The other day my wife (who has a reciprocal blog here) mentioned that I should rock our new born in my arms. So I asked why. Apparently it has to do with vestibular balance and physical development. She showed me a book that she has read and is reading again for our newborn. It is called "Smart Start" by Margaret Sasse. She is the lady who developed the Gymbaroo program - something I highly recommend to aid physical development.
Any way, the idea here is that y rocking the newborn from left to right, up and down, rotating left to right, etc... you help the inner ear (vestibular) to develop thereby helping the infant learn balance and develop it's centre of gravity - something very useful later on in life. As a motorsport nut this appeals to me. riving a car fast or playing sport successfully is all about physical balance. I would like my kids to be good at sport - my 2 yo can catch and throw well (well enough to throw someone shoes over the fence at daycare the other day!!) - and balance is essential.
So I will continue these exercises with number 2. I did not do them consciously with number 1, but my wife did. With her hands full I will make an effort with Anneliese!
For the record we gave Anneliese some tummy time today, let her look at black and white images and generally gave her lots of love.
And while I think of it, I showed her my first B&W shapes presentation the other day. She responded very well - her eyes never moved from the screen! I need to keep this up , so I will repeat tomorrow. Getting into a new routine is taking longer than I thought!
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