Playing With Blocks

Blocks are such a simple toy. But doesn't it always seem like the simplest things are able to entertain your baby more than any number of flashy, noisy, blinky, battery-eating toys can anyway?

Stacking blocks is great for motor development. Your baby will slowly learn how to manipulate objects with his or her hands. Stacking blocks on top of one another will teach your baby how to be careful and deliberate.

But not only should you encourage your baby to stack the blocks on top of one another; you should show your baby how much fun it can be to knock down a tower, too! This will make it less discouraging for your baby if she is trying to build a tower, but it keeps falling over. She may even stack blocks more eagerly simply for the sake of being able to knock them down!

Try to see what else your toddler can come up with to do with the blocks. Adrianne loved taking a block in each hand and smacking them together to make a nice rhythm.

She also likes to dump out her box of blocks so that she can put them all back in the box. Don't discourage your baby from doing things like this, even if it just seems like making a mess to you. Your baby is learning and growing with every action. Let your baby experiment! After all, babies are the world's greatest scientists, always testing, observing, and discovering.

Fear Of Releasing On The Potty: The Bathtub Method

Well, now that I can pretty much say that Adrianne is "potty trained," I feel the need to make a post dedicated to the one and only struggle we ran into throughout the whole process. The reason is because of how extremely difficult it was for me to find any information on the subject whatsoever.

What I did find, however, was a whole lot of moms and dads pleading for help over the internet on the same issue. So I feel it's important to address, for the sake of all those parents out there who need some help.

"She knows when she has to go to the bathroom, but when she sits on the potty she grunts and strains trying to hold it in. She even runs around the house crying because she has to pee so bad but no matter what, she won't do it. Now she is just leaking everywhere because she is past her holding point, but she just can't release on the potty!"

Is that you up there?

That was me while I was potty training Adrianne. She was showing all the signs of readiness. And she was obviously physically ready because she could hold it in for hours! I was so scared and exhausted from chasing her around, trying to get her to pee, that eventually I did the ultimate no-no: I put a diaper on her. That's when I knew I was in trouble, though, because she still would not go pee. She wanted to give up diapers like a big girl, I guess. But it only made me feel even more lost and confused.

Let me tell you, it's not easy watching your baby suffer like that without having a clue what to do. I know what that's like. But I also know that giving up and switching back to diapers is not necessary. At least not until you try this. Backing off of potty training when your toddler is showing the signs of readiness will only send mixed signals and make potty training more difficult when you return to it later on.

Instead, try the bathtub method. This is the solution I came up with in my desperation, and I read afterwards somewhere of a few other people using this method. It worked like a charm for us, when nothing else did. Here is what you do:

Put your baby's potty chair inside the bathtub and run the warm water. Sit your baby on the potty and use a cup to pour the water on your baby's feet and ankles. The sound of the water and the feeling of it will help to force your baby to relax and pee on the potty chair.

With Adrianne, the first time we did this, she strained and whined for a good two minutes even with the water on her feet before she finally couldn't hold it any longer. I could tell immediately that she had gone because her legs went from rigid, trembling boards to soft and relaxed, just like that.

After the first time, the time it took for her to relax after the water hit her toes went down to nothing by the end of the next day.

However, for a week or so, Adrianne would still insist on being in the bathtub to go potty. If your baby does this as well, don't worry. Let her take her time. Eventually, you will be able to slowly ween your baby out of the bathtub. Start by placing the potty chair next to the tub while running the water. Adrianne was completely able to pee without running water and without being in the bathtub within a week or two of starting potty training altogether. This method was a miracle for us.

If you don't have a bathtub that you can put the potty chair in, perhaps you can try CAREFULLY putting the potty chair on the counter next to the sink and doing the same thing. Just make sure you hold on to both the potty and your baby and make sure there are no falling accidents. Or you can try maybe using a large bowl full of warm water in front of the potty chair on the floor and use a cup to pour the water on your baby's feet and make the pouring water sound.

Good luck and please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. I will do my best to help you.

An Ode To Rufus

Okay, so maybe not an actual ode. (I was going to go all out and write a goofy old english style ode poem for Rufus but lost the ambition). But I would still like to dedicate this spot to him.

Rufus was born not long before Adrianne in a (somewhat) nearby Build-A-Bear Workshop. He was named after Penny's adorable teddy bear companion from the movie The Rescuers. Then he waited patiently for her arrival, much like she is doing now for her baby brother.

It was almost like love at first sight, if it weren't for the fact that newborns had poorly developed sight. But Rufus quickly became a much loved (and soon to be much needed) companion.

Before too long, they were inseparable. Piglet became the second best but undeniably desirable third wheel, kind of like Jacob to Edward.

Rufus (and Piglet) became mandatory tools for sleeping.

And he travels everywhere with us.

Oh, Rufus, you are part of our family now, officially. I just wanted to document your youthful beauty before you end up like my teddy from the day I was born: lumpy and hairless. I hope that one day we can all look back on these photos and laugh at how different you look in your old age! What a classic baby tag-along you are!

Coloring Time

In my opinion, you can never help develop the motor skills too much! I feel that you should get your baby working on coloring as soon as he or she knows how to grip a small object well. I bought the Crayola Beginnings Triangular Crayons, and I absolutely love them. My baby coloring tip would be to buy these crayons! The triangle shape helps to encourage a proper writer's grip and they also always come washable. The wax is extra soft so it is easy for baby to make a mark. I have found that with regular crayons, the wax is too hard, so no matter how hard baby presses on the paper, it just doesn't cut it. This only confuses and bores baby.

If you have been following my blog so far at all, you have probably noticed that I am obsessed with poster board. So my second coloring tip to you would be to get a whole big packet of poster board. You can probably even get it at the grocery store since that's where I buy mine, and a package is only a few dollars.

Paper is much too thin and small. It moves, it crumples, you have to be on a very solid surface, probably taped down so it doesn't move as baby puts the waxy crayon down...Save yourself the struggle and just get some poster board. It's big, it's tough and it is great for sprawling out on the floor with some big washable crayons.

To the right, as you can see, Adrianne is sprawled out on the floor with her crayons and poster board and she is able to go so far beyond a measly 8.5"x11" piece of paper's limits. Even on the carpet she can crawl across the poster board without much difficulty from bending and crumpling. Poster board can admirably take more toddler abuse than most any other toy can, and it will.

Teach your baby by example how to color with the crayon by dragging it across the paper. Then let baby hold the crayon, and guide the baby's hand to color. It won't be long before baby whisks away your help and goes to town.

When your baby is a fairly advanced color-er, get a jumbo coloring book and teach him how to color on the pages, turn the pages, and encourage him to color in the lines. Of course, your baby won't color in the lines for a very long time. But the book will give baby a greater sense of freedom as she can choose which page to color on and where to color, etc. Adrianne has a 400 page jumbo coloring and activity Hello Kitty book. I would have to say that turning the pages to find the perfect spot to color is probably her favorite part!

Notice also that I have a miniature person sized simple white table and chair set for her. She loves this because she can easily (most of the time) get on and off the little chairs all by herself without help. I love this because it is a smooth white, easily washable surface for all those little oopsies. But I have to tell you, the Crayola Beginnings crayons are so washable that I even got them out of my carpet with little more than water.

All our hard work has paid off now. Observe! Adrianne is 15 months old and she already has a nearly perfect writer's grip! Amazing. I think most kids can't brag that until they're 6 years old!

I highly encourage you to start coloring with your baby as early as possible. If your baby is now a child, I STILL encourage you to color away. Creativity is like a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it becomes. And I think it's safe to assume that I am ALL about fostering creativity.

Have fun, my little artists!

Macaroni Fun

Age Range - About 12-24 months

This is one of Adrianne's all time favorite activities: playing with a big bowl of uncooked pasta!

Macaroni is a great developmental toy for toddlers because it really helps them to fine-tune their motor skills, which is really important for aspiring artists and all people, really. Not only that, but they usually can't get enough of the "toy." Adrianne used to sit down and play with macaroni for hours on end, literally! She wouldn't stop until I put it all away and brought out something new for her to play with.

So if you want to help your baby to grow and develop, pull out that pasta and let's get cooking!

Here's what to do:

FIRST:

PROCEED WITH CAUTION!!! Macaroni is a choking hazard, you must supervise your child at ALL TIMES. Pasta is one of Adrianne's favorite foods, so it took her a couple of macaroni playtime sessions to figure out that this macaroni was NOT edible. Watch you baby carefully to make sure no macaroni gets popped into the mouth and have your baby spit it out immediately if any does happen to get in there.

ALSO:

Before you do anything, clear out a large area (maybe the living room floor) and make sure there is nothing that little pieces of macaroni can get thrown under easily or hidden in. This activity can get messy and dry pasta makes a rather unpleasant crunching sound if it gets sucked up in the vacuum!

Then spread out a giant blanket or sheet over the floor. You'll make macaroni center in the very middle of the blanket. If the floor is all cleared up, this isn't really necessary, but it sure does make clean up a whole lot easier! Just pull all the corners up when you're done to get the macaroni to pool in the center of the blanket, then you can scoop it up rather than picking each little piece up one by one all over the floor.

YOU WILL NEED:

1. A large bowl or pot. We like the bowl better because it's easier to see into and to reach into. Adrianne has a very sturdy glass bowl in this picture, which is great because it is heavy so she can't dump it over and because it makes a fun noise when you hit it with a spoon!

2. A couple of big spoons. We have a large flat spoon for stirring and a large ice cream scoop for, well, scooping! There is also a measuring cup, which is also good for scooping and it's easier for little hands since it's got a big mouth and a short handle.

3. A little bowl. You gotta have some option. Big bowl, little bowl, who knows which is better til you try it?

4. A few fun containers with lids. Our favorites are water bottles and baby food jars. Water bottles are great because they have a real tiny opening, and baby food jars make a great jingly sound with the macaroni.

5. Macaroni, of course! The best kind of macaroni is elbow macaroni. It is small and easy to collect but just fun enough to keep little ones happy. We've also tried mac'n'cheese noodles but these are too skinny and it's very frustrating because they always seem to get stuck in between little baby fingers, which interrupts play.

So here are some fun games you can play with the macaroni:

STIRRING and SCOOPING:

Using the spoons, show your little one how to stir the macaroni in large circular motions. Your toddler will love the sound of the macaroni as she moves it around. But it's easy to get carried away and let the macaroni go flying! Show your baby how to stir slowly and carefully to keep the macaroni in the bowl.

Scooping is a tough thing for toddlers to get right away. It requires a lot of advanced wrist movement and careful placement of the spoon in order to properly execute. Your baby may not be able to get it for a while. That's okay! Just show him how the spoon can hold the macaroni if you scoop it. Then hold his hand in yours around the spoon and help him scoop it. This guidance will be cast away before you know it if baby keeps at it. Soon you'll have a little scooping pro!

FILLING:

I don't know about other babies, but Adrianne is fascinated by containers. I am convinced she will make an expert professional organizer in the future! She just loves putting small things into containers.

Using a variety of containers with your little one will help them in so many ways. By trying to get the little pieces of macaroni into the different containers, they are learning how to manipulate objects and putting together the fact that if they move their hands a certain way, the little macaroni moves a certain way too. The different openings will help teach your baby all the different ways she can manipulate with her hands in order to get the macaroni to go where she wants it.

Water bottles have a tiny opening, which is a little bit more of a challenge. If your baby can't get the macaroni in the bottle at first, start with a larger container. A mason jar would work well, for example.

COVERING:

Fill up an old baby food jar with some macaroni and teach your little one how to cover it with the lid. Adrianne is a little obsessed with lids so she got this one really easily. She even now has the knack of turning the lid so that it tightens. Of course, she doesn't know how to get it off after that so Mommy has to help out from there.

But the baby food jar will make very pretty music when it is filled with macaroni and covered! Shake it up! Your baby may be more fascinated with the covering and uncovering part, but shaking the jar is fun too. There are a lot of fun things you can do with a filled up jar of macaroni. See what your baby can come up with!

POURING:

 Once you have the bottle or other container filled up, it's time to empty it! Pouring the macaroni out of the container is a lot of fun, but it can get messy so be vigilant!

Show your toddler that he can pour it into the big bowl or the little bowl. Let him see what happens if he does. You can also transfer the macaroni from the big bowl into the little bowl and pour it out of the little bowl back into the big one! What craziness!

If your little one figures out the great fun of pouring the macaroni out onto the floor, then show her how to pick it up and put it back in the bowl. You may be fortunate enough to have a toddler that will exclaim "Uh oh!" when macaroni falls onto the floor, but I can tell you right now, Adrianne is not one of them! She thinks it's much funnier when the macaroni goes everywhere! But she also enjoys the praise she gets if she manages to pick it all up.

If you encounter this situation, don't yell or scold. Just ask your baby, "Please, can you help me pick up the macaroni and put it back in the bowl?" Use a lot of gestures to help explain exactly what you want your baby to do. Ask the above question and demonstrate by putting a piece of macaroni back in the bowl. If your baby does it then praise her! Say "Good job! Thank you so much for helping!" Then encourage her to get all of the rest of them with you. Eventually she will be so proud of herself when this happens that you won't even need to do it with her. She will gladly pick it all up by herself.

MOST IMPORTANTLY:

Follow your baby's lead! Try all of the above activities with the macaroni, but don't force any of them on your little one if they are just completely uninterested. See what your baby can come up with while playing with the macaroni. This activity is meant to be 100% fun and great for development! If your baby is really concentrating on, let's say, filling and pouring...let the baby fill and pour to their heart's content! It means they are really learning! What a gift!

I hope this brings some peaceful playtime into your home, as it did in mine! Good luck, and remember to supervise carefully!