To be clear, there is no brain probing going on.
But Ada is part of a research study at Rutgers that’s looking at how babies learn to communicate. Specifically, it’s investigating how early passive and active response to sound correlates with later language development. They use special cameras to track her eye movement while she’s watching interesting pictures and then they play tones at different pitches to see how her attention and brain react to hearing sounds while she’s occupied.
Practically speaking, it means that Ada and mama go to Rutgers and watch Baby Einstein, play with bubbles and new toys, and wear funny hats.
Yesterday was her first trip there, and we both had a really fun time. Ada was tuckered out by the end, though, and fell asleep as soon as we got to the car. We’ll be taking scheduled trips out there until she’s 18 months old. We’re really excited to be a part of the process, and to learn about Ada’s development along the way. It helps too that all of the researchers are mommies too, so Ada feels right at home.
