My two sons are still pretty young so I am compelled to regularly track how each of them are progressing against their age appropriate milestones. Is my newborn getting enough tummy time? Does he follow my finger when I slowly move it across his face? Can he see my face? Does he respond to my silly gestures? Similarly, I hope my toddler aged son is learning enough words in a day, can throw a ball, can kick a soccer ball, can jump, do puzzles. AHH! There is so much to practice and stay on top of with these boys so they don’t miss a beat or fall behind. It is amazing how much our little ones learn and process in a short period of time. I feel as though I stopped learning years ago and each week, month, year goes by and I think did I really learn anything? Certainly, I am no longer learning and progressing through such huge milestones that would rival learning to crawl, stand up, walk, run or talk.
How do I keep up with all these milestones and ensure that my boys are progressing, as they should? It is tough, but I have conditioned myself to review the list of age appropriate milestones at least once per month. There are various resources such as http://www.babycenter.com/ that offer a suggested list of milestones that you can download and follow for your own kids. These resources typically begin with newborns and go through school-aged kids to include various milestones and activities such as language development, physical development, nutrition recommendations etc. I have printed off the milestone charts for both my boys and attempt to review this list monthly.
Each week, I try to research or come up with one new game or activity that I can try with each of my boys. This takes a little time on Sunday afternoons as I plan out my week, but it is worth the time to pull together one new activity that we can do together or that I can do with each of them separately that either helps with one of the milestones or simply provides an opportunity for us to have some fun. I recognize that every interaction is not suppose to be a learning experience so I am often looking for simple games that simply encourage us to spend time together. The activities are very simple and are things we can do in the evenings after works and school. I have a list of go to resources where I can pull new games or activities or if I am bored with these resources, I do an online search for games and activities. I have a running list of these activities that I can typically leverage in a pinch so I don’t have to research weekly. The games are super simple and include ideas like playing charades, I spy, imitation of words and sounds etc. As you can see, the activities are not too complicated but the idea of spending a few minutes to identify a couple of things to do with my boys or to practice helps to ensure that we are tracking against the milestones and more importantly that we are spending some dedicated time during our weeknights together. Some resources I use to develop this list of games/activities include: http://www.babycenter.com/0_lets-play-weekly-activities-for-your-babys-first-year_1501475.bc, http://www.sproutonline.com/ www.parentingweekly.com, www.gorp.com. I also recommend the books “The Secret of Play” by Ann Pleshette Murphy and “Bright From The Start” by Jill Stamm, PH.D.
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