Ahead of the Curve (Mouth, Nose, and Toes)

According to "What to Expect the Toddler Years", by the time toddlers are 15 months old, 50% of them can "point to one body part when asked" (Eisenberg, Murkoff, and Hathaway, 1996, p. 62). Well I am very, very pleased to report that Andrina can do MORE than that and she's not even 15 months old yet! Tonight at my Dad's and sister April's combined birthday celebration, Andrina was able to touch my nose and mouth when I asked her to (ok, it was my body parts, not hers but hey, she can't see her own nose and mouth).

It gets even better. Before bed we were reading one of her books, "I Love You Through and Through" and we were at the pages that said "I love your fingers and toes". When I read that to her, she pushed the book aside and grabbed her toes! Wow, totally amazing! That was the first time she showed me that she recognizes what her toes are. So she knows 3 body parts: mouth, nose, and toes!

Almost all of the credit goes to the "Your Baby Can Read" system, as in the starter DVD and books it is almost all animals and body parts that the babies are being taught. So early learning of their body parts is a bonus of the system (besides the main goal of early reading). However, I was able to teach Andrina "nose" before we started the system, so I get part of the credit.