Thinking Ahead
My six month old grandson is growing like a weed, and it seems like every day he reaches a new milestone. One week he was opening and closing his little hand as though he was a rusty tin man badly in need of an oiling, but the next week he was grasping a teething ring and plunging it in his mouth as if he had been doing it his whole, albeit short, life.
I know all the baby books and websites give schedules about what babies will be doing at certain ages, but let me share with you a little secret: babies and children follow their own schedules and couldn’t care less about statistics and well-controlled studies. My daughter started walking when she was just seven months old, well ahead of the nine to twelve month time frame most books give. That’s why I like to think ahead and be prepared. For Christmas I bought my grandson several toys that I knew he wasn’t ready to play with yet, but I also know his little brain and body are developing so rapidly that it would be hard to pin point the exact moment he will be ready to graduate from shaking a rattle to putting little wooden shapes into their matching shaped holes. The toys are ready and waiting for him to explore and play with, even if he doesn’t “do it right.”
One of my gifts to him was the EverEarth Activity Walker. He loves looking at the bright colors and touching the little knobs and buttons and I believe this helps his little brain to process information such as colors and shapes and also to develop hand/eye coordination, even if someone has to hold him up to it right now.
It’s often helpful to think slightly ahead of schedule for toy buying; that way children can grow into their toys. Of course, some toys are off limits at young ages because of choking hazards or other dangers, so parents should evaluate each toy carefully and always be closely supervising. But many toys are age-labeled as a general guideline. The great thing is that my daughter has some toys in her closet to pull out when he shows signs of needing more stimulation and activity.
