The Wonder Week: Wake me when it’s over

 

WITH so much interest in The Wonder Weeks, I thought I’d continue posting as Baby Holly passes through each fussy period. Besides, it’s so easy to write about a Wonder Week when you’re in the midst of a sunny period. Yes, I’m SUPER thankful for that.

To be frank, the last Wonder Week – Wonder Week 46 – was, well … let’s just say I gained a further three grey hairs. So forgive me if I didn’t feel like posting about it at the time. You may well have seen quite a bit of colourful language going on if I had. Just call me Joan Rivers, minus the facelift.

The three Cs – cranky, clingy and crying – were out in force. We went through some major separation anxiety, which didn’t help her start to childcare. Try leaving the room when she’s stapled to your leg. Things have settled down now.  Again, thankful for that.

Week 46 is all about The World of Sequences. It’s about how things fit and belong together. For example, they know the spoon has to go in the bowl and then into their mouth. Instead, it tends to catapult from the spoon to the wall for a new Weetbix wallpaper finish.

The seventh developmental stage is called The World of Sequences. And no, that’s not the stuff you put around the ruffles on your fuschia-coloured skirt. Following it, Baby Holly is now:

• Pointing at what she wants and is babbling more than ever. More words are emerging, including “sister’’ and “Mum’’ (yay!).
• Is able to take the spoon from my hand and place it in her mouth. She has been able to feed herself finger food for some time now.
• Fills bath containers with water and then pours them out. Or throws them at her sister, which ends in tears – always.
• Learning to stack her ring stacker and can see her processing how to stack blocks.
• Becoming more game when walking from one piece of furniture to the next and letting go more often as she begins to learn to stand unassisted.
• When giving her a horsey ride on my foot, she bends her knees, aiming to jump higher off the floor.
• Tries to climb steps – and everything else. Heaven help us!
• Participates more in peek-a-boo and gets excited when playing hide-and-seek with her sister.
• Imitates a lot of what I do, including brushing her teeth and hair. If only she had some hair.
• Blows hot food before eating it. Picture it: it’s cute. Add to that her newfound love of big pash kisses.
• Claps her hands at the end of songs, when we say “yay’’ to anything and when others clap.

 Here’s what we’re doing to help her development during Wonder Week 46:

• Getting her to watch (and help) with household chores. She stands up at the dishwasher while I unpack it, helps put the ironed clothes away (OK, so she throws them across the room) and watches me make the bed.
• Encourage her to use a spoon (despite how utterly messy it is).
• Naming objects, such as body parts (especially when dressing) and objects. She’s already mastered quite a few. It’s always followed by hand clapping.
• Singing movement songs, including Incy Wincy Spider, Twinkle Twinkle (she loves twinkling her fingers) and Pat-a-cake (she now claps her hands – in fact, she claps her hands at everything).
• Hide an object under another object (box, material etc) and get her to find it. She also likes lift-the-flap books and plain old peek-a-boo and hide-and-seek.
• Toys have included Ella’s rocking horse, balls, stacking blocks and rings and animal picture books (especially lift-the-flap books where she can lift the flap herself).

At the end of this Wonder Week, we feel like she’s now able to communicate with us easier. I feel like she’s really turning into a toddler. Although, I’m not sure I’m ready for that.

I’ve already posted about Week 26, provided a copy of the Wonder Week chart, reviewed the book and had author Frans Plooij guest post. There’s more about the new expanded version of the book on the official Wonder Week site. But to learn more about the Wonder Weeks themselves, buy the book on Book Depistory OR on Amazon.

What are your tips for dealing with a cranky, crying and clingy baby?

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