hugging him. He allowed everyone to enjoy the family lunch at Original Sin by going to sleep early in the proceedings.
Having discovered that he can now stand up holding onto the top rail of his cot he spends most of his time getting up and down. It is hard work for him but he persists and is getting more proficient every day. He looked like Bambi on the ice at times and it appears so difficult for him to get his feet and legs into position – especially getting down. He stands up on waking and calls to let everyone know! This, plus his increasing ease when sitting, shows his increasing mastery of motor skills.
Morgan is getting steadier on his feet and moves around his cot with greater speed each day. He is becoming much more daring in releasing one hand and, on one occasion, he reached out with his left hand, held it up in the air, elevated his finger and kept this position for a few seconds. Early on he had attempted to reach the panda on the mattress to his left but loosened his right hand grip; he tumbled over and looked surprised. This was in marked contrast to the glee when, from a sitting position he tumbled over onto his back and laid there laughing.
He had a period of supervised standing and banging around the easy chair. His antics were punctuated with yelps like ‘eeh’ directed to me sitting on the sofa. He repeated this sound frequently and it seemed to be an attempt to draw attention to himself. He made the same sound later in playing with a series of soft toys when they were held away from him. This seems to be the first constructive and deliberate attempt by Morgan to communicate what he wanted to say that was comprehensible or decipherable. His eagerness to carry on practicing his new found skills means his daytime naps are shorter.
‘Haaay’ has now become his signature sound. It is clearly some sort of communication to draw attention, seek approval or simply to interact. He continues to be very attentive on occasions when people are talking at length. Sometimes he is particularly attentive when a story is being read to him and now seems to be able to identify certain pictures or scenes. He plays well with the Ark set that he has. He is particularly keen on Noah, Mrs. Noah and the giraffe figures as these are small and can be handled – and put in the mouth – with ease. Occasionally an effort is made to fit one of the geometrical shapes into the plastic ball but this is very hit or miss. Despite his developing ability to move around the cot Morgan is still happy to sit playing for extended periods with his bits and pieces.
He continues to develop physically. He is now quite capable of staying on his feet with just a precarious grip on railings or other supports. He enjoys the opportunity to move around holding on to chairs or benches. When he wants to pick something up he lowers himself and then gets up. However, at the end of the month he picked things up from a standing position by bending his knees. He discovered and developed this very quickly as we were watching him do this. Playing in his chair now features an element of provocation as he seems to deliberately drop items such as his small plastic spoons. He now shows approval when he goes out for his walk but is still usually quiet and concentrates on what is to be seen. He continues to enjoy the swimming pool, and looks the part in a swimming suit that gives complete protection from the sun.