Got You!

Today, I worked with the infants and toddlers. When I first got there, Baby J started to cry from the swing so I held him for a while, but he wouldn’t stop crying so the other teacher took him. He wasn’t feeling well. Later, Crawling Baby came in and he has a new trick. He can stand up while holding onto something, but can’t walk while holding on to something stationary like the couch. He’s figured out that he can walk if he holds on to someone’s hands. He grabbed both of my hands and stood up so I started to move backwards to let him catch up with me. We went around the room a few times, but after a while it was hard because I was on my knees. He was having a good time though. He played with his phone again and he’s found a new favorite toy, a plastic corn on the cob. He also kept dumping out a bucket of toys. I’d refill it just so he could dump it again. Baby L who I usually play with was on vacation, but it gave me a chance to play with and learn more about Crawling Baby.

Baby J fell asleep and Baby O who’s the oldest went for a walk with a small group of toddlers. Since only Crawling Baby was awake, they sent me to the toddler room where they figured they’d need more help. Since some of them were out for their walk, there were only four, but they were the rowdy ones. We colored, played with foam blocks and some of them found the balls they had out a few weeks ago. Today, they mostly loved rolling and chasing them around the room. They experimented with rolling the ball on the slide and sliding down after it. The girl who is the youngest and had trouble walking in the snow was there. I’ll call her D. Only three weeks ago, I never heard her say any words. She’d communicate by crying, sign language or just by taking what she wanted. The infant teacher is learning sign language and she teaches simple signs to the kids. Anyway, today, her dad left and she was upset about it. Any time she started crying, she’d say, “daddy.” She kept walking me around the classroom and especially to the door that leads to the playground. She got there late and missed the outside play time. She also went back to her cubby for her coat. I kept having to explain that she missed outside time and that maybe she could go out later this afternoon. She also likes to watch the preschoolers on the playground which she does often. Finally, she brought me to the climber where she likes to play peak-a-boo with me on the stairs. We played for a few minutes and she thought it was so funny. Finally, she tried to say “peak-a-boo.” Then I went to check up on the other toddlers and she ran after me. When she caught up with us, she grabbed me and said, “got you!” That was our saying of the day after that. Any time we’d play together that’s what she’d say. I was glad to hear her talking now. The other toddlers seemed to talk more as well. They are learning new words everyday. They recognized me right off too even though I haven’t been in their room for three weeks. I decided to stay in there longer than planned to help with lunch and putting them down for nap. It was a very busy morning.

I went back to the infant room, but Crawling Baby was asleep. The only one awake was Baby O. Her and the other teacher looked at books and she walked around the room from one toy to another. Finally, Crawling Baby woke up and I went to get him from the room where the cribs are. We played more with the toys in the bucket, looked at books and his new favorite pass time, walking with me around the room. I felt bad for him because he wanted to look at books with Baby O, but she kept pushing him away. He didn’t want to take it from her; he just wanted to see the pictures. Then she was sitting on the couch and Crawling Baby came over and was trying to hold on to the couch. He ended up touching her feet since they were hanging off the couch and she got really annoyed with him. the teacher told me she doesn’t like him touching her at all. I think he grabs too rough sometimes, but he means well. He came up to me later while I was holding Baby J and he was touching his head. I made sure he was gentle though. At least Baby L doesn’t freak out when Crawling Baby comes over.

In the afternoon, Baby C came in. I didn’t get to play with her much today, but she does a ton of babbling. More than the others. I had to feed and hold Baby J. I had to keep walking him around the room or rock him because he wouldn’t settle down. Eventually, we put him in a playpen type thing, but it’s made out of wood and is higher off the ground. Instead of mesh sides, it has sides like a crib. It has a blanket on the bottom and we put some soft toys in there. He started to fuss in there too, but the teacher said he needs to learn to soothe himself which is true. I held him for over an hour and if he gets to used to someone holding him automatically every time he gets fussy, he’ll never learn how to calm himself down. After a couple minutes, he was quiet. I’m not the only one who holds him for a long time. We all do because he likes it, but sometimes he needs some time on the floor or in the play pen. Before I left, I walked with Crawling Baby some more. When I had to leave, I found his corn on the cob and he was happy to chew on that while sitting next to a full bucket of toys.