play time

It's activity mat time!

I tried out the activity mat a couple of weeks ago, and William was not impressed. Of course, at about three weeks old, I don't know how much of the mat he could actually see, so I guess his response was to be expected.

However, I put him on the mat earlier this week, and it was a completely different experience. His eyes widened as he looked all this neat! stuff! hanging! over! him. An alligator! A butterfly! A round red squishy thing that plays a tune that Mommy can't quite remember! He can't quite manage to control his arm and leg movement, but it looked to me like he was trying to bat at some of the little hanging toys that dangled from the activity mat's arches. He also opened and closed his mouth, in a baby version of "hey, this is kinda cool!" and he moved his eyes around, trying to take it all in. It managed to occupy him for more than a few minutes--eons in baby time. Millennia, even. I think he definitely gets an A in activity mat time.

William's also working on an A plus in Tummy Time. After he goggles at the neat hanging stuff, I flip him over and see what he does. He sort of bobs his head around mostly and attempts to gum the mat beneath him, but he does usually manage to get his head turned to one side, then the other, in sort of a bob-and-weave technique that would make any boxer proud. That's my boy! He can move his head around in a haphazard fashion! Next stop, Princeton!

But seriously, it's amazing to see how much his responses are changing in such a short amount of time. He is growing and changing before our eyes, and his cognitive responses are changing, too. It's like the ultimate science project. He's staying alert for longer periods of time, and while I don't know exactly what he perceives during those periods of time, he seems to be more curious about the small world around him. Of course, the alert periods are still vastly outnumbered by the "feed me! feed me NOW!" sessions and the crying jags and the poopy diapers, but they give me hope.