3V0432.01 First example of symbolic thought: “doll-up” for herself (3/30/79) Miriam has been making fantastic figures by cutting out paper. She displays them by taping them up below my mantle motto at the second story fireplace. Peggy caught sight of them and wanted to ‘see’ them. She indicates this by a high pitched noise of …
3V0429.01 Stair gate: extends her horizon. (3/27/79) We have long had a stair gate at the bottom of the flight to our second storey. I put it up at first to keep Scurry downstairs (for Miriam’s sake) but knew also that we want to keep Peggy from climbing unattended. While I have worked at my …
3V0426.01 Expression: verbal imitation (3/24/79) Peggy was very crabby this evening before dinner. At one point Robby got out some cheese and was sitting at the table with it. Peggy walked toward him, crying insistently. I told Robby to offer her a piece of cheese, and he did so. As she reached for it, Peggy …
3V0417.01 Putting-in with no pockets! insensitive to the “obvious” (3/15/79) After many games of “wooba wooba”, pockets still confuse Peggy. Equally, they interest her. When my shirt pockets have the flaps tucked in, she can occasionally get enough of a hanky in for it to stay in place. Similarly, she succeeds more or less well …
3V0415.01 Functional classification: two examples, one in error (3/13/79) Peggy has begun to classify objects by what she knows their use to be. Some examples are equivocal, though I remain convinced of their interpretation. For example, Peggy has been “brushing” her hair. This could be from having her hair brushed, from seeing Miriam brush her …
3V0413.01 Change of fashion in Peggy’s favored sounds; cups, closing(3/11/79) About three weeks ago “Doit” [do-it?] replaced “ha zat” (have that) and “zat …zat…zat” as the most frequently used phrase in Peggy’s speech. For a while the older phrases disappeared completely, then returned…. Ten days or so ago, Peggy went to take a nap about …
3V0412.01 Putting-on; (3/10/79) Peggy has definitely begun putting objects on “tables”, i.e. any flat surface bounded and raised. The evidence of intention is her repeating the action. For example, she spent a long time (10 minutes or so) with Miriam’s boots and the checker table, putting on one, then both, then taking them off. She …
3V0410.01 Activity –> social game; flexible roles and naming things (03/08/79) Jigging — Jumping up and down rapidly, i.e. bending at the knees while holding on to something, has been one of Peggy’s favorite actions since she became able to stand. She does that by herself at the couch. She jumps up and down in …
3V0403.01 “dog” used as a verbal label for Scurry (3/01/79) Peggy was downstairs in the kitchen with Gretchen. I sought a book from our shelves on the balcony of the living room. Peggy entered downstairs and crawled over to the sliding glass doors. (These are a window on the world at her level. For several …
3V0398.03 First introduction to pictures of herself. (3/01/79) Late February – Pictures and Names (a reconstruction) Carrying Peggy back from the balcony, when she pointed to some pictures and requested them, I turned Peggy to pictures of her hanging above the balcony entry. I was trying to distract her attention to pictures beyond her easy …
3V0398.02 Identifying toys and pictures of foxes; classification possible insight; (nominal date 2/28/79 added) Late February – Foxes: (a reconstruction) Before videotape session P57 (a day or two before) Gretchen sat with Peggy on the couch in the living room. Gretchen was ‘reading’ Baby Animals. Peggy pointed at the Fox on the cover and said …
3V0398.01 Shaping and imitation (2/24/79) Perhaps two weeks ago, Peggy had a cookie. In the process of consumption, a rather large piece was broken off and dropped. I retrieved it for her and handed it back. she took this piece in her free hand and immediately tried to match it to the main body of …
3V0388.01 Hiding from sight and relocating things (2/14/79) For weeks now, when playing with objects taken from my pockets or my writing table, Peggy has delighted in hiding them. her characteristic move is to put a pen, for example, underneath her leg on the seat cushion or, the usual case since she is on my …
3V0387.01 Peggy varying elements of a transient game; like phrases 2/13/79 Wooba wooba — Peggy hates to have her face washed or her nose wiped. But she does like to take things out of my shirt pockets. Her usual pocket-picking targets are pens or pipe stems. Today, with my having two shirt pockets, she discovered …
3V0385.01 Peggy’s nose; two element phrase from idiom variation 2/11/79 Peggy sat on my lap, and Miriam, feeling left out, demanded the same privilege. Gretchen has been naming face parts with Peggy for months and Peggy cooperates by reaching out to touch her nose when Gretchen asks, “Where’s my nose?” Miriam asked, “Peggy, where’s my …
3V0384.02 Usage extension; second person agent of imperative 2/10/79 Peggy and I have passed pipe stems back and forth for quite a while. Long ago we began the giving game. That is, when she offered a pipe stem (or some other object to me) I would take it, say “Thank you” and return it with …
3V0384.03 Salience of her name in her interpretations; vocative “dada” 2/10/79 Peggy will respond to a voice calling with an intonation like that used in calling her name. Evidence of her understanding names can be [of] other sorts. The rare example from P53 [Egg Peggy] is one strong sign that her own name is a …
3V0384.01 More verbal specificity; productive uses of signifiers 2/10/79 Returning from a three day trip to Boston, I have Peggy in my lap more than usual. At one point, she indicated she wanted Miriam’s belt which lay near by on the floor: /zIt//zIt/. I gave it to her. Peggy chewed it over, and because I …
3V0380.02 Prosodic features dominate sounds in meaning 2/6/79 Peggy’s name — At supper this [evening] Gretchen and I discussed with Robby what words Peggy knew. The question arose when Robby asserted that surely she knew her name. I argued that her response when I said “Peggy” was to the prosodic features and not to the …
3V0380.01 Need for specificity expands repertoire of signifiers 2/6/79 Peggy drives [us] to distraction. A few weeks ago when her talk was all /[th]aet/[th]aet/ and her pointing restricted to pictures, the talk was endurable, but now that it is coupled with specific objectives Gretchen and I are subject to streams of /[th]aet/ and /hae/[th]aet/ and …
3V0377.01 Neat phenomena and instruction: An Ale Bottle — (2/03/79) Peggy has long had the habit of carrying ale bottle. We separate glass trash for recycling and Peggy has long been able to careen over in her walker, select one she likes, and continue charging about the ground floor waving her prize. She usually puts …
3V0376.01 Example of insensitivity to obvious features of objects (2/2/79) Peggy sits in my lap, often playing with my pipe. Today we sat near my very small table with its clutter of writing implements. Peg took one pen and began poking it into the pipe bowl. Casting her eyes over the clutter, she spied a …
3V0374.01 Bad cold; general comments late in January 1979; (nominal date 1/31/79 added) Late January — a bad cold. Peggy has been sick for a week and more. vomiting, diarrhea, a low fever, her cries even had to make do with a hoarse little voice. she slept a lot. Videotape session P53 fell under the …
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, …
3V0370.01 A cold & Shampoo cocktail (1/27/79) Peggy has shown signs of an oncoming cold for more than a day. A running nose, coughing, difficulty sleeping, a fever of 101 degrees this morning — but more trouble was coming. While alone in her crib, during nap time, she apparently reached out to the sink and …
3V0369.01 More putting on: multiple objects (1/26/79) I usually sit working in the midst of clutter, a table on one side, a tall stool on the other. When sitting in my lap, as this morning, Peggy points here and there, say /thaet//thaet/, thus she comes in possession of my pipe, my pens or whatever else …
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 …