Talking on the Phone

This old phone is always a hit with babies and toddlers.  E loves to pretend to talk on it, and O makes calls to her imaginary friend with it.   I'm actually a little surprised that they recognize that it's a phone...it looks so different from the phones we use now :)  I guess I should show them a record player.  That would really blow their minds!

All About Orange

I introduced the color orange to E this week.  She LOVES playing with our orange playsilk!  Playsilks are definitely the best "toy" that we own!!!

Tearing Paper

I set up a bin full of fall colored construction paper for E to tear, pull, and crumple (this is a great activity for developing fine motor control).  She seems a little shocked by this activity...I guess she's used to her sister freaking out and removing her (O's) construction paper artwork from her hands as soon as she touches it.  We had fun tearing paper today, and I think she'll enjoy it even more when I add a few pieces of tissue paper to the bin.

Clothes Pins and an Ice Cube Tray

Since E enjoys putting popsicle sticks into small openings so much, I thought she might be ready for this clothes pin and ice cube activity.  She loves it!  She's recently started self-correcting when she puts the clothes pin in upside down.  I LOVE to watch her work!















So focused!

Matching Animals Figurines to Animal Pictures

E LOVES animals so I thought she might enjoy a matching activity using one of her favorite books and animal figurines.  She doesn't quite get the concept of matching yet, but she's catching on and she really enjoys it.  This is the activity that she has chosen off of her shelf first all week.

To do this activity, I put the book along with several animal figurines into a basket on her Montessori shelf.



We look at the book and match the animals to the pictures in the book by placing the animal figurine on the picture.









Sometimes she'll choose an animal and we'll flip through the book looking for that animal.  Other times we look at the book and match the animals as we read the book.

Ball Exercises

I try to do exercises with E on our large, bouncy ball a few times a week. I have her sit, lay on her back, or lay on her tummy.  We started doing these exercises when E was a few months old at the suggestion of my sister who is a pediatric physical therapist.  I always have my hands on her, and I keep the ball steady by bracing it between my knees.   A great book that encourages this type of activity with babies is Active Baby, Healthy Brain.  

A Personalized Book for E

A representative from Little Bunny Press contacted me a few months ago offering a book for review.  After browsing their site, I decided that I was definitely interested.  These personalized books are beautifully made.  The stories are cute, and the illustrations are great.  E LOVES animals, so I chose the Zoo book for her.


I uploaded a picture of E to the site, and in a couple of days they emailed a proof for me to approve.  It looked great, so then we just had to wait for our book.  The binding was not glued properly on the 1st book that was sent to me.  I emailed the company on a Friday night and within 2 hours they had emailed me back apologizing and promising to immediately send another book....AMAZING customer service!!!



The 2nd book was PERFECT, and it arrived the day before E's 1st birthday.  We took her to the zoo on her birthday, and this book was the perfect gift for her.  She loves to look at the animals, and she gets so excited when she sees her picture in the book.   I know that this book will always be a treasured keepsake for her!






Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Little Bunny Press is offering a 15% discount for readers of this blog with the coupon code : CHEERIOS

All About Blue

I recently introduced the bag of blue objects to E. She really loves taking out and exploring each object.







Then she puts the bag on her arm and walks off as if she's going shopping. Could she get any cuter?!!   (I don't think so!)

Loving the Rice Pit

We revamped our rice pit a couple of months ago, and started letting E get in it to play when she was about 11 months old (she's almost 13 months old now).


I have to watch her closely because she'll occasionally try to sneak rice in her mouth, but she LOVES the rice pit.
We usually come straight to the rice pit on our screened porch after we get home from dropping O off at school. We have fun scooping, pouring, using the funnel, etc.



The rice pit is definitely a favorite activity for O and E, and I highly recommend it for hours of fun!

I added a few links showing the rice pit that O used to play in when she was a little older than E is now.  I can't believe how little O used to be and how quickly she's grown up :(

Drying a Tray with a Sponge

I saw this work at O's school, and I knew it would be a fun one for us to have at home.
To do this work, E shakes water from a bottle onto a tray. She then dries the water with a sponge. E LOVES it! She did it over and over and over and over...

We talked about the concepts of wet and dry while we did this activity.

The bottle is a salt shaker from Dollar General. Don't make the mistake (like I did!) of putting too much water in the bottle...you only need a very small amount.