On Sunday we were entertaining Leilani by reading a book. Since, we don’t believe in cramming babies’ heads with numbers and colors, we just show her the pictures and read the words to say something before flipping the page—no repetition. The images and moving the pages captivate her more than the spoken words. We were reading the book that shows grandmothers doing things with their grandkids, for example walking, brushing, hugging, etc.
Imagine our surprise when we read the word “clapping” and she immediately started clapping her hands. She was looking at the picture in the book, but it actually looks more like praying, so I don’t think she was cued visually. We were both focused on the book, not her, so we weren’t encouraging her, and we definitely didn’t clap with our hands. We knew she could clap and she actually does it often, and we say “clap” in both English and German, so she knows the word. What’s surprising is that this time she clapped in response to the word that was not directed at her.
Interestingly, Leilani has another trick with clapping. For over a month I tried to show her how to clap. She didn’t like me moving her hands for her, so we started out with her clapping my hand, and later she could do it by herself. Maybe I’m just inventing motivations for her, but it does seem like she now claps specfically to get our attention. She knows it is an action we value, and we encourage the behavior by turning our attention to her when she does it. Actually, we prefer that type of call for attention much more than screaming or shrieking.
