Learning Case 3
3V0180.05 Sounds. Peggy and Bob sing a duet: “Going for a Ride” 07/22/78 Over past days, a week or so, I have bounced Peggy in my lap while singing the song from Sesame Street “we are going for a ride.” At one verse, instead of standard lines such as “and the train goes ‘toot-toot’” i …
3V0180.04 Sounds. Babbling and playing with toes after rolling over 07/22/78 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 …
3V0180.03 Extensive Babbling: 7/22/78, 5, 30 Peggy’s babbling is much more extensive now and she has quite a variety in her repertoire. She makes continuous noise, going on for many seconds, and lately has begun to do so on a high pitch tone as well. She makes a cranky, whiny “enh” sound when being fed …
3V0180.02 Playing “Peek a boo” begins (7/22/78) 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 …
3V0180.01 At the beach (7/22/78 ) 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, …
3V0179.03 Splashing in the bath 07/20/78 Whenever she has a bath, Peggy kicks vigorously and with great concentration, watching the splashing she creates.
3V0179.02 Using her new teeth 07/20/78 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 …
3V0179.01 Temperament 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 …
3V0174.01 How Peggy rolls over (7/15/78) 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 …
3V0158.01 We move back to Connecticut: major hiatus (6/29/78) After Miriam was chased back on the school buys 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 …
3V0156.01 Peggy has discovered her feet (cf. note #32) (6/27/78) 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.
3V0154.01 Movement: body awareness and relocating an object (6/25/78) 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 …
3V0148.01 Peggy rolled over (and again two days later) (6/19/78) 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 !
3V0143.01 Finger sucking game — an elaboration (6/14/78) 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 …
3V0138.04 Teething and Early Sounds 06/09/78 Peggy has shown well developed skill in bringing her hands to her mouth. Last weekend the smooth arch of her lower gum appeared bumpy in front, and Tuesday morning the lower stage right tooth had pushed through the gum. The major sign of teething activity has been hand in …
3V0138.03 Siblings Playing with Robby and Miriam: 6/9/78, 4, 18 text recovered from primary sources [6/17/25] A few days ago, after school, the older children were playing with blocks in the living room. I asked if Peggy could sit by and watch what they were doing. As they built their fort, Miriam talked to Peggy …
3V0138.02 Grasping and the Teething Jack (6/09/78) 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 …
3V0138.01 More on heads and faces (see note #9) (6/09/78) About a week ago I carried Peggy to the bathroom while Gretchen was in the tub. Motioning to Gretchen to be quiet, I sat on the toilet seat – directly across from Gretchen’s robe hung on the door hook. Peggy scanned up to the top …
3V0131.01 Peggy’s technique for eating cereal (a problem solved) (6/02/78) Yesterday I observed Peggy had a fully developed technique for coping with her cereal. She sat in her chair with a fist in her mouth. when a spoonful of cereal approached, she removed her hand, keeping her mouth open wide until the food was inside. …
3V0127.01 Grabbing and sucking an extended finger (5/29/78) 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. …
3V0126.01 Nursing: socialization and vocalizations; “owl cup” fascination 05/28/78 text as recovered from primary documents This morning Peggy had her hand caught in her sleeve so that the thumb was hooked under the edge. She was happily sucking both thumb and material. When I freed her hand, she put her thumb and index finger back …
3V0125.04 Gradual advances in time of a response: 4;4 (5/27/78) 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 …
3V0125.03 Expecting a TV game on a display (5/27/78) 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 …
3V0125.02 Grasping and sucking “foreign” cloth material (5/27/78) 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 …
3V0125.01 References for “Three Years and Talking” 05/27/78 In Thursday’s discussion with Mimi Sinclair, I showed her my “lifetime living plan,”. she asked about the work with Peggy, why I should wait until she’s four, I responded, “That’s what I want to talk with you about. She gave us directions (to me, the “us” refers …
3V0123.02 Videotape Series Beginnings 05/25/78 Peggy was 4 months old on Tuesday. I’ve thought of starting a videotape series on Peggy’s development — to begin at 4 months — but don’t really know what to do. I would buy the tape and begin this early — partly to keep for my own memory a sense …
3V0123.01 Mimi Sinclair; Meltzoff move (5/25/78) Yesterday Peggy came as Gretchen and I went to MIT to hear Mimi [Sinclair] speak on language and pre-linguistic development. Peggy put on a good smiling show for every one looking at her & was generally quite well behaved. She let out a few squawks during the lecture but …
3V0121.01 Moving Peggy in with Miriam; verbal imitation: 5/23/78; 4;4 On May 23rd, Peggy’s fourth “month-day”, we moved her crib into Miriam’s room. For well over a month, Peggy has been doing without her 10 pm feeding, going to bed between 9 and 10, sleeping through the night and waking without fussing around 7:30-8 am …
3V0114.01 Feeding Cereals (5/16/78) Peggy started solid food on 16 May — a small amount of rice and cereal prepared with expressed milk. At first she reacted as though she expected medicine of some kind; the only external material fed to her for some time has been vitamin/fluoride drops. (She has not had supplemental formula …
3V0112.01 Edie Priemer and “Here comes Charlie” 05/14/78 My mother came to visit the first week in May. She and Peggy got along very well, and she managed to amuse Peggy for considerable periods by a new game, “Clap hands, Here comes Charlie,” [chanted or sung (tune vague) three times, with action at “clap hands” …
3V0111.01 Beginning of the “bathroom-robe incident” (5/13/78) Peggy now chews on her fist, holding both hands to her mouth. She does not show preference for a thumb, but rather sucks the thumb end of her hand, including the index and middle fingers. She has begun to vocalize extensively, maintaining a continuous noise, frequently in conjunction …
3V0094.01 Grasping: not releasing an object (4/26/78) While Gretchen was in the bath, Peggy played in my lap. After changing her diaper, I placed her on the bed between a set of pillows and arranged around her some toys. A musical lamb (a gift from the DiSessas), a clown doll (a gift from Miriam), and …
3V0092.01 Visually tracking a conversation (4/24/78) On 4/24/78 We went to visit the Clamans (and Peggy received the rabbit mentioned above). 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 …
3V0091.05 Grasping 4/23/78 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. …
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
3V0091.03 Mothers-view 4/23/78 While Bob entered the previous notes, I was playing with Peggy on my lap, making noises. At one point she laughed, a set of three distinct sounds. She now, more often than not, takes one long nap (as long as 4 hours) in the day, usually after her second feeding around 11. …
3V0091.02 Peggy’s Vocalization 4/23 serial 0091 Peggy is 3 months old today; 13 weeks tomorrow. Gretchen has been making noises at Peggy for quite a while. Her favorite seems to be a drawn-out /kI/ with a moist tongue so that a slight bubbling sound is added. Within the past 7 – 10 days Peggy has …
3V091.01 Social development: outgoing; interactions with family 4/17/78; 2;26 Later note by Gretchen on the previous fussing (reference to 2/23/78 vignette): This text is also appended to Vignette #6, V0032.01 By the time of the visit to the doctor, we had realized this was not a hunger problem. We simply resigned ourselves to putting up …
3V0085.01 Social development: outgoing; interactions with family 4/17/78; 2;26 Peggy is considerably more outgoing than a month ago.. She lets us know we should pick her up by crying, and she wants to be picked up most of the time. Over the past week, she has become distractible from wanting to be held if anyone …
3V0052.01 Motor development: rolls onto her back (CF. note #19) 3/17/78; 1;23 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 …
3V0052.01 Peggy begins sleeping through the night 3/15/78; 1;21 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 …
3V0040.01 Showing off Peggy at Logo; sibling reactions 3/3/78; 1;9 Peggy is gradually being introduced at the Logo Lab. On Saturday, the 25th, she, Gretchen, Robby and I trekked over to loan Robby’s camera to Jose Valente — who needed such a one for his project at Fall River. Peggy met Jose and Greg at …
3V0032.01 One month checkup 2/23/78; 1;0 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 …
3V0030.01 Why we abandoned Meltzoff Experiment; Infant communication 2/21/78; 0;30 Gretchen and I agreed to do Meltzoff’s experiment as requested by Sheldon but later changed our minds. Upon a close reading, I decided the only valid replication of the experiment would require both videotape and the mirror in my office. The only practical way to …
3V0018.1 Bob comforts Peggy during the night 2/9/78; 0;18/ Near midnight this morning, Peggy woke Gretchen, apparently ready for a late night snack. After nursing for only a few minutes, she lost interest. Gretchen got quite frustrated at being waked to no purpose and returned Peggy, crying again, to her crib. When I could stand …
3V0017.1 Early body movements 2/8/78; 0;17 Peggy’s umbilical scab has fallen off, so it no longer matters if she rolls over on her belly. 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 …
3V0015.1 Sheldon Wagner proposes Meltzoff Experiment 2/6/78 Sheldon Wagner called with congratulations on Peggy’s birth today. During a long conversation, he asked if we would be willing to informally try an experiment on infant imitation which seriously refutes Piagetian theory (I found the reference in a back issue of Science: imitation of Facial and Manual …
3V0001.01 Recollections of Peggy’s birth 1/23/78 After telling our landlord, as I returned from walking the dog Sunday night, that the baby was not expected for a week, I realized on coming inside that Gretchen was showing the classic signs of imminent labor. All day she suffered lower-back muscular pains, she frequently experienced shooting pains …