Forest Montessori

Montessori From Birth

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Observations at 6 Months old

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My little girl is growing too fast! I miss all the cuddles in the carrier all afternoon already! Well, she is happy to sleep in bed now. My cuddle time is replaced with lots of food preps and cleaning time cause little Anika loves to eat by herself and I love to cook for her. Its a way to love her, if you know what I mean?

Here are some observations at 6 months old:

PHYSICAL

  • She rolls both ways swiftly and can roll all the way across the room.
  • At the start of this month she could sit independently for 5-10 minutes. At the end of this month, she hardly ever falls back for long periods of time. I still do place my breastfeeding pillow behind her just in case.
  • She has started staying in push ups (while on tummy) for lot longer and also comes on to her knees. She can slither if she wants to but its a very frustrating experience for her.
  • Anika can stand when supported for few seconds. Loves playing sit and stand game.

OTHERS

  • She is obsessed with dots and moles.
  • She seems really fascinated with body parts. We read lots of books and sang songs for the same.
  • Her favorite hangout changed from her Montessori room to our bathroom! She can stay playing there all day.
  • She takes all her day naps in bed, unless unwell then she wants to go back in the carrier.
  • First few months, people really intimidated her and she preferred to stay with me and my husband. This month, she has loved interacting with people. So we have had lots of outdoor adventures.
  • She absolutely loves her food and feeds herself during all the three meals.
  • Shows that she understands some words. Ex- Sasha (family dog, looks around for her), scream (responds by screaming when we row row row the boat), trees, lift, pull, push (does all the actions correctly), come……
  • Shows that she has a good memory. Ex- searches for the converter in the wall socket that was there yesterday. 
  • Reading books, dancing, gnawing in her teethers, exploring treasure baskets and understanding the cause/effect of everything at home were her favorites this month. 
  • She loves action songs and her favorite for the month was ‘wheels on the bus’.
  • Shows strong logic/ reasoning and keen interest in making sense of the world. She looks below the basin to see where the water goes. She cries if we put music on our phone without showing her where the voice is actually coming from.
  • Pulls the neckline of my tops towards her when she wants to feed.
  • Loves playing with strings, zips, labels and keys.
  • She directs me towards where she wants to go with her arms and legs (extended out or flexed back) and her eyes. 
  • She loves discovering every little detail at home. She has learnt to pull and push most doors at home! Her current favorites are watching me manipulate the pedal to open and close our rubbish bin, pulling out the toilet paper roll and watching the shower water disappear in the drain! She guides me to these favorites and demands I show her or let her do it 😀

She is shown her personality more and more this month. She feels so aware, so happy and so strong-willed. I am sure there are heaps more which I cannot recollect at the moment…but all in all time is passing by too fast and I am trying to make the most of the days, when I can still call her my ‘baby’.

Observations at 5 Months old

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Anika is 6 months today. I feel so elated and grateful. She is everything and more than what I had prayed for. I am so grateful for these wonderful 6 months, where has settled in well and has been so healthy too. Months seem to be passing by faster and faster. Everyday, I am grateful for this little girl and the joy she brings to me. The happiest thing for me about this month was that she is napping heaps more in bed (about 50% bed and 50% carrier, which is huge) and also that she is happy to be in the car seat now. The hardest thing about this month has been the huge amount of clean up required after every meal 🙂 Here are some observations at 5 months.

COMMUNICATION

  • I have used the word “come come…” before picking her up from birth. Now she understands this word (and few more) and extends her arms when I say it.
  • She also extends her arms when she wants to be picked up.
  • Anika is constantly finding new ways to communicate. She often ‘head bangs’ when she wants to entertain/ make us laugh.
  • Extends forward when she wants to touch something. Flexes back when does not want it. 
  • Laughs out loud when she finds something funny or when we kiss her.
  • Her babbles sound more like language. My favorite word of the month is ‘gugu’.
  • She is constantly testing her pitch. Loves making loud voices. 

MOVEMENT

  • Can sit unaided for 5 minutes at a time. I only propped her to sit once at the start of 5 months but it didn’t feel right, so I never did it again. Last week, I let her sit on bed and was surprised to see how long she could balance for.
  • She does not need the harness in her high chair anymore. She sits upright very well.
  • She has started lifting up on her arms during tummy time.
  • Rolls smoothly from tummy to back on both sides. Still figuring out the other way.
  • Does not like being physically constrained at all. High chairs or car seat.  Although we have made a HUGE progress with car seats recently.
  • Puts her toes in her mouth.
  • She can do a 360 degree turn when we play our movement game. She can push with both her feet, while on her back to go upward.

OTHERS

  • Tries to take the balloons out of the books and mole from my skin ;-D
  • Towards the end of 5 months, she has started attempting to feed herself. She gets annoyed when the banana slips off her finger and absolutely loves holding her broccoli (like a flower) and munching on it. She gets annoyed if I feed her! Miss independent 🙂
  • Loves tapping with her legs and hands on different surfaces to hear the sound. 
  • Loves lifting things to see what’s under.
  • Fascinated with labels and zips.
  • Particularly loves lift a flap books. 
  • Stares at light bulbs and loves when I dim and then brighten our bed lamp.
  • She is settling so well and has actually started enjoying other people, babies and new places. We have started going to markets, library, supermarkets and lots more play dates.
  • Loves putting her hands in my mouth while she is feeding. 
  • She is obsessed with finding the source of sound. It helps her understand how the world works.
  • Her 3 most favorite things are brushing her teeth, trying to flush the toilet and she loves to play with the (computer) mouse. It tells me that babies learn by imitating.
  • Likes routines and familiarity, ex- same books.
  • Has gained a good understanding of ’cause and effect’ in the home environment. We do water play in the sink after breakfast and she loves to take the plug off to see the water disappear.
  • Loves playing peekaboo by herself.
  • Can take a scarf away from her eyes and face.

That’s all I can think of. I look forward to lots more months and years of observing my child. Being able to do it so closely and consistently, it almost feels like a miracle is unfolding- so special!

Observations at 4 Months Old

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Tummy time at 4 months old

Anika turned 5 months on Tuesday and I love to do these observation post just to record the memories because time seems to be passing so fast! Hey 5 months already??

“I observe little children; I sensed their needs; I tried to fulfill them; they call that the Montessori method.”- Dr. Montessori

I will be honest, 4th month has been challenging for me in many ways. Little miss went through her 19th week growth spurt + sleep regression + object permanence at the same time. I have spoken in details about the 19th week growth spurt and 4th month sleep regression on Instagram. I will talk about object permanence here….its when babies are still learning that objects can exist even when they can’t see them. It meant a lot of screaming for every minute, I moved away from her eyesight. So we have been baby wearing a LOT and my back is a bit stuffed…But challenges are a part of life just like the good times and each day, I am immensely grateful for my daughter. So I am not complaining but sharing cause I want to be honest in my journey as a mum…. I should record observations every week cause I dont seem to remember much but here are a few things I remember….

  • Obsession with hands and feet has been intense this whole month.
  • Loves grabbing her left toes and taking both her socks out. Right toe seems a bit more challenging to grasp. It’s amazing to see minor muscular differences in both sides of the body from such a young age.
  • From week 18 onward, she was constantly ‘arching her back’ while feeding, playing etc. Well its a preparation for rolling! I supported her upper back while carrying her so she was safe.
  • Towards the end of 4th month she started rolling from her tummy to her back. It was done obsessively like 30 times a day at least. It was almost like she could not help but had to roll over 5 times before her body stopped arching back and she could sleep.
  • Rolling on her right is much easier than her left.
  • She hardly misses grasping anything now. Her grasp has come a longgg way this month.
  • She has always been a very alert baby but this month her personality has shown even more. She is super happy, giggly, chatty and also very strong willed 🙂
  • She now responds to her name.
  • She watches my every move and wants to imitate me all the time. I have been eating on the floor so she could see how I eat. This resulted in some serious tantrums if I didn’t give her something to eat, so yes at 4 months she started chomping on solids like a pro. More on this later…
  • We have some new sounds this month, my favorite is when she says ‘ayeee’.
  • She seems to be imitating me every minute. Every evening, we dance and this is her (and my) most favorite part of the day! I dance and sing songs and she vigorously moves her hands and legs with big smile trying to match my moves 😀
  • She “demands” lullaby before each nap time. I have been singing her Annie’s song (John Denver), You are my sunshine, Top of the world, I just called to say I love you (Stevie Wonder) from when she was in my tummy and its fascinating to see how much she loves listening to me sing these tunes(probably the only one who does ;-)). She kicks her legs hard attempting to dance, while I sing.
  • She can sit unaided and arches forward for about 10-15 seconds.
  • She absolutely loves watching trees and feeling all the world around her. I take her around the house and let her feel whatever she looks at. Some favorites are door knobs and taps.
  • Turns out she is a tummy sleeper! We still co-sleep at night and use carrier during day naps.
  • Our routine at the start of 4th month, looked like this. Towards the end of 4th month, her awake time increased to 2-2.5 hours and our routines have completely changed. I will post our new routine soon.
  • We loved doing heaps of work/ play together. Check out 20 Montessori inspired activities she loved at 4 months old.
  • This month, she seemed increasingly restless and demanding of my attention, which in turn decreased her ‘work’ and time for ‘concentration’. Although I know this is a developmental thing and I am doing all in my will to make her feel secure, I wonder if there is something else I could do…..
  • She can pick up toys from her side.
  • Teething continues and tends to get more intense at night time.
  • Oh wait, did I mention she loves water? Apart from splashing in bath tub every night we do a small water play in our bathroom sink after breakfast.
Loves water play in the bathroom sink

All in all she grew up heaps this month, physically (check out those thighs :-)) and with her skills. I love my life as mumma to this precious ray of sunshine.