Morgan seems to be developing exponentially in the physical sense. Playing stretching games in his cot seems to give him an incentive to extend himself all the time. In addition to reaching out he manoeuvres his body so that he moves forward from one part of the cot to another by simply rolling over. Another feature of his development is his capacity to raise himself with his arms. He has now reached a stage where he is able to push himself up so that he rests on his hands and not his arms. This is accompanied by a marked arching of his neck and upper back so that he is now able to look almost vertically upwards. He is now able to swivel through more than two hundred degrees. This enables him to look for sounds that he hears around him.
He is handling objects with greater competence. For example, he is improving in his ability to pick up a small ball from a pot. He is beginning to hold the ball and other objects with two hands, thus increasing his capacity to grasp them. In addition, he seems able to judge when a dangling object held close enough for him to reach up for it with both hands simultaneously. A major development is his dexterity in handling small objects successively. The breakthrough was his readiness to grasp and shake a rattle vigorously rather than taking it to his mouth. He then immediately dropped it to take another one offered to him. Then using a succession of objects he kept dropping the one he was holding when offered another. He realised he could not hold both so he relinquished the one he was holding. He rapidly grasped this. A recent development is his over-vigorous pummelling of the cot bars and his reaching up and grasping the top rail, this morning with both hands. Soon he could pull himself up so the base of cot has now been lowered.
His responses to books continue to be positive. His dialogue with the books sometimes leads to a frenzy of shouting that sees his face getting flushed. This is also the case when he is on his own and in company trying to tell us that he wants attention for one reason or another. He is certainly very vocal when he wants his milk and whispering to him can sometimes calm him down a little. It is amusing but his series of sounds seem to rise to a bellowing that looks like a real strain. In addition he is still managing a range of sounds that often indicate contentment or an attempt to dialogue with the characters in a book. He still insists on attempting to pick up pictures that attract him: he has yet to distinguish between two and three dimensional figures.
Some interesting elements have emerged. He now clearly identifies some pictures with which he is familiar. For example, the little seahorses in the Mr. Seahorse book soon gets him going. The page with a sheep in the Ollie book does the same. He enjoys looking at these flash cards but, unlike the books, they do not generate a verbal response. He seems mesmerised and focuses very hard when watching animated films and photographs on the computer. Yet these evince no verbal response but he enjoys them passively. This put me in mind of MacLuhan’s ideas about hot and cold media. The reading books and their pictures seem to generate significant interaction, whereas the TV and computer foster a far more passive response. The books are rather like radio, a hot medium, whereas the computer is a cold medium, like TV. Certainly the responses to each are in marked contrast.
There are other signs of social and physical development. Our ‘walks’ around the block helps his social development. He now responds to assistants in the food court and bestows smiles on them much more readily. In the playground Morgan shows greater willingness to interact with both adults and children and he notices the latter much more. He seems to smile more readily to adults with Chinese features – perhaps because they remind him of Joelle. He enjoys the noise he makes by scratching the sofa and is almost sitting up on his own. He enjoys the game of pulling the little bee into sight using the string attached to it, thereby getting some idea of cause and effect.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Morgan Month 5
Arriving back in Singapore from Invercargill late on the Monday evening we were delighted to be with Huw, Joelle and Morgan again. Morgan, asleep in his cot, looked a little bigger and his face seemed much rounder. This, it soon emerged, was an optical illusion, the result of his lying flat spread-eagled in his usual “slammed-out” fashion! In fact, he looked his usual delightful self.
Physically there were real signs of change and progress. He responded to an interesting stretching and reaching game quite well and enjoyed seeing his soft toys brought towards him with an outstretched hand from a distance and then reaching to get hold of them when they got near to him. Naturally, there was little co-ordination as yet but he managed to grasp them. However, he has advanced a great deal in handling his chain of rings and holds it with both hands. In addition, he now holds the large clear ball in his gym with ease using both hands. Much of this handling is done as a preliminary to stuffing the object of his desire into his mouth! This is also the case with the fingers of hands held out to him. He now seems to take increasing pleasure in holding fingers and grasping hands and does not always try to transfer them to his mouth. His dexterity with a ball is much greater and this gives him much pleasure in his gym. He adeptly lifts the ball with his feet, raises it above him and then allows it to run down along his tummy so that he is able to hold it next to his face. The suggestion that his brains are in his feet was not received well! What with his increased skill in pushing and knocking at suspended objects, including the ball, the gym is proving a great facilitator for his development.
There are signs that it is now necessary to keep a watchful eye on him. He manages to roll himself half over onto his side in his cot. He also swivels himself around so to lie sideways in his cot so that he can look at the pictures on the wall. He is able to push himself up quite easily and is now starting to look upwards of his own accord. This is very noticeable on his ‘walks’ and he now notices the MRT trains above him as well as the buses on his own level. As always, he is totally engrossed in his surroundings when in unfamiliar places and does not allow himself to be diverted! He is responding a little more to people, such as children in the playground and waitresses in restaurants. Smiles are still hard to come outside the home!
Morgan continues to extend the range of sounds he makes. We soon resumed our ‘conversations’ and he initiated some interesting noises. Introducing the cot companions each morning continues to be a useful ritual, and he seems to take pleasure in each. He continues to enjoy the library books chosen for him and also his own collection. He pays attention to books with large pictures and striking colours. Music and new games continue to be good sources of stimulation.
Morgan is developing well physically and is now longer than the width of his cot so that he is able to push himself against the bars. He is able to roll onto his stomach from his back but sometimes his arm remains wedged beneath him. There is real strength in his legs when he is held in a standing position. In addition he is very flexible and gets great pleasure from his toes – putting them in his mouth as usual. The stretching exercises go down well and he enjoys being in his gym. He now seems to be recognizing people at a distance – at least ten yards away. He is increasingly dextrous in controlling the plastic ball with his feet and his hands.
He reacted particularly well to his first dip in the pool on 15/02/09. Huw and Joelle were very careful with him and he seemed to greatly enjoy it. He made some paddling motions and splashed a bit which he found funny. Sensibly he was quiet about his enjoyment and seemed to stay focused. It was an excellent start. In the morning (23/02/09) he was very active after church. He lay in his cot with only his napkin on and thrashed vigorously, put his toes in his mouth, his fingers up my nose (they were then cleaned!), and was particularly interested and stimulated by the 3-dimensional shapes mobile. He cried when Margaret took it away and was happy to see it come back. In addition he produced quite a continuous range of noises – gurgles, shrieks, calls – that seemed as if he was trying to tell Joelle and the rest of us that he was enjoying himself.
He continues to be very alert. During his walks around the apartment blocks below he looks at everything very closely and has little time for diversions. He seems to like the range of colours and sights in the food court and responds quite well when people talk to him. However, he cried when three little girls attempted to engage his attention in the playground! He gets excited when the lift doors open and enjoys seeing his reflection in the mirror inside. He continues to take a great interest in books and some simple and bright pages as in Peedie, for example, he prefers to others. He now seems more engaged with the objects in his gym and thrashes them around vigorously and managed to switch on the musical one a couple of times. He responds negatively to the pungent smells of spices and pushes them away rather than taking them to his mouth.
Morgan he now stretches to grasp objects. While on his stomach he manoeuvres himself forward to reach for objects leaning on one arm. One morning in this position he managed to pull a ribbon attached to a clothes hanger into his cot. He had obviously been tugging at it over a long period. This, plus his propensity to rapidly strike and grasp spectacles means that one has to be very careful about leaving things within his reach. Anything in the cot is within his ambit as he now able to manoeuvre himself in any direction. In short he is making good physical progress.
This has been most noticeable from his contortions in his cot. A little while ago he was unable to turn himself completely onto his stomach as he could not get one arm from under his body. He has now mastered this and turns over from lying on his stomach to his back and vice versa with ease. In addition, stretching for objects while on his stomach has induced him to start moving laterally. This means that things out of his reach can now come into his orbit through his as yet ungainly efforts to move. However, he has now mastered raising his head and legs at the same time when on his stomach. Getting him to listen to things behind him has led him to turn and even crane his head and this has accelerated his looking above and greatly extended his capacity to look around him. His physical mastery of plastic cups, spoons, and similar objects has improved, and he seems able to grasp and release them much better and bangs away on the table with great gusto. He responded particularly well to a crushable plastic cup - he found the noise it made very stimulating. In these ways Morgan continues to explore his physical world and will respond well to the water when he has the opportunity to do so.
Books continue to attract and even excite him, and he is usually eager for sessions with his picture books. He responds well to the reading, looks closely at and listens hard to the speaker. He usually manages a few yelps and squeals in the reading sessions. Yesterday he responded in a most extraordinary fashion to a zoo book with no text but large and colourful pictures of animals. Each time the page was turned he greeted the new picture by yelping and chortling with glee - I thought he was going to become hoarse! There were some further repeats the day after, notably with some particular pages (as with Booboo on one occasion). It seemed that he had found a new sound and kept trying it out. It was all very amusing and reflected how his noises and “talking” are expanding. At times he does seem to be trying to communicate. There are also signs that he knows his name.
He still seems totally absorbed in his surroundings when outside the home. On our daily walks he is now taking more notice of people he meets, including children. He remains aloof and oblivious of being the centre of attraction when dealing with his ‘public’ on these walks. It was good to see how well he responded to Kelvin and SuMei whom he does not see very often when we had a meal at the Raffles Country Club.
Physically there were real signs of change and progress. He responded to an interesting stretching and reaching game quite well and enjoyed seeing his soft toys brought towards him with an outstretched hand from a distance and then reaching to get hold of them when they got near to him. Naturally, there was little co-ordination as yet but he managed to grasp them. However, he has advanced a great deal in handling his chain of rings and holds it with both hands. In addition, he now holds the large clear ball in his gym with ease using both hands. Much of this handling is done as a preliminary to stuffing the object of his desire into his mouth! This is also the case with the fingers of hands held out to him. He now seems to take increasing pleasure in holding fingers and grasping hands and does not always try to transfer them to his mouth. His dexterity with a ball is much greater and this gives him much pleasure in his gym. He adeptly lifts the ball with his feet, raises it above him and then allows it to run down along his tummy so that he is able to hold it next to his face. The suggestion that his brains are in his feet was not received well! What with his increased skill in pushing and knocking at suspended objects, including the ball, the gym is proving a great facilitator for his development.
There are signs that it is now necessary to keep a watchful eye on him. He manages to roll himself half over onto his side in his cot. He also swivels himself around so to lie sideways in his cot so that he can look at the pictures on the wall. He is able to push himself up quite easily and is now starting to look upwards of his own accord. This is very noticeable on his ‘walks’ and he now notices the MRT trains above him as well as the buses on his own level. As always, he is totally engrossed in his surroundings when in unfamiliar places and does not allow himself to be diverted! He is responding a little more to people, such as children in the playground and waitresses in restaurants. Smiles are still hard to come outside the home!
Morgan continues to extend the range of sounds he makes. We soon resumed our ‘conversations’ and he initiated some interesting noises. Introducing the cot companions each morning continues to be a useful ritual, and he seems to take pleasure in each. He continues to enjoy the library books chosen for him and also his own collection. He pays attention to books with large pictures and striking colours. Music and new games continue to be good sources of stimulation.
Morgan is developing well physically and is now longer than the width of his cot so that he is able to push himself against the bars. He is able to roll onto his stomach from his back but sometimes his arm remains wedged beneath him. There is real strength in his legs when he is held in a standing position. In addition he is very flexible and gets great pleasure from his toes – putting them in his mouth as usual. The stretching exercises go down well and he enjoys being in his gym. He now seems to be recognizing people at a distance – at least ten yards away. He is increasingly dextrous in controlling the plastic ball with his feet and his hands.
He reacted particularly well to his first dip in the pool on 15/02/09. Huw and Joelle were very careful with him and he seemed to greatly enjoy it. He made some paddling motions and splashed a bit which he found funny. Sensibly he was quiet about his enjoyment and seemed to stay focused. It was an excellent start. In the morning (23/02/09) he was very active after church. He lay in his cot with only his napkin on and thrashed vigorously, put his toes in his mouth, his fingers up my nose (they were then cleaned!), and was particularly interested and stimulated by the 3-dimensional shapes mobile. He cried when Margaret took it away and was happy to see it come back. In addition he produced quite a continuous range of noises – gurgles, shrieks, calls – that seemed as if he was trying to tell Joelle and the rest of us that he was enjoying himself.
He continues to be very alert. During his walks around the apartment blocks below he looks at everything very closely and has little time for diversions. He seems to like the range of colours and sights in the food court and responds quite well when people talk to him. However, he cried when three little girls attempted to engage his attention in the playground! He gets excited when the lift doors open and enjoys seeing his reflection in the mirror inside. He continues to take a great interest in books and some simple and bright pages as in Peedie, for example, he prefers to others. He now seems more engaged with the objects in his gym and thrashes them around vigorously and managed to switch on the musical one a couple of times. He responds negatively to the pungent smells of spices and pushes them away rather than taking them to his mouth.
Morgan he now stretches to grasp objects. While on his stomach he manoeuvres himself forward to reach for objects leaning on one arm. One morning in this position he managed to pull a ribbon attached to a clothes hanger into his cot. He had obviously been tugging at it over a long period. This, plus his propensity to rapidly strike and grasp spectacles means that one has to be very careful about leaving things within his reach. Anything in the cot is within his ambit as he now able to manoeuvre himself in any direction. In short he is making good physical progress.
This has been most noticeable from his contortions in his cot. A little while ago he was unable to turn himself completely onto his stomach as he could not get one arm from under his body. He has now mastered this and turns over from lying on his stomach to his back and vice versa with ease. In addition, stretching for objects while on his stomach has induced him to start moving laterally. This means that things out of his reach can now come into his orbit through his as yet ungainly efforts to move. However, he has now mastered raising his head and legs at the same time when on his stomach. Getting him to listen to things behind him has led him to turn and even crane his head and this has accelerated his looking above and greatly extended his capacity to look around him. His physical mastery of plastic cups, spoons, and similar objects has improved, and he seems able to grasp and release them much better and bangs away on the table with great gusto. He responded particularly well to a crushable plastic cup - he found the noise it made very stimulating. In these ways Morgan continues to explore his physical world and will respond well to the water when he has the opportunity to do so.
Books continue to attract and even excite him, and he is usually eager for sessions with his picture books. He responds well to the reading, looks closely at and listens hard to the speaker. He usually manages a few yelps and squeals in the reading sessions. Yesterday he responded in a most extraordinary fashion to a zoo book with no text but large and colourful pictures of animals. Each time the page was turned he greeted the new picture by yelping and chortling with glee - I thought he was going to become hoarse! There were some further repeats the day after, notably with some particular pages (as with Booboo on one occasion). It seemed that he had found a new sound and kept trying it out. It was all very amusing and reflected how his noises and “talking” are expanding. At times he does seem to be trying to communicate. There are also signs that he knows his name.
He still seems totally absorbed in his surroundings when outside the home. On our daily walks he is now taking more notice of people he meets, including children. He remains aloof and oblivious of being the centre of attraction when dealing with his ‘public’ on these walks. It was good to see how well he responded to Kelvin and SuMei whom he does not see very often when we had a meal at the Raffles Country Club.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Morgan Month 4
The visit to Changi Village on Sunday (4/1/09) was not appreciated by Morgan due to the disruption to his schedule! He had a howling fit and refused to be consoled, but later fell asleep (with heavy bottom patting) on Joelle’s lap. We took Morgan to the cell group Friday (9/1/09) where he was sociable despite being tired. The photo-shoot on Saturday (10/1/09) at ICA, dressed in his best shirt, was not very flattering face on. Too many distractions and too much flash used during the photo-shoot at Johanna’s home. Morgan managed to stay awake and not be grouchy (to say that he was chirpy is stretching it!). He is still happiest when at home as his familiar environment is the most comforting for him. Morgan looked very good in photos and we are looking forward to having the final ones.
Saturday (11/1/09) saw us at the Volvo Ocean Race at Sentosa. We noticed this morning that Morgan is finding one hand with the other thus discovering the location of his hands. Previously he had only explored them one at a time with his mouth. He now brings one hand to his mouth with the other and clasps them together quite often. By doing this he is gaining enough momentum to half twist his torso and almost flip over. He also managed to rotate himself about 90 degrees in the cot.
Morgan did not enjoy getting lost with Mama driving to the paediatrician to have his vaccination. He cried a good deal for 10 minutes before Mama got to him. He behaved himself at the clinic and had grown nearly 1kg to 7.18kg and 1cm to 63cm. He could not decide whether to cry or not when having his injection being fascinated by a spring spider. He let out a confused whimper, then stopped and later slept. Sunday (18/01/09) presented us with a big pooh at Anchorpoint! He behaved himself in church, getting into a rhythm.
23/01/09 to 27/01/09 Went to Malacca for Chinese New Year. Morgan does not like long trips in a car so was fussy on the way there and back. Sunday (25/1/09) Morgan managed to pull off Joelle’s earrings and tug at her hair. Decision – no more earrings for Joelle! He has settled into a routine more or less. He seems intent on quietly observing others, though he “talks” a lot when alone with us and perhaps there is a personality emerging. He was opposed to Keeran’s animated shrieks and rapid crawling. He put together two sounds – an ‘oo’ and an’ ah’ – to form ‘woo-aaa’ with a slightly confused look.
Saturday (11/1/09) saw us at the Volvo Ocean Race at Sentosa. We noticed this morning that Morgan is finding one hand with the other thus discovering the location of his hands. Previously he had only explored them one at a time with his mouth. He now brings one hand to his mouth with the other and clasps them together quite often. By doing this he is gaining enough momentum to half twist his torso and almost flip over. He also managed to rotate himself about 90 degrees in the cot.
Morgan did not enjoy getting lost with Mama driving to the paediatrician to have his vaccination. He cried a good deal for 10 minutes before Mama got to him. He behaved himself at the clinic and had grown nearly 1kg to 7.18kg and 1cm to 63cm. He could not decide whether to cry or not when having his injection being fascinated by a spring spider. He let out a confused whimper, then stopped and later slept. Sunday (18/01/09) presented us with a big pooh at Anchorpoint! He behaved himself in church, getting into a rhythm.
23/01/09 to 27/01/09 Went to Malacca for Chinese New Year. Morgan does not like long trips in a car so was fussy on the way there and back. Sunday (25/1/09) Morgan managed to pull off Joelle’s earrings and tug at her hair. Decision – no more earrings for Joelle! He has settled into a routine more or less. He seems intent on quietly observing others, though he “talks” a lot when alone with us and perhaps there is a personality emerging. He was opposed to Keeran’s animated shrieks and rapid crawling. He put together two sounds – an ‘oo’ and an’ ah’ – to form ‘woo-aaa’ with a slightly confused look.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Morgan Week 13
Morgan continued to expand his repertoire as he enjoyed his first Christmas. It was spent at home and on Christmas Eve there was a family dinner with Sumei, Kelvin, Johanna, Siva and Keeran and all of us. The following day saw a late Christmas lunch with the arrival of three couples, Joelle& Huw’s friends. Each couple contributed and it was a very cosmopolitan meal – salad, spaghetti, shepherd’s pie, meat balls, shrimps & nut roast, and all. Morgan coped well with all the attention and charmed everybody when he smiled and started his ‘talking’. He generally reacts well to company and settles easily.He now burbles and babbles on at some length using quite a mixture of sounds. Occasionally there is a loud and distinctive yelp but it does not seem to signify anything in particular. He coos quite a lot and seemed intent at times on using his tongue to explore his mouth, make kissing and clicking sounds and generally try out little noises. He does not say a lot when shown his cot mates each morning but when on his own he does ‘dialogue’ with them through smiling, laughing and assorted quiet noses. He now reacts positively to a wider range of books. He takes in and concentrates on the pictures silently but still gets quite excitable at seeing what he likes (the gosling series and the night and day monkey book.). He continues to respond very vocally and with interest to the mobiles.
He enjoys the morning walk which has become an established routine. When something ‘new’ crops up, such as a child playing on a swing or an adult talking to him on the concourse, his concentration is total. The traffic also grabs his attention and not just the buses. On one occasion he was smiling at his reflection in the mirror in the lift. At what age, I wonder, do children become knowingly aware of their reflection? Music continues to engage him, especially when we join in by using spoons and other rhythmic sound producers. He appears to be noticing the different objects in the mural by his cot and gets satisfaction through lying there looking at them. In short, he manages without being given attention and seems to be developing the capacity to amuse himself.He enjoys the gym and is happy to spend time in it. He is now making some effort to touch the objects dangling from the cross pieces and was knocking them on one occasion. His firm grip on my finger enabled him to hold on when I was pulling him in his chair and this gave impetus so that the chair started rocking through his effort. He now grasps the jumbo rattle much more easily and grasps the assorted plastic coloured rings and pulls against the pressure when you tug at them. He made more sustained efforts to lift himself when on his stomach than he did the previous week. He understandably finds such effort tiring and frustrating, but he does persist a little more now. It is amusing to see him balancing the ball on his feet and even manipulating it with them. This is his performing seal act!
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Morgan Week 12
Marked developments were noted this week – physical, intellectual and social. We enjoyed walking downstairs and through the areas below the apartment. This meant that Morgan was able to look at traffic on the road and the trains, see people and displays in the shops and concourse and observe young children in the little playground. Going out in the fresh air clearly benefitted him and it prompted sleep soon after. He reacted well to the small children in the playground and was very responsive to three ladies sitting at the cafe; he favoured them with a beaming smile. These social jaunts should become a regular feature of his daily activities.He is responding very well to aural stimulation. He watches Joelle, Margaret and Rowena very closely when they look at him and talk opening their mouths widely. He responds with a range of sounds and facial expressions that are particularly appealing. This expressiveness can be seen when he is quietly lying in his cot communicating with his companions like Pooh and Peter Rabbit. He looks closely and intensely at them and smiles beguilingly every now and then. Music now livens him up very well and he greatly enjoys the beating of spoons, clapping and Rowena’s clicking as an accompaniment. He now seems to listen to and enjoy the children’s songs such as Teddy Bear’s Picnic and the Runaway Train. He continues to be amused by Margaret’s whistling and kissing sounds: he seems to realise they are distinctive. It is very clear that Morgan cannot be over-stimulated as far as sound is concerned.Morgan takes an increased interest in stories. Peedie continues to be a favourite and it soon brings out the chuckles, admonitions and general cacophony. He seems to take a more specific interest in the detail which seems to mean more to him. Similarly, the increased familiarity of the Llama llama book brings positive rejoinders. The pictures make him almost agitated and by the end of the week he was keeping up a series of comments as the story unfolded. By the Sunday his reactions were quite comical. His communicative development is enhanced with these stories. He seems to relate directly to those who are talking to him and communication is certainly taking place. He also takes note of the flashcards and certainly takes them in as each is shown to him. The mobiles continue to enthral him and he seems to take great pleasure in studying and observing them. He sounds very amused and chuckles when Margaret moves them to and fro or towards or away from him. It is noticeable that he does not ‘talk’ at the mobiles or even his cot ‘mates’. Communication seems to be reserved for people who communicate with him.He is showing strength and physical changes in a variety of ways. He grasps much more firmly and holds on to fingers and rings. Morgan kicks lustily and had a phase of lifting a ball with his feet and balancing it. He now makes more sustained efforts to raise his head and is managing to push his head and shoulders off the ground with his arms for longer periods. He also edges himself backwards on his back by pushing his legs hard against mine. His attention span is certainly getting longer. What was striking during his visit to Papa’s office and the lunch afterwards was the intense way in which he gazed at his surroundings. He concentrates fiercely and nothing is allowed to distract him when his surroundings have his attention. The waitresses in the restaurant fascinated him. What is emerging is an engaging personality and a capacity for self-amusement.
Morgan Week 12
Marked developments were noted this week – physical, intellectual and social. We enjoyed walking downstairs and through the areas below the apartment. This meant that Morgan was able to look at traffic on the road and the trains, see people and displays in the shops and concourse and observe young children in the little playground. Going out in the fresh air clearly benefitted him and it prompted sleep soon after. He reacted well to the small children in the playground and was very responsive to three ladies sitting at the cafe; he favoured them with a beaming smile. These social jaunts should become a regular feature of his daily activities.He is responding very well to aural stimulation. He watches Joelle, Margaret and Rowena very closely when they look at him and talk opening their mouths widely. He responds with a range of sounds and facial expressions that are particularly appealing. This expressiveness can be seen when he is quietly lying in his cot communicating with his companions like Pooh and Peter Rabbit. He looks closely and intensely at them and smiles beguilingly every now and then. Music now livens him up very well and he greatly enjoys the beating of spoons, clapping and Rowena’s clicking as an accompaniment. He now seems to listen to and enjoy the children’s songs such as Teddy Bear’s Picnic and the Runaway Train. He continues to be amused by Margaret’s whistling and kissing sounds: he seems to realise they are distinctive. It is very clear that Morgan cannot be over-stimulated as far as sound is concerned.
Morgan takes an increased interest in stories. Peedie continues to be a favourite and it soon brings out the chuckles, admonitions and general cacophony. He seems to take a more specific interest in the detail which seems to mean more to him. Similarly, the increased familiarity of the Llama llama book brings positive rejoinders. The pictures make him almost agitated and by the end of the week he was keeping up a series of comments as the story unfolded. By the Sunday his reactions were quite comical. His communicative development is enhanced with these stories. He seems to relate directly to those who are talking to him and communication is certainly taking place. He also takes note of the flashcards and certainly takes them in as each is shown to him. The mobiles continue to enthral him and he seems to take great pleasure in studying and observing them. He sounds very amused and chuckles when Margaret moves them to and fro or towards or away from him. It is noticeable that he does not ‘talk’ at the mobiles or even his cot ‘mates’. Communication seems to be reserved for people who communicate with him.
He is showing strength and physical changes in a variety of ways. He grasps much more firmly and holds on to fingers and rings. Morgan kicks lustily and had a phase of lifting a ball with his feet and balancing it. He now makes more sustained efforts to raise his head and is managing to push his head and shoulders off the ground with his arms for longer periods. He also edges himself backwards on his back by pushing his legs hard against mine. His attention span is certainly getting longer. What was striking during his visit to Papa’s office and the lunch afterwards was the intense way in which he gazed at his surroundings. He concentrates fiercely and nothing is allowed to distract him when his surroundings have his attention. The waitresses in the restaurant fascinated him. What is emerging is an engaging personality and a capacity for self-amusement.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Morgan Week 11
This week our (Margaret and Tony) visit to Hat Yai (Sunday pm to Thursday am) meant that we saw a little less of Morgan. We missed him and we like to think that he recognised us and was pleased to see us back.He has developed a lovely smile, one that seems to beam out, sometimes unexpectedly. It is, in fact a form of laughter, as it is significantly different from the quiet smile one sees when he is sleeping or quietly lying on his own. This is evidence, once more, of his expanding range of expressions. When lying and looking at his cot toys, posters or the mobiles he seems to be genuinely preoccupied and varies his expressions as he looks at them. (J: He has, since he was about 2 months, been sucking his one fist and twirling his hair with the other while engrossed with the posters. Occasionally when he gets suitably excited, he would kick one leg agitatedly.)
It is good that he simply lies and looks – it could help develop the capacity for occupying oneself on one’s own which is important. Huw had this quality as a child and youngster and it is a key to being comfortable in one’s own company.
Morgan continues to respond well to stimulation. The mobiles still hold his attention even when presented en masse. In fact he increasingly seems to distinguish the illustrations one from another. He is particularly attracted to Milfred the Monkey! He seems fascinated with the book Peedie the gosling. The colours are well contrasted, the pictures small and clear and his reaction to them shows quite a degree of excitement at times. (J: I think it is the level of detail and the amount of focus he has to give to each of the pictures. Perhaps he is anxious to take it all in!)
He burbles at the pictures and the story read to him and his face shows quite a range of expressions. Similarly, he seems to like the llama story with its alliteration and sharper distinctive shapes and colours. The book about the tiger does not make anywhere near as great an impact, possibly because the pictures are much more diffuse and the colours more subtle and blended.
The morning parade of his cot companions is bringing out good responses. He also follows your finger when the different shapes and objects are pointed out on the mural on the wall by his cot. At times he seems to be striving to communicate but does not show any frustration. Up to now he has cried to show that he is hungry. Now he sometimes gives out a distinct yell, not a crying sound, demanding instead of crying for his food. (J: However, when he does get really hungry, he cries bitterly to show his anguish.)
He seems to accept the music and likes the Welsh songs sung by Margaret. Rowena’s singing of lullabies in Tagalog/English accompanied by her dancing has a soporific effect and gets him off to sleep. (J: The furious patting of his bottom paired with vigorous swaying also lulls him to sleep.)
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