Toys Around the House - Big Box

I realize that this is one of the most well known and loved "toys" in history.  Big empty boxes are wonderful because they can be anything you dream them to be.  While I am sure we will have many adventures with boxes, this is Xander's first one to play with.

At first, he was a bit nervous, but got over it rather quickly.

After a while I opened both sides so he could crawl through.  I imagined Toby and Xander chasing each other through the tunnel, but Toby wanted absolutely nothing to do with the box.

Even Mommy joined in the fun.

Mobility Update - 9 Months

I apologize, I have not been doing a good job of keeping up on Xander's mobility!  He has really taken off since he began crawling.  He has no problems crawling across the house to get to where he wants.  He will frequently crawl from the living room to his room to pull out his trays.  However, he much prefers being carried if he is tired.  I have a baby gate and outlet covers so I try to give him as much freedom as possible.  It does result in a lot of messes for Mommy to clean up, though.

Xander has also mastered pulling himself up a lot faster than I would have expected.  He can stand a lot better than he thinks he can.  I can let go of him and he will support himself until he realizes I am no longer holding him.  Once he sees he is on his own, he throws himself forward to try to catch himself, knocking himself down in the process.  

Apparently, climbing isn't a problem either.  We were at my dad's house the other day and he climbed up the stairs like he had been doing it his whole life, even though I don't let him near our basement stairs.  Unfortunately, he doesn't fully understand gravity yet.  While sitting on the third step, he leaned back to look at me and make sure I was watching him accomplishment and started tumbling backwards.  Somehow I made a superhuman dive and saved him from hitting his head, but we both got a good scare out of it!

Getting our all of the dish towels.

His new favorite amusement is playing with the door stops.  He will go into a room and play with them for quite a while.  He also tends to shut the door while back there, trapping himself in the room and making himself rather angry.

If he is too quiet, I frequently find that he has crawled to his room and is looking at his books (I keep board books where he has easy access).  Unfortunately, every time I try to snag a picture of him "reading" while surrounded by books, he notices me with the camera and starts to crawl over.  These are the only pictures I got.

Xander managed to use a canvas bin to pull himself up so he could go through the toys.  He barely needs to hold on, but thinks he needs the support.

New Flashcards

Whenever I go to Target I take a quick stroll through their dollar section, looking for anything I can use on our Baby Trays.  A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to stumble upon some great flash cards.  While they won't be used on our trays, I have trouble finding flash cards that I like, so I was very happy with the find.  Since Xander is so young, I try to avoid abstract cartoons on flash cards.  I like accurate representations of whatever it is I am trying to teach him.  I think showing him a picture of a cartoon cat and expecting him to understand that I mean the real live animal is a bit confusing.  Anyway, I found some great sets with photographs and realistic depictions.

We started out with the landmarks set.  I have been showing him five cards, three times a day.  They have become his absolute favorite flash cards.  He is more attentive with these than with his word flash cards.  If I am not careful about where I put them, he likes to find them and play with them.  On the back of each card is a description of the landmark, and a map of its location in the world.  Those will be nice references for the future, but right now we are just doing the names.

When we have made our way through all of the landmarks, we have sets of wild animals, insects, and US presidents.  So nice to have great sets that I didn't have to make myself!  And for only a dollar each!

Baby School - 9 Months

This last week was HECTIC to say the least.  I started a new job but won't settle into a regular schedule for a couple of weeks while they try to get everyone trained.  Plus, I work early enough that we stay the night at Grandpa's so he can take Xander to day care.  Bouncing back and forth has been a little crazy.  While we didn't get as many of our lessons done as we would have liked, we still did a lot and had a lot of fun together.

This weeks trays included some alphabet blocks (great garage sale find), the rainbow stacker, and some printables.  The puzzle this week was his Safari Chunky Puzzle, which got a ton of use.

The printables we tried were the Brown Bear Brown Bear animal heads and tails from 1+1+1=1.  I tried just a few of them and showed him how to match up the two halves of the animals.  Not a hit, so we will put them away until he is a bit older.

He found the blocks interesting and liked to pull them out frequently.

The rainbow stacker might have been the biggest hit of the week.  He likes to dump them all off and bang the rings together.  He has also started putting the pieces in the shelves of my entertainment center for some reason.  Maybe just to show off that he can?

Doesn't matter how many times I pull him back, this is how he ends up watching YBCR now that he is mobile.  You would think it would hurt his neck.

We also spent some time looking out the window and enjoying the breeze.

As always, click the link below to see what other Mommies are doing with their tots.

Combination Bag

Well I made bean bags and I made smelly bags, but I decided I needed one more, a combination bag.  I made it just like the bean bags, because I wanted the sturdier canvas, but I filled the liner with coffee beans this time.  It smells SO good.

Lil Leonardo?

We did our first painting project (other than bathtub paints)!  Xander had soaked his shirt with his water bottle after our walk, so I decided to just feed him naked.  After all, why change outfits again?  As I was feeding him his prunes, he turn his head, getting it all over his nose.  Something is wrong with me, so instead of thinking "what a mess" I thought "wow, that really shows up on his skin."  Hence the inspiration for painting.

I grabbed some paper and put some of the prunes in the lid of the baby food jar.  I dipped his fingers in and touched them to the paper, showing him what to do.  After that, he took off with the idea. 

Concentrating so hard.

This is what we did as soon as we were done...

It may not be much, but I am still proud to put his first picture on the fridge.

Toys Around the House - Jingle Bells

Since Xander loves his shakers so much, I decided to try another noise making "toy."  I put a bunch of jingle bells in a cool whip container for him.  He really enjoyed it.  He liked shaking the container and banging on it like a drum.

Eventually he got it open and was able to shake and chase the bells.  Unfortunately they don't sound as pretty when shaken in a hand.  He was pretty proud of himself.

This is what happens when Mommy says "no" firmly (he was trying to eat a bell).  Apparently he doesn't like that word or tone of voice.