My daughter who arrived with dramatic flare, under our Christmas tree on the evening of Epiphany (or Christmas Eve according to the 'Ukrainian Orthodox' half of our extended family), went on to do some interesting stuff. Let's call this sweet girl Shoobee. That's her nickname now because of her favourite baby toy.
Shoobee would stare for extended periods at a brightly coloured toy. We called it Busy Bee-- there was a bee on top with a smiling face, and it was a soft-sided toy with dials to spin and different textures to feel. Once she could grab it herself, she would stare at the toy intently and spin the spinner, crinkle the crinkly bits over and over again. Talk about hyperfocus. Shoo was very visual. She would calm right down if placed in front of Baby Einstein videos. The audio was secondary-- she liked watching the objects, colours and patterns on the screen. She had a few challenging 'baby behaviours,' but her first year went along pretty typically.
Just before her 1st birthday, she became quite ill. It was RSV, with all its nasty respiratory complications. Shoo could no longer breastfeed comfortably. The way she let me know this was not by turning away from the breast or fussing, but by latching on normally. Then, within a minute of starting the feed, she would clamp down hard with her baby teeth and forcefully yank off the breast. I soon chickened out of offering to nurse her, even though she was giving cues that she wanted to feed, and would latch on enthusiastically... only to inevitably bite me. Shoo wouldn't accept a bottle at all--ever. In hindsight, I interpret her abrupt and painful end to breastfeeding to be one of the earliest examples of communication breakdown. After a tough bout of illness, Shoo recovered and fully mastered the 'sippy cup'. She never went back to the breast.
Shoobee would stare for extended periods at a brightly coloured toy. We called it Busy Bee-- there was a bee on top with a smiling face, and it was a soft-sided toy with dials to spin and different textures to feel. Once she could grab it herself, she would stare at the toy intently and spin the spinner, crinkle the crinkly bits over and over again. Talk about hyperfocus. Shoo was very visual. She would calm right down if placed in front of Baby Einstein videos. The audio was secondary-- she liked watching the objects, colours and patterns on the screen. She had a few challenging 'baby behaviours,' but her first year went along pretty typically.
Just before her 1st birthday, she became quite ill. It was RSV, with all its nasty respiratory complications. Shoo could no longer breastfeed comfortably. The way she let me know this was not by turning away from the breast or fussing, but by latching on normally. Then, within a minute of starting the feed, she would clamp down hard with her baby teeth and forcefully yank off the breast. I soon chickened out of offering to nurse her, even though she was giving cues that she wanted to feed, and would latch on enthusiastically... only to inevitably bite me. Shoo wouldn't accept a bottle at all--ever. In hindsight, I interpret her abrupt and painful end to breastfeeding to be one of the earliest examples of communication breakdown. After a tough bout of illness, Shoo recovered and fully mastered the 'sippy cup'. She never went back to the breast.
