Putting Objects in a Clear Container

It doesn't get any simpler than this! I gave E a clear plastic container and a bunch of wooden Kapla blocks. She had a GREAT time putting the blocks in the container and dumping them back out again. She also enjoyed trying to put the lid on the container once it was full. Next week I'm going to give her a bunch of golf balls to put in the container. I know she's going to LOVE it!

Never Underestimate The Baby!

On the day that I posted that E wasn't ready to put the popsicle sticks into a small opening in a cup, she took a rug to my mom, sat down, and started doing just that!

Look at that concentration! I love to watch my children when they are so focused on their tasks. I only videod her putting the 1st 3 popsicle sticks in the container, but she continued until they were ALL in the cup. She amazes me! I've learned 2 lessons from this...observe rather than assume and NEVER underestimate the baby!

Peek-a-Boo House

E LOVES this peek-a-boo house flip toy! She opens the windows and says "cat" and barks when she sees the dog. She will play with this toy for a long time while strengthening her finger muscles and developing fine motor control. I bought this toy from a 2nd hand shop for about a dollar...it's made by Melissa and Doug.

Fingerpainting Fun using Textured Trays

O and E had a great time fingerpainting this weekend using our textured fingerpainting trays. I squirted fingerpaint into the tray, and O squished it and spread it all around.


E was a little hesitant, and when she finally put her hand in the paint, she immediately tasted it. It must not have tasted very good because she only tasted it once. She seemed a little disturbed by having blue hands at first, but she relaxed after a couple of minutes.

After they spread the paint in the tray, we put a piece of white cardstock on the tray and pressed to make a print. This was a messy and fun activity that we'll be doing again soon.


The fingerpainting trays came from the Let's Explore shop (which is no longer open).

Dropping Popsicle Sticks Into a Container

Here's another one of E's favorite activities! This cup has a top with a small opening that is the perfect size for popsicle sticks. However, E is not ready to put the sticks in a small opening. I took the lid off, and she had a great time dropping the sticks in the cup. They make a pleasing "ting" when they hit the bottom. She LOVED this activity, and she kept putting the cup to her mouth to take a drink :)

She liked putting the lid back on the cup and then taking it off to dump the sticks out. What fun!

Happy 1st Birthday, E!

E's 1st birthday was last week...I can't believe that my baby is one! She started walking 2 days after that, so the past week has been a busy one with lots of changes (in more ways than one...more on that in another post). We are adjusting to our new normal and finding new rhythmn to our days. I apologize to the people who have emailed and commented with questions...I am weeks and weeks behind in responding, but I hope to catch up soon.

Here is E's birthday ring. I printed wallet sized pictures from 4 different phases of her first year and cut them out to use the birthday ring and her birthday cake. I love how it turned out!

I bought the birthday ring from The Wooden Wagon (before O's first birthday).

All About Red

I've recently started taking down the bags (one at a time) from O's color hunt game to teach E her colors. She LOVES exploring the objects in the bags, and I think she may know the color red (although, she hasn't said the word red yet).

I love how she put the bag on her arm to wear it like a pocketbook.

She was especially enthralled with the red hairband. (I had to watch her very closely because she was very tempted to put it in her mouth). She was very persistant in trying to put it on her wrist to wear like a bracelet.

Her persistance paid off, and she eventually got the hairband on her wrist. I love to watch her when she is so focused on a task. I love that she persisted until she accomplished her goal and never became frustrated.


Btw, you may notice that E wears a lot of tie-dyed shirts...our craft activity during our beach trip was tie dying shirts. I took lots of E's stained and plain night shirts and play shirts and made them beautiful. I love tie-dye!

Putting Objects in a Large Container

E is REALLY into putting objects into containers and then taking them out again. Since this is her area of interest, I've been focusing on this for most of her activities. When I saw this large container at my mom's house, I knew it would be perfect for E. (the container came from Sam's Club and held pretzels). For the first couple of weeks that we had the container, we just put various objects in it and rolled it around on the floor and shook it. This was a lot of fun, but not as much fun as it could be...

So, I asked Elliott to cut a square hole in the side (I try to avoid cutting things with large knives, if at all possible, since my finger incident). After he cut the hole, I covered the sharp, plastic edges with duct tape. I gave E a basket of toys and showed her how to drop them in and then take them out of the hole.

I love that this container is large enough for her to use a variety of toys and objects that are not chokable.

Velcro Sandwich Activity

E LOVES O's play kitchen and all of the food in it, so I thought she'd enjoy having some wooden/velcro food activities on her Montessori shelf.

I put a wooden sandwich with fillings that attach via velcro in a basket on her shelf. She was very excited when I showed her this activity. She had fun pulling the sandwich apart, and she was not very interested in putting it back together again. We worked on labeling the bread, pickles, cheese, and tomato in the sandwich and the colors of everything. I plan to put different wooden food items on her shelf each week to keep it interesting for her.

Stacking Wooden Bears

I recently introduced these stacking wooden bears to E. She loves to tear them down, and she's learning to stack them. We discuss colors, body parts, animals (cat, bunny, dog), and clothing (shirt and pants) while we play. I bought this toy from a 2nd hand shop for O a couple of years ago for about 3 dollars. I encourage you to shop for toys and clothes at 2nd hand shops if you want a great deal!

E's New Trick

She's started crossing her fingers during meals. She's quite proud! I love all of these little things that she does that are just so cute :)

Basket of Fabric Squares

One of baby E's Montessori activities is exploring a basket of fabric squares. The fabric squares are sample fabrics that E's grandmother collected when she was recovering several pieces of furniture. We rub the different fabrics with our fingers and on our faces and talk about the different textures. E enjoys this activity!


So soft!

Playsilks for Baby

Playsilks are one of my most favorite toys for my girls! They are so versatile and open ended, and both girls love them. It is especially fun to play peek-a-boo with the playsilks, and E also enjoys chewing on them. Since we dyed them with kool-aid, the red one leaves her with a colorful mouth :)

Where is Baby's Belly Button?

Where is Baby's Belly Button? by Karen Katz was O's favorite book when she was a baby, and now E loves it, too. I love the sweet illustrations, and the girls love lifting the flaps. What fun!

We have tons of board books for babies (the vast majority have come from thrift stores...I just can't pass them by), and some of our other favorites include If You Were My Bunny (I LOVE this book and sing the lullabies from it to the girls almost every night). We also love anything by Sandra Boynton. It's been hard to get E to be still enough to read to her since she started crawling, but I recently realized that morning potty time is PERFECT reading time! Yay! I love to read to her, so it's great to have a captive audience :)

Fun with Fridge Phonics

E LOVES our Fridge Phonics magnetic letters! She takes the magnets on and off the refrigerator, and she loves to crawl around with one in her mouth. I'm very glad that they are quite big and pose no choking hazard. She is learning to put the magnets into the docking station to make the music play. Fun!

Open/Shut Activity for Baby

I set up a basket of open/shut containers for E, and she really likes it. I put a box and a basket in the basket, and 2 was a good number with which to start. She was very engrossed in this activity. I plan to switch the containers every few days, but I think we'll stick with just 2 at a time...she is more focuesd when there are fewer objects.