Social relations
3V0371.01 Three words: “I want that”. A well formed English sentence; progressive structuration 1/28/79 THREE WORDS — When Peggy has requested this or that, a common response has been the question “You want that?” If we see her smile when we are pointing to a specific object, we give it to her. Today at lunch, …
3V0368.02 Putting on and putting in are distinguished (1/25/79) Relevance: These observations document that Peggy has now distinguished putting-on from putting-in. I believe further, that they trace Peggy’s experience through the events in which putting-on developed. The sequence is first, climbing, i.e. putting oneself on (at least getting on); drawing back from an object onto …
3V0366.01 Knowing What Peggy Wants 01/23/79 KNOWING WHAT PEGGY WANTS — Peggy says /∂aet/ and it’s clear she wants something, but it is not clear to us. She says /∂aet/ so much, we might suspect she doesn’t want any particular thing but merely enjoys pointing, talking, and being carried around. Such is not the case …
3V0361.03 Peggy Bites. 01/18/79 SURPRISE — Some time about the beginning of this week Peggy bit me. She was standing facing me, grasping my legs to support herself. Suddenly [with no provocation] and apparently deliberately she brought her head over and nipped the left side of my left leg just above the knee. I could …
3V0361.02 Tantrums 1/18/79 TANTRUMS — Peggy has begun to show behavior that I would call tantrums. Typically she is in her highchair, trying to communicate something. As she gets more excited, her verbalizing becomes continuous and insistent. Offered things she does not want, she will grasp them with one hand and toss them over the …
3V0361.01 Two words 01/18/79 TWO WORDS — Peggy has long joined /thaet/ with pointing to call another’s attention to some out-of-reach object. We usually interpret this to mean that she wants to either eat, touch, or mouth the object. Peggy likes to take things to herself — cookies or picture frames. The smaller ones we …
3V0358.01 Over the Head — body awareness (1/15/79) Peggy has been passing objects behind her for some time (this appears in notes and on video tape). One early attempt with her rattle on a string was to get it over her head. She now does this regularly with whatever is remotely suitable – e.g. the …
3V0357.02 Reading 1/14/79 READING — When I tired of pipe play and put them away, Peggy pointed to the book about puppies Miriam has given her. Peggy played contentedly for a minute or a few — then she gave the book to me. I thanked her, admired the book, and returned it to her. She …
3V0355.03 Picture Gallery: extensive discussion: 01/12/79 The change in Peggy’s behavior after I mounted our collection of children’s pictures in the bedroom was so profound it marks a watershed in her development. Let me elaborate, and begin by describing that collection of pictures. When Robby was young, I bought a Nikon 35 mm camera and …
3V0355.02 Teasing Bob (1/12/79) Yesterday, Peggy and I played on the spare basement bed. We traded pipe stems. I gave Peggy my pipe stem. She chewed on it then gave it back. Saying “thank you”, I nibbled at it and returned it, “Here.” This was repeated several times. Then Peggy, on giving the pipe stem …
3V0355.01 Putting into: 01/12/79 After last week’s videotape, wherein Peggy, for the first time, explored putting into of sticks to a cup, I have become more sensitive to her extensions of this exploration – at the table: Peggy’s juice cup has a recessed lid with nipple. I have seen her repeatedly take a cookie, put …
3V0354.01 Functional Application: using a comb (1/11/78) A day or so ago, I washed Peggy’s hair. As I could not find her little brush, I had to use a comb and a regular baby brush. I used the latter while Peggy held the former. She chewed on it a bit, then held one end and …
3V0354.02 Doctor Visit (1/11/79) Peggy went to see Dr. Merman on the 2nd. He found her to be in good shape, but on the small side. At 17 lbs. 13 oz. and 28 inches, she is in the 10th percentile for weight and the 25th for height. Except for the first month, in which she …
3V0351.01 Comprehension limitations.01/08/79 COMPREHENSION LIMITATIONS — Right before New Year, Bob got the dishwasher repaired and reinstalled. Saturday [?] morning it was running for the first time in 10 days. Coming into the kitchen with Peggy, I listened to the sounds and murmured, “Hurray for the dishwasher.” Peggy immediately raised her hands to her head …
3V0344.02 Picture Gallery (a major beginning, vision) Bob put up our file of baby pictures on the wall over the holidays. Peggy immediately noticed their presence. She holds out her [right] hand to them, saying “Da!” and is pleased to be held up close to view them. While we were filming our videotape today, she …
3V0344.01 Words (foot) 01/01/79 WORDS — I have been saying to Peggy “Where’s your foot?” and she will respond more or less quickly, holding up her foot, pointing, and saying “Da!” “Hand” generally brings out clapping. “Nose” pointing, or more often grabbing for my nose.
3V0337.01 Christmas (12/25/78) Peggy received a few presents today — some new, some hand-me-downs. she didn’t understand the opening of packages. Peggy chewed on her new rattle and dish, but most seemed to enjoy chewing on the box which contained the rattle. The tree with its hanging ornaments caught her attention most — especially the …
3V0335.01 Naming (Daddy’s nose grabbed – comprehension evidence) (12/23/78) NAMING — I lay in bed this morning during Peggy’s early morning feeding. When she had finished nursing, Gretchen put Peggy down between us. They played together for a while, talking about noses. Then Gretchen asked, “Where’s Daddy’s nose?” Peggy turned around and grabbed my nose. …
3V0331.01 Pointing and Naming. Comprehension evidence. 12/19 POINTING AND NAMING — Today I asked Peggy, “Where’s Peggy’s NOSE?” She brought her hand up to my nose [I don’t remember if she pointed; I think it was the whole hand] and very decisively said, “Da!” NOSE appeared to be the operative word.
3V0329.01 Pointing and imperative /dae/. Social rich interpretation. 12/17/78 POINTING AND NAMING — Over the last several days Peggy has been VERY cranky. She always wants to be picked up and makes this clear in two ways: she whines or cries; she crawls over and climbs up on your leg. New teeth are definitely coming …
3V0327.02 Helen Keller as archetype (12/15/78) Helen Keller situation as extreme exemplar of every infant’s plight.
3V0327.01 Imitation game, Gretchen and Peggy. (12/15/78) IMITATION GAME — Several days ago Peggy and I were playing a familiar game as she sat in her high chair. Peggy would beat on the tray with the flat of her palm somewhere between two and seven times, then wait for me to repeat what she had …
3V0309.02 Emergence of the Pure Point: pointing and eating: 11/27/78; As we discussed Peggy’s experiments with her grandmother at the dinner table, when Peggy pointed with her forefinger alone, I remarked to Edie that such an action was what Bruner called “a pure point” and explained our argument at DSRE awhile back. In this context, …
3V0306.03 Pervasive Instruction. 11/24 PERVASIVE INSTRUCTION — Peggy’s maternal grandmother (Edie) has been visiting us for the week around Thanksgiving. Six months ago she played “Clap hands, here comes Charlie” with Peggy and is delighted that Peggy claps on command and gets others to clap by doing it herself. While she sat across the table …
3V0306.02 Giving dishtowels with vocal accompaniment: Hey Dad! “Hey Dad !” (or /hae//thaet/ ?) 11/24 HEY DAD! — Peggy has played giving games which started with my pipe and rapidly generalized to other objects. Some times [she] has come to me at the table in her walker and offered me whatever object was in her …
3V0297.01 Pointing at Bob: 11/15/78 Yesterday morning I was sitting on the end of the bed with Peggy on my lap. Bob was in his chair, behind and to my right. All three of us faced in the same direction. Peggy was babbling away and when she said /dae/dae/dae/, I asked her “Where’s Daddy? Where’s …
3V0293.02 Putting Into (first success of pipe into pocket) (11/11/78) Peggy sat in my lap this morning. I had just come from the bath. As she played with my pipe, Peggy stumbled on a discovery: not only have I hair on my chin but on my chest as well. She tested the attachment by pulling. …
3V0293.01 Giving with chewing. Earlier precursor possibilities. 11/11 GIVING — I tried to work in the living room while keeping the fire going and an eye on Peggy. After discarding most potential toys from the small table I put them on, she charged about in her walker, waving the conical peg from her ring tower …
3V0287.01 Assimilation of the pen to the pipe giving game. 11/05 GIVING — Out at the soccer field, I found Peggy in my arms and no pipe in my pocket. This does appear to be her favorite toy-with-daddy.) She was not dismayed, however, and took from my pocket this black, felt-tipped pen with which I …
3V0282.01 Spoon dropping = food rejection Spoon play – After the edge has been taken off her hunger, Peggy reaches for the spoon as she is being fed. Or she grips the spoon with her teeth, holding it in her mouth until she can grasp it with a hand. Frequently, she plays with the spoon, …
3V0278.02 Pipe play: giving as a communication protocol 10/27/78 PIPE PLAY — When sitting in my lap, Peggy frequently ends up with one of my old pipes. (I still carry them about in a shirt pocket and chew on the stem, though I no longer smoke.) These pipes of mine have become a favorite toy …
3V0278.01 “Pick me up” gesture as precursor of causality. 10/27/78; When wanting to be picked up, Peggy’s habit has been to crawl to your feet and look up, crying and wailing. Oftimes, we would hold out our hands as she crawled over to show both our readiness and that we wanted her to come to …
3V0271.01 A Walker: social pushiness as instruction 10/20/78 For several weeks, we have discussed buying a walker for Peggy because of her preference for standing and as a device she could use to increase her scope. We have seen them on sale and today bought one. Relevance: The first incident shows Miriam’s intrusiveness, driving Peggy …
3V0269.01 Standing in her crib (Miriam did it) (10/18/78) Peggy has shown much more inclination to stand than to sit. It has been hard even to get her to sit down in a lap. Today, Miriam called out from the girls’ room most excitedly, “Mom, Dad, come see. Peggy’s standing by herself.” And Peggy was …
3V0267.01 Associating Sounds with People. Interesting Action. 10/16 Peggy went through a period of several days where she seemed to associate her sounds with people. The most striking case was ma-ma(repeated an indefinite number of times with no obvious relevant stress on intonational accenting), which she apparently connected with Gretchen. This delighted Gretchen, who would …
3V0263.02 Social Selection of some actions Social Selection of some actions as interesting leads to their entering the repertoire. RELEVANCE (of preceding story in V0263.01) — Here we see an accidental correspondence of two actions selected as significant, of interest, to another person. This stumbling upon an interesting new pattern so pleased Peggy that she …
3V0263.01 Waving, communication through imitation. 10/12 WAVING — Peggy sat in my lap after dinner. We had indulged in some conversations with Peggy. Robby approached my chair and Peggy said /ae/, flapping both her arms as she has long done when excited. Robby repeated /ae/ and waved his right arm. Peggy smiled then /ae/ /ae/, …
3V026202 Wariness of Strangers STRANGERS — Peggy seems now much more wary of others. Frank and Annie Schoeman were here Sunday (10/08); and Peggy would not let Annie hold her but screamed every time Annie touched her. Even with Miriam, who plays with her every day and always wants to hold Peggy and carry her …
3V0262.01 Peggy Imitating Robby Noises.. 10/11 IMITATION — Peggy was sitting in her seat at the dining room table. Robby was seated at the table also. He made a series of loud kissing noises directed to her. Finally I asked him to stop. In the silence that followed, a soft but distinct repetition of the …
3V0256.01 Verbal Imitation of “shoe” 10/01 Gretchen left Peggy with me while she made cookies in preparation for the first meeting of Robby’s cub scout pack. After trying to constrain Peggy various ways and failing, I let her roam around the floor of our bedroom/ study. After beating the log carrier with her toy giraffe …
3V025401 Miriam naming people for Peggy. 10/03 NAMING — This was one of those bad days for Miriam where her wheezing/ upchucking of medicine kept her home from school. Thus early in the morning she was saddled with responsibility for Peggy. Miriam played with Peggy on the bed and as is frequently the case with …
3V0248.01 (9/27/78) Peggy was playing with her ring toy on the bedroom floor. She had two of the bigger rings and was banging them down in an apparent effort to get them to roll. When they did so, she watched most intently. 10/2: Playing with Peggy and the smallest (purple) ring. I rolled it to …
3V0246.01 Rejecting food: 9/25/78 Peggy being fed. Deciding she had enough, she stuck out her tongue, full and rounded, effectively blocking off her mouth. At another feeding, she did the same, then looked at me and smiled and opened her mouth for food — (Was it a test to see if she could refuse food …
3V0245.01 Everyday prohibitions as source of naming 9/24/78 Peggy was crawling about on the living room floor as Gretchen chatted with a house guest. The floor was littered with her toys and the dog’s. “No, Peggy. Don’t chew on that. That’s Scurry’s bone.” RELEVANCE — The kinds of verbal naming formulae witnessed by Ninio appear …
3V0239.01 Naming buttons. 9/18 NAMING — Peggy was sitting in Gretchen’s lap, facing her. She began playing with the buttons on Gretchen’s sweater, first handling them then trying to put them in her mouth. “Those are BUTTONS, Peggy, BUTTONS. Don’t put them in your mouth.” Stopped from playing with Gretchen’s sweater, Peggy turned to her …
3V0236.02 Miriam as Instructor (9/15/78) Miriam has been trying to ‘teach’ Peggy to sit up and walk. The latter especially makes me uneasy because I fear her dropping Peggy. Miriam typically props Peggy up on the bed and returns her toys when dropped so Peggy doesn’t fall over reaching for them. I discussed sitting up …
3V0236.01 Gretchen and Miriam with “Peggy, come here.” 9/15 COME HERE — Gretchen has been teaching Peggy to respond in specific ways to a variety of simultaneous gestures. When Peggy wants to get up, for example, she usually cries and arches her back. Then Gretchen holds out two arms to her, wiggling her fingers, and …
3V0234.01 Gretchen Instructing Peggy in Naming. 9/13 WORDS — For the past week or so I have been talking more to Peggy concerning simple everyday actions. The prototype is getting her out of the crib. “Peggy, give me your hand.” (Holding out my hand to her.) “OK. Give me your other hand.” “Good girl. Now. …
3V0233.08 Dancing, disappearance, and reappearance 9/12 Last night (9/12) Peggy sat in my lap as we played some records I brought back from Boston. Robby and Miriam had been cooped up inside this rainy afternoon, and when they heard some fast jigs and reels by De Danaan, went into their own version of step dancing …
3V0233.06 Other Selves in Television and the Mirror 9/12 9/13 (in Guilford) Sunday morning (9/10) we had our first bedroom fire. To permit that I had on Saturday rearranged the furniture so there was none near the fireplace. After that initial rearrangement I set up the videotape and started viewing P 32 to make sure …