Hi Fix-It Friends!

Per my usual, I was up early this morning looking through old photos and videos on my phone.

Like many #FirstTimeMoms , I record a lot of videos….

Add to that my scrapbooking hobby and my overall passion for documenting memories…. yeah — it makes for a lot of footage to work with🤣

In this series of clips, you’ll get to see how Monica’s speech patterns started to develop and evolve.

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[EDIT] I should’ve just put the months, but I attempted to calculate how many “weeks old” she was in each clip. It was too early for that much mental math🤣😂🤷🏾‍♀️💯 There’s a December clip that is incorrect (says 8 weeks but should be 10).

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According to Today’s Parent, by eight weeks, your baby can not only coo and gurgle but also respond to you! Try talking to your baby and pause for a response and they will learn to jump into the flow of chatter.

… Look for crinkled eyes, a tilted head and other signs that your baby has been watching you and learning social cues.

By the end of three months, your child might:

• Smile when you appear
• Make cooing sounds
• Quiet or smile when spoken to
• Seem to recognize your voice
• Cry differently for different needs

By the end of six months, your child might:

• Use his or her voice to express pleasure and displeasure
• Move his or her eyes in the direction of sounds
• Respond to changes in the tone of your voice
• Notice that some toys make sounds
• Pay attention to music
• Make gurgling sounds when playing with you or left alone -Babble and make a variety of sounds

September 27, 2018 http://www.todaysparent.com

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We didn’t push any developmental milestones, but we did try to make sure that we were reading to her and engaging with her one on one (making eye contact, talking and pausing for her to respond, etc.).

I would HIGHLY suggest that all parents begin talking to their baby very early on.

We received some “Womb-buds” as a gift while I was pregnant (I’m not 100% sure on the name, but they’re basically headphones that you can connect to your belly while you are pregnant.) My husband often used them to talk to Monica and play her music and I PROMISE you, that baby recognized his voice right away (she would track him as he moved around my hospital room) and she still loves music (her daycare director told us, “Monica can dance– really she has rhythm!” 😂💃🏾🎶

While I can’t directly say that the headphones “caused this,” I do believe that early exposure may have played a part. Monica has truly shown us that she dances to the beat of her own drum and learns what she wants when she wants (which is often ahead of the curve🤦🏾‍♀️)….. we just try to keep up🏃🏾‍♀️🏃🏿🏃🏾‍♀️🏃🏿🏃🏾‍♀️