Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Post 6 Months: The Downhill Slope

Hello all! I'll start by apologizing for the ridiculous time lapse between blog posts. School has created a time warp in which I am constantly running around like a chicken with my head cut off. As it is, I am writing this post from my iPhone... In a critical lit class. Ignore this fact as it is irrelevant!

During the course of time over which I have not posted I have had numerous epiphanies on future blog posts. Of course, these were forgotten amidst the constant rain of Spanish and literary theory beating down on my head. Waking up at 3 in the morning with a fantastic idea proved pointless, too, as I was just too exhausted to pick up my phone and make a note of what I should post the next day. So when I was struck with a lightbulb moment in class today I didn't hesitate to act on it. To ignore or forget it again would just be more proof of my imminent erosion due to this thing we call an education.

So, while I'm talking about education I'll also bring up the incredible development that has occurred in my little one. Aimee is now 8 months old and it seems as if she has something new to show me every day. Each morning I drop her off with my mom and each afternoon I am left shocked at the learning rate of her young brain. I envy her learning rate and wish I could retain things in the way she continues to.

Over this journey of watching Aimee go through the struggles of being a preemie, the discomfort of colic and asthma, and near constant teething I have realized that making it to the 6 month mark is truly a huge stepping stone for infants. I believe it is at the point of 6 months that the period of adjustment to this harsh world ends, and the period of true learning and growing begins. Aimee had proven this in the short period of time since her 6 month birthday, which was on Christmas Eve. Days after she met this milestone she was sitting up by herself, anxious to try table foods, and learning how to put one foot in front of the other with assistance from mom or dad. As I mentioned before, every day presents new developments and new discoveries. I love watching her eyes as she picks up a new toy or object and carefully analyzes it and tries to figure out what it is or what it does. She is fascinated by anything with a technological influence. She will steal our cell phone when we're not looking and finds incredible fascination with pounding on the computer keyboard.

What I'm getting at here is the up and downhill progression of infants in their first year of life. It seems that after meeting the peak of 6 months infants are able to focus on learning and forget about trying to get used to their new hectic lives. It is safe to say that the 6 month mark is the start of the downhill progression into toddlerhood. I am sure we can all agree that the progress our kids make everyday is astounding and mind boggling. So with this in mind let us strive to open our minds up to further development just as our little ones do. Perhaps if we tried to learn as much in one day as our children do we could revolutionize the way our lives are progressing. Think of the possibilities! Cures to cancer, flying cars, answers to alternative energy... All just because we chose to try to learn as much as our little ones.

So since class is ending I will leave it there. God bless and happy learning!

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