repetito est mater studiorum

Literally translated as 'repetition is the mother of learning', or more loosely, the more you repeat something, the more you master it. This phrase was iterated by my high school Latin teacher on numerous occasions, specifically before exams to encourage us to memorize conjugations but also randomly as this sort of wise, life lesson sort of advice. I am reminded of it today because I feel no where is this more apparent than in observing a toddler learn. Eddie has been mastering new skills daily, it seems, and he does so by repeating things, sometimes so much he seems compulsive or obsessive. Today he was working on stepping up and down. He wisely has chosen to master this skill in our shower where there is a ledge that is about 6 inches high before entering the shower. So he holds onto the shower door and steps up onto this ledge and steps down into the shower. He then turns around and goes out of the shower. And he repeats this over and over again until distracted by something new. Up until this point any time he encountered a change in elevation, per se, he would stoop down and crawl over the barrier or step, but now he is trying to stay on two feet and actually step up and down. It sounds simple to an adult but it is an arduous task for a baby and quite amazing to watch it in progress.

He also surprised me the other day by finally starting to show genuine interest in blocks beyond throwing and banging them, when he actually stacked them on top of each other. I have been showing him this for months but his only interest in blocks is knocking them down; I keep thinking, what is it about boys that is so destructive? But just the other day he carried five of his alphabet blocks into the bathroom and placed them onto the black and white tile floor and started stacking and un-stacking them. I was so proud. I just stood there for awhile watching with a big grin on my face, and then of course, applauded his efforts. Interesting, it seems like our bathroom is his sort of learning tank.

He is really into moving objects and will take items from one place to another, often from one room to another and then place them on the floor and walk away and then go back and repeat this. I guess this is object permanence learning. The funny thing is when he tries to do this with snacks. I am trying to teach him that if he leaves food on the floor, Marty will eat it. He still seems baffled when the little Bunny Grahams are not on the door mat where he left them.