Babies teaching babies?

My little Morgan has always hated being put on her belly for tummy time, an exercise designed to help strengthen the upper body and back muscles she will need in order to be able to sit up and crawl later in life. Since she has always started to scream mere seconds after being put down for tummy time I have always assumed that she will be a late crawler (perhaps skipping crawling and going straight to walking as her Uncle Dave did).

However, two weeks ago we went to a Gymboree class and things have changed. For those of you not in the know, Gymboree is a baby clothing store that also has centers across the US for mommy and baby play time. The idea is that moms learn how to play age appropriate games with their babies and at the same time get to meet other mothers with children in the same age range. When we went two weeks ago Morgan had just turned three months and was the youngest baby in her age group (0-6 months) at the class. All of the other kids had about a month on her and therefore most were physically ahead of her developmentally. The little girl next to us, for example, was nearly 6 months old and was rolling around on the floor and was very strong on tummy time. Morgan spent a good portion of the class watching her.

When we got home that afternoon I tried to put Morgan down for tummy time again. This time not only did she not complain, she pushed herself up on her arms without the help of a pillow! It seemed that she learned from watching the other babies in the class and finally understood what she was supposed to do. Now, I don't know what a developmental psychiatrist would say to this theory, but it seems to me that the proof is in the pudding (odd phrase....). My little girl can now push up enough on her arms that she will probably be crawling pretty soon. Her little back legs already seem to know what to do, it was always the front that held her up. Picture her with her butt in the air and her face smushed on the floor scooting forwards and you will get an idea of what I mean.