Mental development First two years Mental leap 7
Mental leap 7
Wonder Week 46:
The World of Sequences
Babies are natural mess-makers. During the last leap in your baby's mental development, this talent probably seemed at its peak. You may have marveled at your baby's knack for destruction as he disassembled, tossed around, and squished everything in his path. If you are alert for newly developing skills in your baby, at around 46 weeks you may suddenly notice him doing things that are quite the opposite. He will begin, for the first time, to try to put things together.
Your baby is now ready to discover the world of sequences. From this age on, he can begin to realize that to reach many of his goals, he has to do things in a certain order to be successful. You may now see your baby looking first to see which things go together and how they go together before trying to put them in each other, pile them on top of each other, or piece them together. For instance, he may concentrate on aiming as well as he can before trying to pile one block on top of another. He may push a peg through a hole in a peg board only after he has compared the shape of the peg to the hole.
Your baby's mental development is very important and significant. It affects not only your baby's mood, but also his health, his intelligence, his sleeping pattern, the three C’s (crying, clinginess, crankiness), and much more. Once you understand your baby’s mental development, you can help your baby in so many ways. If you would like to learn more about the mental development of your baby, order a copy of The Wonder Weeks, which is based on international research.
