Babies Project Writing

We're inspired by the writing of Esther Thelen, a developmental psychologist and multidisciplinary out-of-the-box thinker who applied chaos theory (or dynamic systems theory) to infant development.

This is a follow-up to our previous Q&A post where we responded to a question about tummy time on a pillow.

We've heard back from the parent, who sent new photos that we're happy to share as they beautifully illustrate our points.

We respond to a question from a mother of a 4-month-old:

Someone told me that it’s good to put babies on top of pillows (on the floor) so they can get perspective and help them develop. I wanted to hear your thoughts on this.

This post is the last in a series of 4 that unpacked our “be with, be a witness, be in relationship” tagline as part of our 2019 fall fundraising campaign.

Why did we choose our tagline and why are we focusing on it now?

This post is the third in a series of 4 that unpacked our “be with, be a witness, be in relationship” tagline as part of our 2019 fall fundraising campaign.

We’re going to continue to unpack our tagline, this time taking on the last sentence, “Be in relationship.” What are some of the ideas and principles packed into this simple statement that are relevant to relating to a baby?

In our work at Babies Project, we meet new people every day. Many of them are babies. We’d like to share what we’ve learned from our experiences, with the support of our values, principles and ongoing conversations and questions. We offer this in the hope that it might lead to more fruitful, mutually enriching meetings between babies of all ages.

This post is the second in a series of 4 that unpacked our “be with, be a witness, be in relationship” tagline as part of our 2019 fall fundraising campaign.

We’ll continue unpacking our tagline, this time focusing on the second sentence, “Be a witness.” That can mean so many things - what do we mean by it?

One of the most common phrases we hear caregivers say to their babies and toddlers is “good job.” We have some thoughts on this ubiquitous expression that we’ve been sharing with parents and caregivers, and we’d like to share our perspective more widely.

This post is the first in a series of 4 that unpacked our “be with, be a witness, be in relationship” tagline as part of our 2019 fall fundraising campaign.

What do we mean by “be with” in our tagline?

At Babies Project, we offer developmental movement education for "babies of all ages." What do we mean by this?

We have a common personal history. We were all once babies and our earliest experiences as babies are still with us.

A good part of our work at Babies Project involves talking about developmental movement— what it is and why it's important. The topic comes up in our discussions with parents and caregivers who bring their babies to Babies Project, often with questions like these:

• “Is my baby on track?"

• "Are they behind?"

• "Should we be concerned?”

Our topic here is agency and relationship. A baby's development is a relational process. A baby and their primary caregiver(s) are affected by and in turn affect each other. They respond to each other, they co-create their relationship, and they exist within layers and networks of other relationships.

We believe that emergence and agency go together. As we define it, agency is the ability to make choices, to have an impact, and learn from experience. And emergence implies self-creation, arising from within a complex non-linear relationship with the environment.

The study of developmental movement is the study of how we learn to move in our first years of life. In Body-Mind Centering®, we specifically study the basic movement patterns, reflexive pathways and integration of our senses, as well as the progressive layering of rhythms, experiences and relationships that help an infant find a sense of self, integration and ease.