Stimulation

While Eloise’s colic can be all-consuming for her parents, Matt and I do try to seize any opportunity she gives us to focus on non-bouncing/shushing aspects of child care. One thing we both really enjoy is seeing the babies fixate on something of visual interest to them. We noticed that in the mornings both kids, Ellie in particular, tend to spend a good bit of time gazing excitedly at the black and white photograph that hangs above the co-sleeper. (Yesterday morning they both spent 15 peaceful minutes alternating between quietly gazing and noisily pooping — very productive!)

We decided that it would be fun to give them a few more things to look at. We’ve heard that strong black and white contrasts and the color red are particularly appealing to young infants. So when we had a few minutes of quiet the other day, instead of doing urgent household chores, we made baby art. We have a couple of our masterpieces taped to the underside of the shelf that hangs over the changing table, and they are definitely attracted to them. It’s fun to see evidence of curiosity and interest, no matter how rudimentary.

Quiz: How like a baby are you? If you look at the images below with keen interest for longer than a minute, you are somewhat like a baby. If you start cooing, you are a lot like a baby.

Sorry about the odd clipping. I’m not sure how it happened, and it doesn’t seem important enough to take the time to fix (in light of the colic-generated drains on my time).

Filed under Parenting | Tags: art, babies, education | Comments (3)