PerryWinkles Kids Blog

I knew it would happen.  Every baby goes through it and I knew the day would inevitably arrive when our baby became aware of how powerful dropping a toy on the floor from the height of her high chair could be.  The first act happens innocently enough - “let’s see what happens when I place my hand in the air and open it!”  Down goes the toy to the floor and makes a noise.  And down goes the baby’s mommy to pick up the toy that fell on the floor…or so she naively thought!  Then they perfect the throwing-toy-on-the-floor technique through trial and error.  There’s the sweeping of the arm across the tray, then the picking a toy with their little fingers and dangling it in the air before releasing, and the grabbing with their whole hand and projecting in the desired direction.  And they all have the same desired effect of mommy or daddy bending down and picking it up for them only to wait two seconds before the toy finds its way back on the floor. 

I admit that I find this little game charming and amazing.  It’s cute to see a bit of personality coming through in a baby and, also, it’s incredible to witness learning and skill development happening in front of your eyes.  First there’s object permanence, which teaches them that objects still exist when they’re not in their view anymore; then there’s the dexterity developed in their fingers through all those Cheerios and little bits of fruit they pick up from their plate; there’s finally being coordinated enough to grab an object and move their arms in the direction they want them to end up.  And I’m sure there’s tons more at play!  I don’t consider this little game in itself a form of manipulation because babies (we suspect) find this fun.  So why not indulge them.

What did concern me (in a humorous way only) was when I realized that Clara, now over 8-months-old, had incorporated this little game into her feeding routine to get me to get her toys for her when she wanted.  The game goes something like this: we start happily feeding, mouth is popping open, food is going in easily.  Then Clara starts fussing a bit so I give her a spoon or bowl to distract her, and we continue happily feeding.  A few minutes later off goes the arm in the air dangling the bowl, looking back at me before releasing her little fingers, then excitedly looking over the side of her chair to see where the bowl landed.  Nice throw!  It’s what followed that shocked me when I realized I was being manipulated by my sneaky baby: Clara sits back on her chair looking at me who should obviously know to pick the toy back up.  When I try to feed her at that moment she softly closes her eyes and looks sideways.  I initially thought she was just full and done eating so didnt’ think much of it.  Except after I finally handed her the bowl she immediately popped her mouth back open, I filled it with food and she threw the bowl on the floor again! 

Upon realizing this was going on, of course I first persevered and tried to get her to eat without giving in to her game.  I don’t know how long this fascination with toys on the floor will last and my back is stiff enough as it is! Soon enough, however, I just wanted her to finish her meal and I knew the only way was to play along.  So I did and had a great laugh at my baby’s cheekiness!

PerryWinkles Kids - Fine Children’s Smocked Clothing