Feeding the Monster

Confession Time: I sometimes stress about whether I am giving the Bug the best learning opportunities I can.

I recently read an article about how over scheduled our lives have become and how important free play is for our children. We're actually inhibiting their creativity by over-teaching and over scheduling so I took a step back.

The Bug has TONS of toys for a kid who hasn't lived through Christmas or a birthday yet and while I often feel that he needs this or that, I decided instead of setting out centers for him, I was just going to set out his toys. I had previously labeled the baskets and took those off because there aren't baskets for every shelf so some stuff was out plus, he doesn't get them... (Really he just wants to eat them...) So now, I rotate the toys around. In and out of baskets, on the floor or on the shelf. The sensory/art stuff is still out of reach except for the activities I set out but I leave his sensory table open most of the time.

So he has recently become obsessed with "feeding the monster". I'm super helicopter on him with this because 1. the only caps we had a lot of were baby food pouch caps which fit in his mouth, and 2. when he's done feeding the wipe box monster, he likes to feed himself...

As he picks them up, I say what color he is feeding the monster. For an older child, I would count or add letters!

There are currently 4 of each color cap (yes I had to find a pouch he'd eat so we had the whole rainbow...) so we try a little color sorting when he's first starting.

I was worried about where his fine motor skills were because he was so focused on gross motor skills. Guess what? It all comes. 

There is such a difference between reading in books, teaching in a classroom, and having your own child. I know what he should be doing (he's doing it all and more) but when I see or hear about another child doing something he's not doing, I'm like PANIC. But seriously, he's almost 11 months now and he's walking well. He's starting to say "all done" and "that" and he can grasp objects and drop them.

Mayo Clinic says between 10 and 12 months, your child will be improving gross motor skills, have better hand-eye coordination, have new cognitive skills, and an evolving language. So don't compare your child to mine- compare your child to him/herself! If you are ever worried, don't hesitate to talk to your pediatrician!!! The earlier developmental delays are caught, the easier it is to help and the more access to resources there is!