This weekend I am visiting my very new niece! She is 3 weeks old today and she is so precious!! After working with one-year-olds for almost a year, I've come to appreciate the calm quiet deep sleep of an infant lying on my chest... especially one that is so precious to me! I also get to see my sister take on the huge responsibility of being a parent. Breastfeeding day in and day out, through all of the challenges. I've been playing guitar and my sister and I have been singing to Ella a lot this weekend. Sometimes she stays awake to listen and other times the songs seem to lull her to sleep.
I am taking an infant and toddler course in their development and I learned that in this stage (early early infancy) they find it really interesting to look at stark contrasts. I told my sister this and she said she had received these black and white picture cards for babies. When Ella was in an "quiet alert" stage, one that is best for learning.. when her eyes are open and she's quiet and calm and taking things in, we got out the cards and put them 8-16 inches away from her eyes until her eyes seemed to lock in and focus. She had an intense stare and would even move her eyes to follow the picture! It was really amazing to see her starting to learn to focus on things and follow things with her eyes.
It's also so amazing to see the place where human life begins... so small, and not yet in control of your body or your muscles. So something as small as intentional eye movement is a big accomplishment!
This whole experience of my sister having a natural birth also has made me interested in Doulas. My sister keeps telling me I would make an excellent Doula, and I kind of think she's right. I usually bring a sense of calm with me into challenging situations of others. Maybe its why I like being around babies so much; I like being able to calm and soothe them. I think singing is an excellent way to do that...
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