Mac is Learning!
Posted By Jill on April 24, 2009
Jeremy and I were talking the other night about how amazing it is to watch Mac learn. I thought I would share some of the things he is doing these days to keep us on our toes! Now, these things are not done consistently yet, but we can see that he understands directions, and we try to be consistent in requiring him to follow through on things we’ll want him to learn.
When Mac gets up in the morning and after naps, he has frequently thrown his nuks out of his crib. If he still has one in his mouth, we can pick him up, hold him near the edge of the crib and say, “nuk out,” and without much hesitation or repetition, Mac will take it out of his mouth and throw it back in the crib. We can also tell him, though also needing to point, “go get your nuk,” and he’ll get the ones that rolled under the crib. We can usually get him to even put them in the crib if we ask him, “where does it go?” but sometimes he’d rather keep it… if that’s the case, if we pick him up, put him next to the crib and say, “nuk out,” he’ll take it out and put it in the crib.
If we take Mac’s arms out of his shirt and un-snap the neck, he will usually pull the shirt off himself.
Last night as I was getting him undressed, after taking his shirt off, I asked him, “can you put it in the laundry?” I didn’t figure he’d get it, but he did! He walked right over to the laundry chute, opened the door, put the shirt down, and closed the door. He was so proud!
Mac can crawl up and down the stairs like a pro now. And when he gets to the top to go down, he almost always turns around on his own. Rarely do we need to remind him to go the “safe way.”
Meal time is still a struggle, but it seems to be getting better. We are still encouraging the sign for “more” and “all done,” but he’s being pretty stubborn about it. He’d like the sign for “all done” to be throwing everything from his tray onto the floor.
We are working on the concept of “gentle” when playing with toys, petting animals (practicing with stuffed toys), and Mommy’s flowers! We realize this is a much more advanced concept, but it can’t hurt to introduce him to the words early…
Mac is also able to understand when we want him to give something to us. “Give it to Mommy/Daddy,” is all it takes most of the time. The poor kid followed the direction to a fault the other day. The candy bowl was left on the floor, and so he took a piece. I walked to him and said, “give it to Mommy, please,” so he did. I put it in the bowl and put the whole thing out of reach. It was heartbreakingly hilarious.
I can’t remember if I posted before that Mac knows how to “high five” now too. Waving can’t be far behind. He’s already starting occasionally, usually using both hands.
I just started to teach Mac to get out of his car seat in my car so that it’s easier for him to crawl out of the car on his own. He’s still a little small for that, but yesterday we seemed to find a system that at least makes it easier on me!
Mac uses the cup holder in his car seat for his bottle when he has one in the car. Now THAT is adorable. I taught him, I think when I took him to Madison, but I encourage it by showing him each time he’s in my car with a bottle. The other day, Jeremy called to tell me he started using the cup holder in his car… I had to break the news that it wasn’t the first time! Sorry, honey!
Mac knows which button to push to close the garage door. It took a few tries, but he gets it on the first try now!
Stay tuned in for more accomplishments, and I’ll try to add more photos and so video soon as well!
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