Adventures in Object Permanence

Paige is 7 months old! Its a pretty big milestone and she has lots of new (sort of) tricks that come along with her.

Paige is just starting to learn about object permanence. Thats the concept that just because an object has disappeared, doesn't mean that it no longer exists. For the most part, Paige doesn't get this yet. We like to sit her up in her crib with the bumper attached so she can only see the top 1/3 of her bedroom or so. Daddy gets on his knees and gains Paige's attention. Once shes looking and smiling, daddy quickly DROPS out of sight. Poor Paige's eyes start darting all around, her head goes from side to side, her eyebrows furrow and her smile starts to fade.....wheres daddy?! He was JUST here!? Then (of course) daddy pops back up and squeals "peek-a-boo!" and Paige giggles slaps her hands on the mattress etc. The funny thing is, no matter how many times we do it, Paige never knows where to look and is always SHOCKED when daddy pops back up in the same spot where he disappeared. Too funny. I guess thats why peek-a-boo loses its appeal later in life.

She is making some progress on this concept (I think). On Saturday we gave her a little empty bottle of Pear Juice. She LOVES that stupid thing. Anyway, I took it from her and covered it with a little blankie. "Wheres your juice?" "Where did it go!?" I revealed the juice, gave it to her, and repeated. To my surprise, on the 7th or 8th try, she reached over and pulled up the blankie! The celebration ended there though because she ignored the juice and started chewing on the blankie. Sigh. :)

Lets see...what other amazing skills does Paige have now that shes a 7 monther...well, a couple of weekends ago Paige was playing with her cousin (second cousin?) Gabe at a graduation party. Now Gabe is about two weeks younger than Paige, but he's bigger, stronger, and a much better spitter. He does this great bubble blowing, spitting trick to amuse the people around him. Imagine....motor boat noise. Paige was VERY impressed by this and almost immediately started trying for herself. I don't know if she can't generate enough drool...or if she smiles too much for her lips to stick together... but she just can't do this! The funny thing is her attempts are sooooo adorable. She just ends up...well...imagine blowing out birthday candles.

This last one is my favorite, new yesterday, continued this morning. Paige will chew on a toy (paci, jumbo plastic bead, penguin foot) offer it to me by sticking it in my mouth to chew on for a while (yeah) and then take it back. Really fun to watch her face as I suck on her paci....probably more fun for her to watch mine though.


PS. The "Peek-A-Boo" pictures are from a book called BE Prepared: A Practical Handbook for New Dads by Gary Greenberg and Jeannie Hayden. HILARIOUS and strangely helpful. visit http://www.beprepared.net/ for more.