LC3cRSM Senses and Movement Related Texts, Q1-Q2 ^
This Thematic Thread integrates parts of text notes relevant to Infant Peggy’s sensory and motor development and learning with video clips that show incidents exhibiting them. Given that most evident early development is sensory-motor and social, nearly all the video clips of the first six months appear in this thread. The texts shown here are extracts from the full text corpus entries (links are provided to them) and from the transcripts’ episodes (and the AI generated summaries and narratives by chatGPT based upon those episodes). Those materials are fully accessible in the linked video Clip Notes.
| What do we see of Peggy’s learning about things in the world, of other beings, and of communication through the specific incidents in the first half of her birth year? | How to represent simply the changes in her relationships, communication as they begin? |
| 3Vgn#: Parents’ Text Notes OR remarks on Video=> | |
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| 01: Normal birth; healthy baby. Bob wrote: The doctor held the head as it emerged…. Holding her upside down, the doctor suction-cleared her mouth, checked her breathing, and laid Peggy on Gretchen’s stomach. Peggy was pale blue at birth, as was Robby; I don’t recall Miriam’s color. Peggy’s color led me to ask her Apgar rating (it was 8 at both the first two judgments). Her weight at birth was 8 pounds 8 ounces (Robby had weighed in at 9,2 and Miriam at 8,10). She was delivered at 8:46. The labor was very short (compared to 14 hours for Robby and 10 for Miriam)…. The umbilical cord was cut and Peggy was removed to a warming basket.3V0001.1 |
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| 17: Early Movements: Bob wrote: She and I were laying on the bed after Gretchen fed her. I propped her up on her right to aid in digestion, but she would not be still. Still rooting a diaper, she flopped onto her belly in a squall of tears and wailing. She was vigorously kicking with crawling gestures and continued doing so. With her left arm placed as if she were doing a pushup (and her right seemed trapped under her body), Peggy kept on “crawling.” She had no traction on the sheet so her motions seemed to be a general flailing until I put my hand at her soles, giving her a surface to push against though still no traction at the knees. Even though she could not lift her head up, Peggy pushed herself forward over four inches (in about two minutes) before I restored her to her initial position. 3V0017.1 | 0: |
| 32 One Month Checkup: Bob wrote: Today was Peggy’s first post-natal examination. At one month, she weighs 11 lbs, 9 oz. (having left the hospital at 8,3). The two “stork bites” on her eye lids may actually be birth marks, in which case we should assume they will remain for several years. She is 22 inches long. Cranial circumference is 15 inches. Doctor Morse said we should not expect her to focus well or recognize anything until she is 6 to 8 weeks old (this in response to my remark that she always appears to be looking over a person’s shoulder). Her nightly fussing he described as her first period of coming “awake”, his positions being that babies sleep most of the time and only gradually become conscious in the sense we are when awake. He said her weight gain is positive proof that she is not colicky or ill. The first infant reaction to sickness is loss of appetite — of which she shows none. She breathes well, has a heart and a well formed pelvis. She appears to be in great shape. Gretchen added later (4/23/79): One night, right before her ten-week post natal checkup, I fed her around 7:30 pm and 8:30 she was sleepy, so I put her down and to my pleased surprise she slept right through until 7:30 the next morning. Since then, she has pretty well given up the last evening feeding and gone to bed for the night around 9 pm, give or take 30 minutes.(Repeated in Vn#11) 3V0032.1 |
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| 40 Alertness and Mobility: Bob Wrote: Within the past week Peggy has become much more alert generally and in far better control of herself than before. This appeared in several ways at once! She now travels around in her crib, she prefers to be carried on the chest and looking over the shoulder to being held by arms in the feeding position, when in the infant seat, she readily turns her head to follow peoples’ movements where last week she did not do so. 3V0040.1 | 0: |
| 52 Regular in Timimg: Bob wrote: Peggy is sleeping better now — and so are we. Last night is the first time she slept through (10pm to 6am) two nights in a row; that makes 3 out of 4. It still seems to me she cries a lot, but I was not home with Robby and Miriam and thus have no real basis for comparison. Gretchen holds that Peggy is much more regular in her habits, cries every night at the same time, and that the predictability makes it harder to bear.3V0052.1 |
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| 54 Motor Development: Gretchen wrote: Peggy is showing considerable motor development now. Starting yesterday, when left alone in her crib, she has been straining very hard to lift her head and succeeding (before collapse). By lifting her head, I mean raising it straight up by contracting her neck muscles. She gets even higher by raising herself on her arms — this permits her crown to be seen down to the eyes above the top of the crib bumper on a horizontal line. 3V0054.1 | 0: |
| 91: see V#6 at 32 days. 3V0091.1 | 0: |
| 91 Grasping: Gretchen wrote: Peggy is showing greater tendencies now to grasp — clothing while nursing, a diaper otherwise. Also to direct her hand to mouth and suck at the thumb end. When she does this with crying, she sounds as though she is trying to stifle the noise by jamming her fist in her mouth. She has also made very vague hand motions at her toy clown when it was held right in front of her at waist level. 3V0091.05 | 0: |
| 92 Visually Tracking Talk: Gretchen wrote: … After the usual greetings and milling around, the children disappeared in the basement to watch baseball and the adults settled to talk in the living room. I sat on the couch with Priscilla, holding Peggy seated in my lap. Bob and Vic sat in chairs across the room, one on each side of the fireplace. Peggy began scanning this novel scene, her head moving from Priscilla on the left to bob in the center to Vic at the right and back again, pausing perhaps half a second to eye each person. she performed this back and forth viewing cycle continuously for a period of several minutes.3V0092.1 | 0: |
| 94 No Release After Grasp: Bob wrote: Recalling that Peggy has been grasping objects consistently, I brought her a circular rattle… about five inches in diameter with 3 large lady bugs on the perimeter. I put the rattle in Peggy’s hand, closing her fingers around a part of the perimeter to see what she would do with it. Peggy was absorbed by this thing in her hand: she looked from one lady bug to another (about half a second at each) in a circular pattern, counter clockwise; this was obvious from the gross movements of her head. After bringing her right hand to her mouth, she tried to bring her left hand, but it was encumbered by the rattle. Peggy’s tongue hung out as much as an inch while she brought the rattle under her face, but she couldn’t lift hand and rattle. After disengaging her hand from the rattle, Peggy put it straight away in her mouth. Later, she put her mouth down on the rattle. It is not possible to judge whether this was accidental (tired neck muscles) or intentional. After doing so, she returned to her own left hand. 3V0094.01 |
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| 111 Recalled Problem Solution?: Gretchen wrote: Over the past weeks, Peggy has become obviously very “visual,” looking and looking, trying to absorb everything with her eyes. This morning I carried her into the bathroom, where Bob was in the tub. She fixed her attention on his pajamas and robe hanging from the back of the door. When Bob called her name, she stared fixedly at the clothes, looking for his face (which was in reality only a little to the left). It took repeated calls, plus my shifting her around a bit, before she realized where Bob was. Bob continued: What I found most striking was Peggy’s straining to look at the top of the hook, where my head should have been. The aural evidence might have been confused by the funny echoes off the shower wall tiles. She finally found my face after, as her head sagged down, I raised my hand into her visual field, waving it, and gradually drew her gaze to my lower level in the bath tub. A few days later: Gretchen again brought Peggy while I was on the bath. Sitting on Gretchen’s lap again and oriented to the door, Peggy saw my robe, followed the material up to the hook and back down to level, paused, and slowly turned her head left where she saw me and smiled. After she recognized me, I said , “Hi Peggy,” and waved, returning her smile. 3V0111.01 |
111.1: This “BATHROOM-ROBE INCIDENT” highlights the issues of what was learned, what was the role of the context, and what level of abstraction might be most apt for representing the learning. |
| 123.1 Mimi & Meltzoff Test: Bob wrote: [At Professor Sinclair’s MIT lecture on language and pre-linguistic development]… Before the lecture, we had introduced Peggy to Mimi and she told us not to be upset if Peggy made a little noise, only to take her out if she made a lot of noise. Mimi stuck out her tongue at Peggy, who immediately responded in kind, then “You imitate already. You’re not supposed to do that yet.”3V0123.01 | 123.1 for context: see V#2 V0015.1 and V#5 V0030.1 |
| 125.2 Extended Grasping & Sucking: Bob wrote: Over the past several days, Peggy has shown a persistent inclination to grasp cloth and put it in her mouth. It began with the diaper we keep nearby to contain her slobbering. Gretchen noted a few days ago that Peggy grasped at her drool diaper, pulled it up and stuffed a corner in her mouth. She made sucking noises and gave Gretchen a big smile indicating she was quite pleased (I am inclined to over-interpret this incident as a first joke, i.e. Peggy pretending she is feeding and smiling at Gretchen because she is not feeding). Two days ago, when she sat up to burp, she persisted in grasping the material of Gretchen’s blouse and pulling it to her mouth. She now appears to prefer that to the breast and would only feed when she couldn’t reach the blouse. Yesterday while bouncing in my lap, she was very dogged in trying to grasp and pull the shirt jacket I wore. When she could not loosen the material from my left arm, she tried the right. Finally, at the table, again sitting up to burp, she first reached out for the table cloth and, failing, then tried to bring her mouth over to the table. Chewing on cloth is not new for Peggy. For months now, Gretchen has found the sleeve of her sleeper wet in the morning. What is so striking is this apparent explosion of interest in “foreign” cloth as a new universe of suckable material.3V0125.02 |
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| 125.3 Expectation? : Gretchen wrote: Last Saturday (5/27), bob came back from Radio Shack with a TV game for the children. It has been attached to the TV in Miriam’s room. Since the weather over the weekend was quite warm, I occasionally fed Peggy in that room to enjoy the coolness produced by the air-conditioner. the children would at times be playing with the TV game. Tuesday afternoon, I took Peggy in there to nurse, and as I settled down in the chair, Peggy turned her head towards the TV (which was not on) to see if there was a game going. RWL note: (10/2/26) That year was 1978. There was no TV at ‘home.’ The device was used as a monitor in earlier research; the game was a “Pong” variant. 3V0125.03 |
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| 125.4 Response Time Changes: Gretchen wrote: I have mentioned that Peggy does not cry in the morning. Usually I will go to her when I begin to hear her move around, so often I find her doing press ups. When I lean over the crib and call her name, Peggy looks around until she locates my face and then gives me a big smile. Yesterday she was still lying with her cheek on the mattress (facing out from the wall) and her eyes closed. At the sound of my voice, she immediately opened her eyes and smiled. (The smiles appear more quickly than they used to — less time appears to be required to find me). 3V0125.04 | 0: |
| 126.1 More on Rolling Over: Gretchen wrote: Rereading the entry for 3/17 [V#9, V0054.1] to check on something, I ran across the notation of Peggy’s rolling over (front to back). I am convinced that that was an accident, or artifact, not at all under control. She rollled over because she was doing a kind of pushup with her hands unevenly placed and she overbalanced. She lacked the skill (experience) or strength to prevent falling. I h ave not seen her try to roll over like this deliberately, but I have seen her apparently try to roll from back to front, or at least practice the preliminary motions. That is, she turns her head to one side, tipping it back and arcing her body, while she reaches back with her feet to push off. 3V0126.1 | 0: |
| 127.1 Grabbing and Sucking a Finger: Gretchen wrote: Monday (5/29) we were preparing to make our first videotape of Peggy at 18 weeks. she sat in her chair while Bob got the camera set up and observed the effects on the bedroom TV. I came over to investigate and held out a finger to Peggy. She reached for it, grasped it, and almost immediately conveyed it to her mouth where she sucked on my finger and as much of her hand as would fit. 3V0127.01 | 0: |
| 127: | Panel P018: containing 9 panes |
| 0127 Pop Goes the Weasel: from P18A1 Clip Notes, ep.A: Mom: Peggy, you want to to play a quick round of pop goes the weasel? Mom: [Standing Peggy on her knees]. Round about the cobbler’s bench. The monkey chased the weasel. The monkey thought ’twas all in fun. Pop! [Lifting Peggy up high] Goes the weasel…. [Lifted again, Peggy smiles] How’s that? [then, musically] Do, do, do, do, do. Mom: What are you looking at? You’re looking at all those bright lights. |
P018A1 Pop Goes the Weasel
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| 0127 Tickling by Mom; Ride a Horse to Boston: from P18A2 Clip Notes, eps. A, B: Mom: Can you make any noise? [ re-seats Peggy on her lap, facing camera] “Woo-who” Mom: [begins sounds of an insect that will fly to Peggy and tickle her] catch it. Catch, catch, catch it. Mom: [On repetition of the action, when Mom stops, Peggy continues looking for the pretend-insect] You’re looking for it? It’s right here. from AI summary of episode B: Gentle knee bouncing and taste questions lead into a nursery rhyme: “Ride a horse to Boston…” Continues playful lifting with “up, up, up” and “down, down, down,” retrieving the dropped cloth. Peggy munches on the cloth and her fist; caregiver notes future teething and why the cloth gets soggy. Turns Peggy toward a mirror and explores toes; Peggy shows limited interest, and toes aren’t ticklish yet;… | P018A2 Tickling with Mom
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| 127 Dog (Scurry) licks Peggy’s foot: from P018B1 Clip Notes, ep.B: Mom: Here, come over here, Scurry. Come on. Come on, turkey. [Scurry starts licking Peggy’s foot] What do you think of that? It didn’t even tickle, huh? You silly dog. Analyst comment: 2nd instance of non-response to foot sensations. | P018B1 Enter Scurry
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| 127 Mom Lifts Peggy to Stand: from P018B2 Clip Notes, ep. A: Mom: How you doin’?… Can you stand up? Yeah. You can? You sure can… |
P018B2:with Mom and Scurry
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| 127 Tracing Actions with Cloths: from P018C1 Clip Notes: two transcripts Take 1 (10/17/24); superseded by Take 2; AI reformulations based on Take 2. Take 2: (11/10/25) The first reason for going into greater detail on transcription in Take 2 is to examine Peggy’s repeated actions of finger-scraping solid surfaces in apparent attempts to bring desired objects within reach. An additional (and not inferior) issue is observing early coordination and discriminating control over left and right arms/hands. In service of that end, we created the Action Trace P018C1at, as a spreadsheet of sensori-motor actions observed versus video time-stamps of the clip. From “In the Trace”: Examining details of the Action Trace, four behaviors stand out as specifiable incidents: The first is noticeable is contrast with her commonly observed behavior: Peggy frequently flailed her arms with hands on a surface or scratched on surfaces with her fingers. When a loose fabric covered the surface, these acts often brought things she wanted close enough to touch or grasp. After sucking two fingers, she moved her left hand (from :33 to :42) across the edge of the table 3 times, drew her hand back to her mouth with eyes-on the cloth, finally touching the bib then drawing it towards her body and mouth. What I see here is a failed effort noted (the bug is manifest to observation, [her arm and hand were active but in a direction perpendicular to what was needed to contact the cloth], an unspecified parameter bug. Next, she looked-at the bib, directly reached out and touched it, then finally launched her arm and hand on to the bib and dragged it in her direction. She solved the problem and fixed the bug, ie. she recognized failure, understood the failure (in touching/bumping the bib) and modified her behavior to reach her objective at :58ff. Second is a possible lack of discrimination in motor control. At :58, Peggy launches her left arm and hand onto the bib; simultaneously, her right hand and arm make a similar move (with no target): an “underspecified effector” bug. This bug causes no failure to manifest at the right hand, so it need not be remedied there. The same bug appears again at 1:21 where both arms are moved identically, though the move is only useful for left arm of the two. Subsequently, at 1:36ff, the bug is explored using the right hand in relation to the diaper. The sequence here may be precisely how the discrimination of control distinction between the right and left hand is developed. Third, at 2:05 Peggy examined her hand and the bib, and her Mom described the action. This is precisely the sort of motor action combined with direct visual verification of the outcomes that experience-based integrations of sensory motor coordination requires. As the table is removed at 2:31, the right hand is diaper free, but re-grasps it at 2:34. Shaking the bib at 2:37ff leads to loss of grip on it at 2:45. Fourth, while looking at the bib on her left, at 3:37ff the right hand frees then re-grasps the diaper as if telegraphing intentions for the left hand, which can not perform those actions, on the bib – used as it is in supporting her body. It’s not clear how to characterize this behavior: is it an underspecified effector bug? Or could it be a “compensatory ineffective action” bug? |
P018C1 with Cloths
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| 127 Tracing Actions with Familiar Objects: from P018C2 Clip Notes: from “In the Clip: Peggy’s eyes are first on the table surface; she puts her hands on the surface, drawing her hands across it, making scraping movements and in between bringing her hand to her mouth. Why ? Three suggestions: One: she is coordinating tactile and visual sense information: the “table” was an unused but finished stair tread (fine grained douglas fir, treated with polyurethane, thus smooth but with visible variation). Two: many of the surfaces of her experience were cloth, some loose; scrapeing such could bring the material and objects on it within her reach. Three: a comparable surface of her common experience was her high chair tray, often covered with tasty spills. Was this a taste test? This seems unlikely for such persistent behavior. Repeated and rapid moves from table to mouth favor the “taste-test” hypothesis, as does the visible spoon and bowl, empty though it was at the time. Finally, the lack of response to Bob’s calling her name is clear at week 18. from “In the Trace”: The questions raised by Peggy’s actions in this clip focus on her combination of surface scraping with hand-to-mouth follow on. Of the 13 scraping moves, 9 are immediately followed by moving the hand to the mouth, 4 are not. Though the preponderance might favor a “taste-test” explanation, the fact she almost always moved a hand to her mouth undercuts the frequency as evidence. If it could be shown she was comparing tactile and visual sense impressions, that would be an interesting result, but I see no evidence for that here. |
P018C2: Familiar Objects
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| 127 Tracing Actions with Objects on Table: from P18C3 Clip Notes: from “In the Clip”: There is no disguising the chaos of this session. This was Peggy’s first exposure to these objects, which complicated those aspects essential to her age and the novelty for both her Mom and Bob. The need for support to free her hands for use and the crowding of so many objects in the range of her reach helped obscure whatever control she might have shown. The questions brought forward by the video are the relative importance of oral, manual, and visual senses in her situation. This is seen most directly in her “reaching out” with her mouth to contact objects as well as carry them to her mouth. Second is the extent to which one can see coordination of vision and touch and of the hands with each other. Peggy can grasp the cups because their concavity permits the opposition of fingers and thumb. The sticks are graspable because her fingers can circle the shaft. The rings and balls are moved by bumping, pushing (3:25) or striking (inadvertantly more often than intended). She did move the ball (at 4:55) with a transient loose handhold. The situation was frustrating for her. from “Summary by AI”: Peggy is presented with various objects (balls, cups, rings, sticks) on a table to explore. She appears to try pulling the surface closer and also moves a ring with a ping-pong ball. Observers note she often reaches with her mouth open, seemingly attempting to bring her face down to the objects. Cups roll off the table; one is returned, and Peggy briefly mouths the larger yellow cup and vocalizes. She repeatedly reaches toward objects with her mouth, suggesting mouth-centered exploration. The experimenters reduce clutter by removing cups to see if she’ll engage with sticks or rings. A small ring and white ball fall; Peggy seems to be trying to pick objects up but struggles. She becomes frustrated, lets out a small wail, and the session pauses for a moment. After a break, she grasps a long rod, attempts to get its end into her mouth, and nearly pokes her eye—seen as typical exploratory behavior. Notably, when the experiment is “stopped,” Peggy resumes exploring on her own. from “In the Trace”: After a minute of chaos, Peggy focuses on the ball seated in a ring. Moving from the left to that ball in ring, she hits and moves them, knocks away the small cup, pushes the ring, then the right hand slides in near the ring, bumping it. This hints at existing, early coordination of both hands, simple and not polished. When Mom inserts the large cup, attention shifts; Peggy shows she can grasp, move and twist the cup because it owns a dimension affording a hand of her size a fit. It is then, with an object where she has some manual control that she brings into play for touching her mouth, the first agent of grasping she had. What is going on? It’s not bizarre to see the infant as “feeling her way around” in a melee of uncomprehended impressions (Wm James’ “blooming, buzzing confusion”) searching for feelings of similarities and differences, even when they originate from sources we discriminate as disparate, as if sorting out what her actions accomplish by evaluating “after action reports” of the senses immediately, from which she will, as we have, invent the notion of “cause and effect.” The mouth and hands continue simultaneous activity as Peggy attempts persistently to bring an end of the long stick to her mouth, after frustrated in her first trials with the hand held end. This was a committed effort on her part. |
P018C3: Objects on Table
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| 127 Reaction to Half Hidden Face: from P018D, episodes C & D: Bob: Can you see what part of Rob’s face she’s looking at, Gretchen? Mom: Not really. Miriam: I think it’s the face, the whole face. Probably looking at his nose. Mom: She’s looking at a level… Mom: [to Rob] Can you tell, is she looking you right in the eyes or is she looking lower down? Rob: Right now, she’s looking way low… Bob: Now, Rob, put that [a hand kerchief] over your eyes from the back, from the top of your head, and bring it down over your eyes. Just over your eyes, not over your whole face. So your nose and mouth are sticking out. [Rob does so] Mom: Only his mouth is sticking out. Yeah, his nose and mouth. Bob: She looks a little worried, doesn’t she? Yeah. Am I imputing that to her? Yeah. [As Peggy begins to smile] Okay, what just came out there? Is that Robbie’s nose or his eyes that just came out? Mom: No, I don’t think anything changed. Unless he stuck his tongue out when I didn’t see. Bob: Well, she started smiling there a minute ago instead of looking worried. |
P018D: with Robby
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| 138.2 Grasping the Teething Jack: Bob wrote: Laying on her stomach on the floor (with a spread out sleeping bag under her), Peggy’s world of mouthable things is limited to her reach. She extended her right arm and grasped, slowly and with readily apparent difficulty, a knob on one arm of the jack. since she supported her chest and head by leaning on her arm, even though she had grasped the jack, she could not bring it to her mouth. Obviously frustrated, crying, she eventually brought her left hand over to another (the opposite) arm of the jack and grasped. She could still not pull it back to her mouth – she had it firmly grasped with her right hand !. when she let go, Peggy brought the jack toward her mouth and got a knob on one end into it, But the placement had another one poking her in the neck and this hurt her whenever she let her head droop. Poor baby. I rescued her quickly. 3V0138.02 | 138.2: How can we represent the possible relationships between the infant and things in their actual possible variety: not perceived, perceived but not discriminated, discriminated but not recognized, recognized but not attended to, attended to but ignored, others? |
| 140: | Panel P020: containing 7 panes |
| 0140 Slow Undoing of Prior Actions: from “Narrative by AI”: …The introduction of simple objects—a cloth diaper, a rattle, and a rubber teething ring—illustrates early problem-solving and coordination. Peggy attempts to bring the rattle to her mouth but encounters difficulties as her hands clasp together and her fingers get in the way…. from Episode F&G [~ts: 04:05-6:30] B: Can I give you something to play with? Would you like to have your rattle? You got it? Can you reach that? It’s tricky. P: [reaches for the rattle but has her right hand clasped inside her left, making it hard to grasp the rattle. She separates hands and thrusts one inside the circular rattle] B: What are you going to do with it, sweetie?… Oh, you’re going to drop it? Good catch….Too hard to find? [returns rattle to Peggy’s reach] P: [Peggy’s hands are clasped together; she struggles to separate them]. B: Well, here….Can you make it? I’ll put it right here on your belly. [B: pats her belly with the rattle.] Can you see here on your belly?… No? Do you want it out here? [Raises the rattle into her visual field] Or did it just get in your way? B: Oh, right in your mouth. Oh, that’s your finger you put in your mouth, sweetie. It’s hard to get a rattle in your mouth, hand in your mouth and you got it full of a rattle. B: (Aside to camera.) That’s what she’s trying to do now. Can you… B: Peggy? Well, I guess she doesn’t want to do it on this side….Almost turning over. P: NVV [noises of frustration] B: What’s the matter, sweetie?… Hey, I’ve got an idea. Let’s trade. [calling] Peggy, Peggy. Let me have this and you can have this one. [Bob tries to substitute a rubber jack-shaped teething ring for the rattle] P: [retains rattle, takes it to her mouth] You want to try that?…No?… Okay. B: (Aside to camera) I think she’s trying to get the lady bug, one of the lady bugs in her mouth. P: NVV [cries of frustration] B: Okay, come on now. Hold it, hold it, hold it. There’s no reason to cry, sweetie…. Too hard? Well, here. Let’s try this. [Bob puts rubber jack within her reach] No? P: [reaches for one leg of the jack] B: Oh, that’s a good one. Got lots of different things. … Yeah. Then your hand gets in the way. Oh, good grab….Almost…. There you go. You got it. All right, just hold on a little. |
P020A with Bob
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| 0140 Hands Used to Keep Food In: from Episode B-D: [ts: 0:31-1:52]: M: Some banana…. M: You’re going to keep it in with your fingers…. Both: Non-verbal interchange…. M: More?… M: There’s another big bite…. M: Give me the spoon back… M: Attagirl…. M: There you go…. M: There’s another spoon… M: You sure have a good technique for keeping the food in your mouth…. M: There you go…. |
P020B with Mom Feeding
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| 0140 Peggy Struggles with a Spoon: from Episodes B&C [ts: 0:24-0:58]: P: [looks at spoon, up at camera, back at spoon]; [hands come together, appear not easy to separate] [reaching for spoon, knocks it away; reaches out again] [hands appear to stick together] [right touches spoon; left reaches for, touches it] Kids: [noises off stage] [Peggy attends a few moments] P: [reaches out, grasps spoon head, draws spoon head to edge of table] Mom: Good… Mouthing and Banging the Spoon]: from Episodes C&D [ts: 0:58-33:00]: P: [reaches for spoon handle, grasps and pulls it away from left hand and table edge] [looks at spoon head, raises spoon to vertical; swings spoon head past her mouth and bangs handle end on table.] [raises handle end, looks at it and takes to mouth] [moves handle to arms length, brings in to look at it, then takes to mouth; moves below table] [brings spoon head above and slides on table, raises and takes handle end to mouth] [moves away and returns handle and hand again to mouth then hits spoon head twice on table] Mom: When she first dropped or banged the spoon down and made the noise, she jumped. But subsequently, she didn’t. It was just the first time that it startled her. P: [Having let go of the spoon, she brings hands together at the spoon; they entangle each other and she separates them again. On a second try, spoon falls off the table] |
P020D1 Using Her Spoon
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| 0140 Distinguishing between a Surface and Fabric on it: from Summary by AI: Activity featuring infant Peggy interacting with a bib at a table. Bob places Peggy’s bib on the table; Peggy reaches with her right hand and draws it toward herself. Peggy struggles slightly with grasping but moves the bib easily once in hand. She crumples the bib, shifts it left, and repeatedly brings it to her mouth. Mom praises Peggy (“What a good baby you are”) and kisses her on the head. Peggy alternates between mouthing the bib and releasing/bringing it back to her mouth. She opens her arms, shifts attention to the table surface, and scratches/explores it. Focus alternates between the surface and the bib; repeated mouthing continues. |
P020D2 with Her Bib
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| 0140 Interacting with Hard Objects: from Narrative by AI: session captures… caregiver team… Bob and Mom—placing simple objects within reach of an infant, Peggy. The setup includes pairs of cups, blocks, and sticks arranged on a small table. From the outset, Peggy engages by pushing cups away and brushing aside blocks, with several objects rolling off the surface. The caregivers periodically restore items to the table and add a napkin, adjusting the arrangement to keep materials available within Peggy’s reach. Peggy’s actions center on contact and movement: swatting objects, rolling sticks off the edge, and tipping a cup after inserting her fingers. At various points she clasps her hands when an object is lost from view or reach, then re-engages when items are returned. The interaction is punctuated by comments from Mom and Bob noting near “clean sweeps” of the tabletop and offering encouragement while repositioning objects to encourage further exploration. A recurring focus is Peggy’s grip and use of a long stick. She holds it at the end, taps the chair arm, brings the hand end toward her mouth, then lowers it to use as a kind of arm extension. With the smaller cup, she coordinates both hands—one aiding the other—to lift, mouth, and then release or knock it away. This pattern repeats, with the stick alternately serving as a manipulable object and a tool that influences other items on the table. |
P020D3 Objects On the Table
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| 143.1 An Elaboration: Gretchen wrote: While videotaping Peggy at 20 Weeks, I noticed the second lower center tooth coming in. For quite some time we have had a sort of game, wherein I would try to pounce on her hand with my mouth, going “Aumh” (a “seizing” noise) Two days ago, as I held Peggy, she waved an arm and accidentally brought her hand in contact with my mouth. I opened it and sucked gently on two of her fingers. Peggy thought this was very funny. Several times in succession she offered me her fingers to suck, each time laughing with delight. Yesterday, she expanded upon the game. After offering her fingers to be sucked, she gradually drew close to her own mouth, then firmly removed her fingers from mine and immediately put them in her mouth. But after a short time, only a second or so, she removed her fingers and again offered them to me. This sequence was repeated four or five times. 3V0143.01 |
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| 148 Rolling Over: Gretchen wrote: Peggy rolled over just now (from front to back) and I missed it ! She had awoken from a nap on the floor (sleeping bag spread out). I heard a cry, looked over to hear, and she was lying on her back. 6/21/78 Again ! 3V0148.01 |
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| 154 Body Awareness and Locating Objects: Bob wrote: For the first time I saw Peggy rise onto her hands and knees. (Gretchen remarks she saw her do so yesterday). A second kind of mobility Peggy has gained is rotational, e.g. she flails with all four limbs and makes a little progress at turning. She not only turns in her crib now, but even puts this turning to good use. Thus, when in the past she misplaced some toy beyond her visual field, she now can move herself to re-locate it. The example sparking the observation is this: Many times the past few weeks I have seen Peggy with a teething ring grasped in her hand end in this position — lying on her stomach with her arm, hand and teething ring at her side. She most frequently dropped the teething ring and cried, bringing the hand that held it to her mouth and not locating the ring again. Today, she was able to find the teething ring after dropping it. Peggy, after bringing the hand to her mouth, raised herself up on both hands, turned a little, looked back and saw the teething ring, then reached for it. (I don’t recall that she actually picked it up.) This accidental (?) relocation is an important incident as an example of how body geometry begins to extend from the visual field3V0154.01 | 0: |
| 155: | Panel P022: containing 5 panes |
| 0140 Interest in Mirror image & Chair Arm: from Episodes C&D: [ts 1:40-3:25] Peggy: [begins to cry] Mom: What happened?… What happened? Peggy: [looks down at teething ring, mouths it, takes it in hand]… [slowly turns, sees her image in the mirror] Mom: What’s that? Who’s over there? No, do you want to have a look? [holds her up to see better] No?… [holds her still to look and see] Peggy: [smiles at the mirror image] Mom: It’s Peggy. [she drops the teething ring] Where’d it go? [retrieves the ring, tucks it in her lap] Mom: [to Bob] Can you see what she’s doing? Bob: [off screen] No. Mom: She is investigating the arm of the chair and pulling herself over to get it to her mouth. [lifts Peggy, rotates her to face the camera, re-seats her in lap] [reaching for the zwieback sitting on chair arm, knocks it off] Bob: Think she’s after that teething biscuit again? Or is she… Mom: No, I think she was there investigating the arm of the chair again…. Now what?… She’s looking off in the core of the room, and I can never figure out what she’s looking at. Peggy: NVV. [turns head left and reaches out to chair arm] Mom: Are you still look at those chairs? Peggy [grasps the chair arm end at least four times, feeling it]… Mom: There you go, get this out of the way. [patting Peggy’s soles several times] Your feet…. Your feet. Mom: [takes Peggy’s hands in hers] How are you going to sit with me? [lifting slowly] Up. Up, up, up, up. Peggy: [brings her head down on Mom’s hand, finger in her mouth and bites] Why? Ouch. Mom: Yeah, that was your tooth. You bit me. You actually bit me…. |
P022A with Mom
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| 0140 Teething Ring & Table Surface: from Episodes A&B [ts 0:00-1:10] Bob: See, that’s the teething ring Peggy has been using for the past few days…. Peggy: [mouths, hits ring on the table, then misses it while holding and focused on it] Mom: (unclear) Discovering she can make noises with it, too…. Peggy: [focusing on the surface, P feels it with a lighter finger …]Touch] [then returns to banging the table with the teething ring] NVVs and grasping the table edge. |
P022B1 Teething Ring
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| 0140 Grasping Her Spoon: from Episodes A-C [ts: o.oo- entire] Peggy: [reaching right hand for the spoon, brushes it off][Mom returns it] [reaching left for the spoon, she pushes it and the brush off left] [trying again for the spoon, she tries to grasp the spoon] Mom: She doesn’t pick up things with her fingers yet. Peggy: [grasps the handle neck and raises the spoon bowl into her mouth, repeating this twice as others talk] Mom: Just made a liar out of me. Bob: What was interesting there is that she put the end of the spoon in her mouth before her hand…. Peggy: [drops the spoon; Mom returns it to the table, while Bob recalls] Bob: Remember that first time when she picked up the stick, she couldn’t find the end until she worked her way up from her hand in the middle of the stick? I originally placed it (the spoon) sideways on the table to see if there’s no preference in the way she grabbed it or whether she grabbed for the handle…. I’d like to see her grab for the round end and put the other end in her mouth. Peggy: [after several attempts, grasps the spoon in her right hand by the bowl end and swings the handle past her face (opening mouth), then brings her hand (with bowl) into her mouth; drops it] Bob: Yeah. Now, that is interesting. Mom: Yes, but is it simply her hand or the spoon that she’s trying to put in her mouth?… Because she frequently does pick up something and then put her hand, still holding the object in her mouth. Peggy: [long segment: trying to grasp the spoon (hidden by face cloth), knocks it off the table] Mom: [returns spoon to table] Peggy: [grasps spoon by the bowl, raises her hand with bowl to mouth] [drops to table, retrieves it with left hand and drops into lap] Mom: [returns it to table][when face cloth knocked off] Got away from you. Bob: Well, leave that (cloth) down there. She hasn’t shown any interest in it. It’s getting in the way anyway. Peggy: [reaching for the spoon, knocks it off the table and away] Bob: Wow. It’s really gone, isn’t it, Peg? |
P022B2 Famililar Objects
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| 0140 Difficulties Manipulating Objects: from Episodes A&C [ts: 0.00-39; 2:10-2:40] Bob: [puts on table 2 each blocks, sticks, cups] Peggy: [swings left arm knocking off a block, stick and cup] Peggy: [reaches for a block, pushing it and cup away][grasping at the stick makes it roll away]… NVV Mom: Is this it? [pushes stick to roll back to Peggy] Peggy: [grasping at cup edge, drops it as hand goes to mouth]…. Mom: It’s hard to tell if she’s actually trying to reach and grasp them, or if she’s just trying to push them away. Bob: It looks as though she’s picked up that stick, huh?… Two hands [as she takes stick to mouth] Mom: she has a split finger grip with her left hand. Peggy: [grasping left only, takes stick to mouth, but right slips in instead] Mom: It’s right there, right by your hand (uncertain). Bob: Oh, how would she ever guess that that would be the case? Hold on! [Peggy kicked and overturned the table] |
P022B3 Objectss on the Table
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| 0140 Rob Teases with Teething Ring: from “Episodes B&C” [ts: 43-1:47]: Bob: Rob, could you get a little closer beside Peggy so she can see you too. Peggy: NVV Rob: [draws ring across Peggy’s vision field.] Peggy: [seizes ring, drops by right hip] Rob: [takes ring, draws it into her vision field] Peggy: [reaches for ring as he draws it back, takes it to her mouth, returns it] Rob: Oh, you got it now?… Oh, no. Rob: [takes ring when it escapes Peggy]… NVV Peggy: NVV … NVV … NVV Rob: [fiddling with a part of the ring] Rob: [resumes drawing the ring through Peggy’s vision field] [switches ring left to right quickly] /yt/ (?) Peggy: NVV Rob: NVV Rob: [a chant of sorts]… Ah, drat it! Peggy: NVV Bob: Why don’t you let her play with it for a while, Rob? Rob: All right. Peggy: [takes, mouths the ring, extends it but keeps it Bob: Why don’t you let her play with it for a while, Rob? Rob: All right. Peggy: [takes, mouths the ring, extends it but keeps it |
P022C with Robby
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| 156 Peggy Discovered Her Feet: Gretchen wrote: Peggy not only discovered her feet, she is exploring them. Today I saw her holding a foot with one hand and playing with her toes with the other hand. 3V0156.01 | 0: |
| 158 Hiatus. We Move Back To Connecticut: Bob wrote: After Miriam was chased back on the school bus by the landlord’s dogs (and I was threatened by bared teeth by one of them) last Friday, we decided to move back to Connecticut. This implies we will have less time to play with Peggy and watch her for a couple weeks. A further problem is access to videotape equipment.. Solution: Seymour Papert assigned the equipment for use at our remote location. That decision made this project possible. We agreed to pay costs for tapes and maintenance. | 0: |
| 166: | Panel P024: containing 5 panes |
| 0166 Limb Activity; supported Standing: from Episosde a: [ts: 0.00-0:45] [bedding on the floor: on her stomach, looking up] Mom: Hey, Peggy, love girl. You going to swim today? [laugh ~Aah-aah] Peggy: [rising, as in a push up] NVV (~”Aah”) Mom: No, sweetie, but you’ve got to get the stomach off and wiggle the hands and legs, then you go…. There, look at that. Mom: But then maybe I could teach you the Swan dive, looks like you’re in good form. from Episode C: [ts:2:45-3:10] Mom: What are you looking at the wall for? [turns] So you’re looking at the shadows… Is that what you’re looking at? [more quiet bouncing as both look at the wall shadows] Watch what the shadow does. [raises Peggy up again] You didn’t watch. You didn’t see the shadow going. from Episode D: [ts:4:05-6:00] Peggy: NVV [when Mom touches, examines right foot, Peggy pushes away from her] Mom: [examining her left foot] Feet ticklish? [tickling her left sole] Yeah. Bob: Well, just let her be alone, see if she plays with ’em herself, as she’s been doing with ’em. Peggy: (extended) NVV Bob: What’s that you said, Peggy?… What did you say?… Oh, keeping it a secret, huh? Peggy: [begins touching her legs and feet, despite distracting talk] Mom: You didn’t get it the first time? You didn’t get it. [to Peggy] Is that a good foot? Peggy: NVV (~Yah) Bob: Did you say, “Yeah”? Mom: No, she said, “geh”. Peggy: (repeated NVV) [while sucking her left hand, she handles her right foot, occasionally her left, with the right hand] Mom: We were holding it by the toe in the most Cavalier fashion…. Mom: [touching Peggy] Two feet. One foot. (right) One foot…. (left) Mom: What do you think of those, Peggy?… Okay?… Think they’ll do?…Yeah? |
P024A1 with Mom
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| 0166 Mouthing Mom’s Fingers]: from Episodes C-E: [2:47-5:30]: Mom: [moves her hand close to Peggy, holding out extended left index finger] Peggy: NVV [draws Mom’s finger into her mouth; withdraws it] NVV [draws in the finger again, babbles] Mom: No biting…. Peggy: [Babbling with Mom’s finger in mouth] Mom: [withdrawing her fingers] You don’t seem to talk so well with my fingers in your mouth. Peggy: NVVs [withdraws Mom’s finger] NVV [draws in index finger again] Mom: You like that one, huh? Want to try this one? [offers middle finger]… No? Peggy:[draws hand close and brings in distal phalanx (finger end) or knuckle] Mom: She’s tickling my finger. Bob: With her tongue? Mom: And with her gums, too. [@ 3:40] Peggy: NVV (with finger in mouth)… NVV [Extended babbling sequence, with “no biting” again] Mom: (unclear phrases: low volume) [extracts finger] Peggy: [Babbling] Mom: She doesn’t tickle so much as Scurry (the Scotty) does, though. Peggy: [quietly mouths Mom’s finger distal phalanx despite some withdrawals as Mom relates comparison with Scurry’s behavior] Mom: Yesterday, Scurry was coming around, licking her feet. Peggy thought that was very funny, Scurry, come over and licked her feet and Peggy would go down. Mom: [to Peggy]: Just like that, didn’t you? [in the background, Peggy continues babbling as she mouths Mom’s finger] Bob: Is she smiling noticeably when she’s chewing on your finger there, Mom: it’s hard to tell from the start…. No-ah, I don’t think she’s smiling,.. when she’s doing that…. Peggy; [more louder babbling] Mom: Because I think the act of smiling puts her mouth in a position that’s incompatible with chewing on my finger…. She’d, I think, rather chew on the finger and smile later. No? [withdraws hand, wiggles goodbye] Let me go…. Let me… Peggy: [tries to draw her back in; keeps her fingers in mouth] Mom: I see, you got another finger now…. Escape. |
P024A2 with Mom
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| 0166 Grasping, Expecting Taste, Losing nearby Object: from “Summary by AI: Peggy begins by examining and touching her feet; Mom remarks they’re the “same old feet.” Bob introduces a spoon; Peggy reaches, mis-grasps, then successfully grips on the second try. Peggy twists and inspects the spoon, repeatedly alternating between mouthing the bowl and visually examining it (about six cycles). Observers speculate she wonders why the spoon doesn’t taste as it usually does and note she consistently puts the “food end” in her mouth…. Peggy sets the spoon near her right knee, then accidentally knocks it under her leg; Bob advises not to retrieve it to see if she can find it herself. Peggy’s hand travels across her own knee to Mom’s knee, engaging in extended tactile exploration that appears like comparing the two knees; she has brief hiccups. Peggy seems to lose track of the spoon and refocuses on her feet;… |
P024B1 Using Her Spoon
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| 0166 Expanding Exploratory Behavior: from Summary by AI”: infant Peggy interacting with a teething ring “ladybug” rattle. Peggy primarily explores the rattle by mouthing it, alternating grips and hands. She visually inspects and tactually explores the “ladybugs,” coordinating both hands and moving the toy across her body. Peggy discovers the rattle makes sounds, banging it to produce “whack” and “rattle” noises. She vocalizes (“NVV”) in apparent response to Mom’s questioning tone and during effortful reaches. Peggy propels the ring out of reach, then purposefully leans and reaches to retrieve it, with Mom stabilizing her balance. She engages her feet, at one point trapping the ring with a heel through the circle, then solves it by leaning her mouth down to the rattle…. Around 2:13, Peggy firmly grasps the ring and performs reach/use-extension trials, indicating exploratory motor control. |
P024B2 Teething Ring Rattle
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| 0166 Object Manipulation near 6 Months: from “Narrative by AI”:A recent home video captures a brief but revealing window into infant exploration as a baby named Peggy engages with a small set of everyday objects on the floor. The setup is simple: two each of sticks, blocks, and cups within uneven reach, with a parent nearby offering light support and occasional commentary. From the first moments, Peggy’s attention is drawn to the cups and blocks, alternating between reaching, grasping, and inadvertently pushing items out of reach. The scene is quiet, observational, and focused on what the child does when left largely to her own devices. Much of the action centers on Peggy’s attempts to coordinate both hands and manage shifting goals. She frequently reaches for one object while handling another, often dropping or nudging items away as she repositions. Several efforts to grasp a rolling cup or a block highlight how a small change in angle or grip can make a reachable object suddenly elusive. The caregivers’ approach is to minimize intervention—nudging objects only occasionally and encouraging her to continue—allowing the video to highlight the natural trial-and-error process. The sticks become a focal point for oral exploration. Peggy brings a stick to her mouth repeatedly, chews, removes, examines the wet end with her fingers, and then reintroduces it. This “mouth–hand–eye” loop repeats several times and seems to organize her attention more consistently than the cups or blocks. She experiments with different grips—end-hold, mid-grip—and occasionally taps the floor or her own forehead, eliciting brief frustration and tears. These moments underscore how exploration at this age includes missteps as well as discoveries. Attention shifts in and out as Peggy weighs competing options: keep the stick, reach for the block, or try for the second stick. At one point, her attempts to recover a block and the stick result in both objects slipping behind her, just out of sight. Caregivers note that she appears to want one object in each hand but cannot stabilize herself without a “third arm,” a practical constraint that repeatedly shapes her choices. Eventually, she drops the stick to secure the nearby block, then looks back toward the place where the stick fell, revealing how interest can persist even after a successful grasp. Overall, the clip presents a compact study in early problem-solving, coordination, and persistence. Without overt instruction, Peggy cycles through strategies—reaching, switching hands, propping herself, tasting, tapping—and modulates her actions in response to what works and what doesn’t. The caregivers’ low-intervention stance allows the small details to stand out: how a surface or grip changes outcomes, how attention toggles between objects, and how brief frustration leads to new attempts. It’s an everyday scene, quietly illustrating the building blocks of exploration and control that underpin later, more complex skills. |
P024C Objects on the Floor
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| 174 How Peggy Rolls Over: Bob(?) wrote: I saw Peggy roll over today in a way revealing of what must be the typical situation. Laying on her stomach with one arm clenched at her right shoulder, Peggy reached out with her left hand for Charley, her toy bear. Charley was way beyond Peggy’s grasp. She was obviously frustrated and making incipient crying noises. While reaching again for Charley, she dug in her left foot with the leg flexed (as though trying to crawl forward — which she does not yet do ). When she straightened her left leg, Peggy rolled over, pivoting on her right hip. Flopping on her back, Peggy appeared to be surprised, startled even, but didn’t cry, smiling instead when she recognized me. I put her back on her belly and brought Charley in reach.3V0174.01 | 0: |
| 179 Changing Meanings : Gretchen wrote: Peggy is always responsive and cheerful in the morning. For some time now [vide 6/2 entry] she has responded to the sound of “Hello, Peggy” with a big smile, even before lifting her head up to see. It is clear she no longer needs to SEE me to react, and the lifting up of the head and shoulders is rather a preparation for being moved than a verification of my presence. 3V0179.01 | 179.1 Same Action with Different Reasons: a caution for interpretation |
| 179 New Noises: Gretchen wrote: Peggy now has three teeth, two in bottom and one on top. She has discovered that she can grate them together, producing a skritching sound and heaven knows what kind of sensation. She does it quite deliberately, particularly when being fed solid food, pushing her lower jaw forwards and sideways in order to center the single tooth on the pair below. 3V0179.03 | 179.2 Self-Exploration: discovery of new sounds and feelings she can control. |
| 179 Splashing in the Bath: Gretchen wrote: Whenever she has a bath, Peggy kicks vigorously and with great concentration, watching the splashing she creates. 3V0179.03 | 0: |
| 180 At the Beach: Gretchen wrote: Yesterday, Miriam, Peggy and I went down to the beach. I took Peggy to the water and held her about knee deep (her knees, not mine). When I moved her into deeper water, so that she was up to her hips, she kicked as she does in the bathtub, but without so much splashing. She enjoyed being swung back and forth so that her feet grazed the water at the bottom of the swing. 3V0180.01 | 0: |
| 180 Peek-A-Boo Begins: Gretchen wrote: Last night dinner was late, and Peggy was already fed in her seat. As we were not paying much attention to her, she amused herself by playing with the damp washcloth I had used to clean of her face, hand, stomach, and her legs after feeding. She chewed on it and dropped it over the top of her head, holding on to it with both hands. This morning, she was playing with a diaper in similar fashion while sitting in my lap. Bob was seated about three feet away. Peggy draped the diaper over her head so that it covered her eyes. After a few seconds, she grasped the diaper with both hands and lowered it to neck level, then looked at Bob and laughed. She did this three or four times in succession – a genuine game of peek a boo all on her own. Bob joined the game by asking “Where’s Peggy?” when she covered her eyes, and crying “There she is!” when she removed the diaper. 3V0180.02 | 0: |
| 180 Playing with Toes: Bob wrote: This morning about 7 am I heard Peggy babbling in her crib and woke Gretchen to listen. Peeking carefully through the door to be certain I wasn’t seen, I watched Peggy as she lay on her back, babbling and playing with her toes in apparent good cheer. Contrast this with the more usual crying that occurred when she first rolled on her back. Could it be that she now “has something to do” when accidentally landing in this position which makes it tolerable? [And is more accustomed to the sensation rather than being frightened by a novel shock — note by Gretchen] Can we notice whether her babbling occurs in other standard positions (e.g. in the infant seat, as I’m sure it does, or on her stomach, as is much less likely).3V0180.04 | 0: |
| 182 Rolling Back to Side: Bob wrote: Babbling in the morning again — while playing with her feet with her right hand and sucking on her left (perhaps also trying to bring one foot to her mouth with that hand), Peggy rolled from her back over to her side and bounced back onto her back. contrasting this accidental roll to the side with the accidents putting her on her back shows just how much harder it must be to roll onto the stomach (beetles and turtles have similar problems). 3V0182.01 | 0: |
| 183: | Panel P026: containing 8 panes |
| 183 Sense of Timing; Turn Taking: from Episode C [ts: 2:00-3:30]: B: Okay. Peg, Peggy, shall we play with “Going for a Ride”? Sweetie, [sings] well, we’re going for a ride. [P: Peggy looks over chair arm] And we’re not going very far. Are you not interested? Oh, my. I’ve gotta sneeze. Uh,oh watch it. [ B: sneezes] Oh, dear. Did I scare you? Did I? P: [a smile and laugh] B: Just a little?…Well, I’m glad you got over it. [returns to singing] Do, do, do, do, do, And the baby goes. [waits for response] P: “eh” B: uh-uh And the baby goes. P [makes a duplicated sound] B: And the baby goes. P: [makes a single sound] And the baby goes. B: [makes a single sound] And the baby goes. Well, And we’re going for a ride. P: [makes a single sound] B: And we’ll ride on Daddy’s knees. And we’re going for a ride. P: [makes a single sound] B: Just the kinda ride to please. And the baby goes [B: waits] P: [makes a single sound] B: And the baby goes. P: [makes a single sound] B: And the baby goes. P: [makes a single sound] B: And the baby goes. P: [makes a single sound] B: And the baby goes. P: [sticks her fingers in her mouth and makes a single sound] B: You do. from “Narrative by AI” within these moments are the essentials of early development– sensory exploration, safety and limits, joint attention, and the joy of shared rhythms—illustrating how everyday caregiving can naturally nurture learning and attachment. |
P026A1 Pre-Conversation
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| 183 Other Babies: Real and in a Mirror: episodes A-C: [3 minutes] Peggy: [bumps her head on the mirror] Bob: Why don’t you give her the spoon first? And after she plays with the spoon for a while, give her the other things. Mom: She’s working on playing with that baby in the mirror. Bob: Well, she didn’t react very strongly when she played with Adam yesterday, did she? She didn’t play with him at all. Mom: No. She looked at him curiously once or twice. Mom: That’s me. That’s my knee. Peggy: [bumps her head on the mirror] Mom: Can you see her step back and blink? Bob: Banging heads with that other baby, huh, Peggy? Mom: And then she, she pulled back a little blinked and surprised…. Mom: [to Peggy] What do you think about that thing? Mom: Is that a good thing? Peggy: [delighted interactions, no words] Mom: The boy is hitting your head. Bob: Does it look as though she’s trying to communicate with the other baby, anyway, at all? Peggy: I don’t know. Mom: It looks as though she’s trying to get through, trying to catch, but she seems to be… Peggy: [bumps her head on the mirror] {Mom: Oh, wow} Mom: She seems to be amused by the fact that the other baby is doing exactly the same thing. Bob: Including the head banging… Can you distract her from that game? Because it looks as though she’s going to cry if she bangs her head anymore. |
P026A2 Mirror Baby
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| 183 Using Her Spoon: from Episodes A&B: [TS 0:00-1:40] Bob: Let’s see what she wants to do with that spoon. Mom: Losing under my knee? She wants to do the same old thing, pick it up and put it in her mouth. Is that right? Bob: Where was that dropped? Was it still within her sight? Mom: Yes, she dropped it on my foot… Peggy: [Peggy’s extended handling and mouthing the spoon] Mom: Did it taste good? Peggy: [places spoon in contact with foot, then rubs her other foot, finally leaning down to mouth the spoon in contact with her foot] Mom: Ooo. Way over! Peggy: [sitting up, she moves fist and spoon behind her head; bringing it back, she hurts herself] Bob: She jabbed herself? Mom: She jabbed herself from the small. {P: starts to cry} Bob: Well, why don’t you give her the wash cloth to play with then? My goodness, we don’t want her to hurt herself. |
P026A3 Using Her Spoon
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| 183 Increasing Control Over Things: from Episodes C-E [ts:0>30-6:09] [as P. touches and mouths 3 cups] It almost looks as though she’s beginning to sort them by what they are. Mom: Apparent taste test here? Bob: I don’t know. Bob: It’s interesting that she was crying and carrying on a little bit, but when she had these things to play with, she immediately started to play with that. I infer from that that she finds this thing interesting enough to overcome some minor frustration, anyway… Okay, now this is the first time she’s had three of each kind of thing. Mom: It seems to me also this is the first time that she has had two different objects in her hand and has been able to pick up and chew on one while holding on to the other… She’s having trouble with those cups. {B:In what sense?} Because there is no place that she can grab them, except possibly for the smallest one. The big ones, there’s no place that she can grab them, except around the rim, and really get a hold of them. Bob: There she goes. Mom: So that when she tries to grab a cup that’s turned away from her, she can’t get her hand around it. Bob: You think she’s lost the big green one? If she has, leave it there. Mom: Yeah, I think she’s forgotten about it. Bob: She’s apparently reaching for the blocks, but at least that U block, it looks to be out of her reach. Mom: Yeah, it is by about two inches. Bob: Why don’t you push all the stuff in a little closer now? There’s stuff on the side near you also. Yeah. Let’s see how she sorts it out… Bob: Can you see that? Bob: She’s handling the little one, looking at the bigger one. Okay. But push the little one closer to her. It appears… She can reach the thing, but after all… Oh, okay. Let’s just let Let her do what she wants from now on. Mom: She’s going to collect everything. [Is she using the big stick as a tool to move other objects?]… |
P026B1 Objects on the Floor
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| 183 Difficulty with this Transcript: from Episodes A&B: Episode A: [ts 0:05-1:06]Bob: It’s pretty clear she wants that stick, but just leave it there. Let’s see. Off the boundaries, huh? Mom: She was reaching for the orange stick. Bob: She started by going for the green one and lost it. She had to pick up the blue one, and now after, it was after the orange. This argues that if she was going after the one and got frustrated, she might be substituting, as the kind of thing she wanted, an object of the same sort, whatever that might mean to her. Analyst comment: this transcription missed the possibility that during this silence Peggy was comparing two instances of sticks as to their appearance and mouthability Episode B: [ts: 2:03-3:30] Bob: Could you move the green one within her reach now? Just put it beyond the blue and orange and see if she goes after it again. [with the green stick placed, P moves, hurts herself on a block, which Mom removes, then P gets the stick] Bob: What’s the matter, Peg? [It appears P hurt herself on the end of the stick in her mouth?] |
P026B2 Objects on the Floor
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| 183 Miriam Leads Peggy to Roll Over: from Episodes A-C [ts: 0:20;1:40] Miriam: [ entering] Why don’t you show Daddy how you could roll over? Yeah. Get the clown, get the clown. Get the clown. [She teases Peggy, holding the clown just beyond her grasp.] You’re going to do it. Get the clown here. Get the clown. Get the clown. Get the clown. [P nearly flips] Miriam: Get the clown. Let’s do it. Let’s do it. Let’s do it, Peggy. Let’s do it. Bob: Oh, you’re trying to get her to roll over by having to reach for the clown? Miriam: Yeah. Rob: She already did it once? Miriam: Yeah, that’s how, upstairs. Bob: There she goes. [ general applause as Peggy rolls over] Miriam: Here you go. [giving Peggy the clown]Bob: Well, you think that’s funny. How does Peggy feel about it? {P sounds of uncertainty} Bob: Oh, is it no good, Peg? Bob: Well, you got the clown, anyway. Miriam: Yeah. Now you saw her roll around here. Bob: I still suspect she’d rather be back on her belly. Mom: [enters scene, sets Peggy’s world aright] |
P026C3 Miriam Rolls Peg
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