I remember the feeling most strongly with my first child ....

... the urge to grab the clock and stop time passing so I could make the most of every single moment of baby time.  Then I started to take a picture a day to save in a special folder on my computer and I began to enjoy watching her grow and change. With my second child it was a case of scribbling down whatever I could to remember him as a baby, and accepting that one child only needs so many photos of their life.

This week I wanted to explore some of the ways you can document and craft memories of the baby days.

Daisy Baby classes work on object permanence a lot, with routines which allow baby to come in and out of eye contact with mum and other babies. Classes also incorporate lots of brain gym (cross lateral moves) to wire the hemispheres and everything is repeated three times over, to install muscle memory.  This reminds me of my mum, who when I forgot my camera, would tell me to blink very slowly to take a mental photograph.  You can't predict the random moments your brain will etch on your memory, but you can borrow some of its techniques to embed some of your own.

Memories are made in all sorts of ways.  When I was pregnant I turned to the old cliché of knitting and crochet.  My efforts at clothing were pretty rubbish/too small but I did find crocheting this Sock Monkey play mat out of granny squares very therapeutic.  Whenever I look at the blanket nowadays, thrown across my daughter's doll's bed, I think back to the evening in the top right picture.  I have a very vivid memory of my husband and I lying on the floor with our baby, marveling as she tried to copy our facial expressions and sounds.

Muscle Memory is a wonderful thing

…. and never ceases to amaze me!

Yesterday 15 recruits joined us for the 1st day of their practical training.  Yes some of them were former Lazy Daisy® mums themselves, and yes we have been working on written assignments and virtually for the past 2 months, but the real amazement to me is that 2pm yesterday when they taught their first practical segment they were mums trying to stumble their way through a movement based routine (sorry girls!).  Yet just 24 hours later, today, they were evolving into real life teachers …… is this because I am an amazing trainer;  whilst I would love of course to say I am, I have to credit the power of muscle memory.

This is the amazing ability the brain has to create inherent pathways for movements or actions repeated over and over, so that they simply happen!  Like riding a bike or driving a car…..