Life of a Gaming Dad - 6m - 8m
So far the majority of what's gotten written in these posts has just been a re-hashing of the same things. But these last couple of months, my Little Gamer has shown some really great progress that I am definitely excited to share. He's been trying to vocalize more, he's gotten incredibly good at holding things and passing them back and forth between his hands, and he's been pushing himself to try and crawl/walk.
Finding His Voice
This has been for a little while now. This guy loves to make himself heard. Most of him trying to talk comes from when my fiancee and I are playing with him, or if anyone around him starts to talk a lot. He will stop everything he's doing and stare very intently at the mouth of whoever is talking, and after they're done he usually tries to mimic it (at the very least he gets a huge smile on his face because he knows what the person is doing and wants to do it himself). Lately, he's been trying to mimic what he ends up watching on TV, whether it's his cartoons, the games I play, or the Twitch streams I watch. Lately I've gotten really big into streaming and networking on Twitch (and I've gotten to meet some amazing people). It's gotten to the point where he not only recognizes the ones that I follow the most, but he tries to talk to them when they're on their streams. It's been a number of months since he's begun to consistently babble, but watching him actually try to find words to use has been a lot of fun (and definitely makes for a proud daddy moment).
Using His Hands
This actually began back before Christmas, and I believe I mentioned it in a previous post in this series. He started noticing pretty early on that I kept holding something in my hands and doing something with it, every time I had a controller. He'd begin reaching out just to touch it, and eventually started to just hit at it because to him, that's what I was doing. In more recent times though, he's actually gotten to picking the controllers up by himself. Typically, it was just to try and eat them (they are delicious nowadays), but then he would start holding it in one hand and passing it back and forth between both of his hands. So one day, we handed him my fiancee's GameBoy while it was turned on. Not only did he take it, he held it completely proper and even recognized there was something on the screen and stared at it intently (Pic down below of this specifically). Then on another day, I handed him a PS3 controller. I took both of his hands and put them in the "natural" position, and at first he got it for a couple seconds then would set it down. But, in just a few days, he went back to picking the controller up all by himself and making sure he got his hands in the right spot. His left would be by the D-Pad and his right on the button interface, and he was actually trying to press the buttons properly too.
Hustle, Hustle, Hustle
His interest in the controllers has blossomed into an interest in everything around him. Which has turned into an inspiration to get his little butt moving. So much so, that he's determined to just skip crawling and go right to walking. We can have him stand by just holding our hands with his, and if he sees anything he recognizes (game controller, TV remote, one of his toys) he goes right for it. I've actually had him sitting in my lap, just for him to throw himself into being on his stomach and then trying to crawl for the nearest controller.
What's amazing about everything above is that it obviously isn't just specific to the gaming stuff. His vocalization didn't start with the games, but it grew a little bit because of his interest in them. And while him holding the controllers and GameBoy aren't the only things he'll hold, for his size and age they are fairly big, so to see him master holding them already is big for him. Same goes for him trying to crawl/walk. Obviously he will walk and crawl everyday of his life once he truly learns them, but for him to identify with something so much that it motivates him? It's just that much more proof that the gaming doesn't need to stop once your little one introduces him/herself. Certain aspects about it can actually be a big help, so long as they are introduced and used properly. So bust out your extra controllers, especially if you have ones that don't even work properly, because it gives them something to learn with and eventually, once they make the full connection between a controller and the game on the TV, they can feel like they're helping you which will make them beyond happy to be helping their mommy/daddy beat down the bad guys.
So game on everyone, and bring your little ones on the journey with you :) I'll see you guys in a couple more months with the next post. <3
Finding His Voice
This has been for a little while now. This guy loves to make himself heard. Most of him trying to talk comes from when my fiancee and I are playing with him, or if anyone around him starts to talk a lot. He will stop everything he's doing and stare very intently at the mouth of whoever is talking, and after they're done he usually tries to mimic it (at the very least he gets a huge smile on his face because he knows what the person is doing and wants to do it himself). Lately, he's been trying to mimic what he ends up watching on TV, whether it's his cartoons, the games I play, or the Twitch streams I watch. Lately I've gotten really big into streaming and networking on Twitch (and I've gotten to meet some amazing people). It's gotten to the point where he not only recognizes the ones that I follow the most, but he tries to talk to them when they're on their streams. It's been a number of months since he's begun to consistently babble, but watching him actually try to find words to use has been a lot of fun (and definitely makes for a proud daddy moment).
Using His Hands
This actually began back before Christmas, and I believe I mentioned it in a previous post in this series. He started noticing pretty early on that I kept holding something in my hands and doing something with it, every time I had a controller. He'd begin reaching out just to touch it, and eventually started to just hit at it because to him, that's what I was doing. In more recent times though, he's actually gotten to picking the controllers up by himself. Typically, it was just to try and eat them (they are delicious nowadays), but then he would start holding it in one hand and passing it back and forth between both of his hands. So one day, we handed him my fiancee's GameBoy while it was turned on. Not only did he take it, he held it completely proper and even recognized there was something on the screen and stared at it intently (Pic down below of this specifically). Then on another day, I handed him a PS3 controller. I took both of his hands and put them in the "natural" position, and at first he got it for a couple seconds then would set it down. But, in just a few days, he went back to picking the controller up all by himself and making sure he got his hands in the right spot. His left would be by the D-Pad and his right on the button interface, and he was actually trying to press the buttons properly too.
Hustle, Hustle, Hustle
His interest in the controllers has blossomed into an interest in everything around him. Which has turned into an inspiration to get his little butt moving. So much so, that he's determined to just skip crawling and go right to walking. We can have him stand by just holding our hands with his, and if he sees anything he recognizes (game controller, TV remote, one of his toys) he goes right for it. I've actually had him sitting in my lap, just for him to throw himself into being on his stomach and then trying to crawl for the nearest controller.
What's amazing about everything above is that it obviously isn't just specific to the gaming stuff. His vocalization didn't start with the games, but it grew a little bit because of his interest in them. And while him holding the controllers and GameBoy aren't the only things he'll hold, for his size and age they are fairly big, so to see him master holding them already is big for him. Same goes for him trying to crawl/walk. Obviously he will walk and crawl everyday of his life once he truly learns them, but for him to identify with something so much that it motivates him? It's just that much more proof that the gaming doesn't need to stop once your little one introduces him/herself. Certain aspects about it can actually be a big help, so long as they are introduced and used properly. So bust out your extra controllers, especially if you have ones that don't even work properly, because it gives them something to learn with and eventually, once they make the full connection between a controller and the game on the TV, they can feel like they're helping you which will make them beyond happy to be helping their mommy/daddy beat down the bad guys.
So game on everyone, and bring your little ones on the journey with you :) I'll see you guys in a couple more months with the next post. <3
