Megan is 1 month old tonight!!!

In the past few days Megan's interactivity has increased markedly. She is smirking at me and has grinned exuberantly for Lori on several occasions. She is also reaching for our faces when we talk to her; she's touched my goatee, though she is still uncertain what it's all about. She is still gurgling.

Megan is also demanding a lot more face time these days. And bouncing. She loves to bounce. And she likes to stare at the ceiling as she bounces. We have an exercise ball as our bouncing device.

I heard on the radio about a program for infants (this might be the website, I'm not sure if it's the same one mentioned this morning) which starts teaching them to read at 1 month of age, once their eyesight has improved. It's a controversial idea, but the advocates state that harnessing an infant's colossal learning abilities to read as well as speak makes more sense than waiting several years when their abilities to absorb new information and concepts has diminished. Critics say that infants may not be learning to read, but simply learning to respond to stimuli and positive feedback. Are they really distinguishing letters? Phonetics? Whatever the case, there are three-year-old twins who are reading at a Grade 2 level. There is also a 15-year-old who has a voracious interest in language and reading, so there could be benefits beyond strictly recognizing characters.