March 13, 2026- Hana held her head up, while prone, for over three minutes, this evening. She has been working very hard at this prerequisite to crawling and has been frustrated with herself, up to now. Each time, we have told her that we are proud of her for trying and to not give up. She is internalizing our encouragement, smiling each time we offer it. Tonight was a big advance for her.This skill is, roughly speaking, the infant’s equivalent of a plank, which of course is an adult holding self up on elbows and extended toes, for 1-3 minutes. Babies are hardwired to want to develop mobility skills, just as they want to build language skills.

Speaking of which, Hana is making clearly thought out sounds, in a sentence-like cadence, and is happy when we maintain eye contact, while she is speaking. We generally get a sense of what she is saying, by reading her facial expression and deciphering her tone of voice. A soft voice indicates she is happy or peaceful. A serious tone means she needs cleaning or that she is getting tired. A loud tone means she is frustrated or feels ignored. This last will be followed by crying, if we don’t pick up on it right away.

She is also paying close attention to what her mother needs her to do. When bathing, for example, when Yunhee goes to wash under Hana’s arms, the baby lifts her arms straight up. When she goes to change Hana into night clothes, the child will take her own arms out of the day outfit’s sleeves. She is also very much into cleanliness and neatness. This seems in keeping with what has been noticed about Capricorns, (Hana was born on the December Solstice).

Early development of physical skills could be followed by backsliding, if we make too much of the matter and up the ante. That said, we are proud of what our girl is doing, at just under three months of age.