Aden is now increasingly fast and mobile.  He follows us around the house.  We have done a decent job of babyproofing, but we find that when we cannot chase him we put him in his playyard.  Which of course he hates because; dammit Mom!, he wants to be movin’!

We find that at night we are spending more time with him which is good.  I don’t do the dishes or laundry and just sit on the floor with Aden.  We play with his toys and last night we played ball.  We tossed a beach ball around.  He loved that.   Which would children’s services find worse I wonder?  A kitchen full of dirty dishes or  an unhappy child in a playpen?  Aden  does seem to sleep better at night when we have given him lots of attention.

I polled friends on what they do to keep their kids busy.  Granted their kids are a little bit older than Aden.

This is what works for my child:

1) coloring, 2) singing abc’s and other nursery rhymes, 3) playing with Elmo, 4) playing with letters, 5) playing outside and if these don’t work I feed her.

As for toddler activities, here is my list.

1. Play dough!
2. Magnadoodle
3. Coloring
4. Stickers
5. Play with water-Use whatever you have in the kitchen, put a towel down inside if it’s too hot to go outside
6. Play with oatmeal or rice-Again, good for a hot or rainy day, use a big towel or table cloth
7. Blocks
8. Practice walking and holding hands (down to the mailbox and back)
9. Play outside (ride-on toy, truck, ball, and climber)
10. Newest activity-Throw pennies in the fountain near Gator Dockside or the wishing well at the mall (near Macy’s)

Here are some ideas that I’ve used to keep my toddler busy sometimes, although normally she’s attached to my hip so I get to participate too:

• Make a house with windows out of the big box that her car seat came in
• Let her drop clothes pins into a milk jug
• Put ice cubes in a Ziploc bag
• Table a paper towel role to the side of a table and let her drop legos, balls, or smaller toys through the chute
• Make ramp out of a piece of cardboard and push toy cars down the ramp
• Fill one large bowl with ice and one large bowl with water a little soap and let her use measuring cups to transfer the ice cubes back and forth (outside activity)
• Outdoor soup – put some water in a bucket and help her add different outside things like leaves and twigs to the outdoor soup and stir with a big spoon
• Put a little ketchup and a little mustard in a double Ziploc bag and let her squish the two colors together
• Big Lego pieces are great to play with
• Babycenter.com has some great ideas too on stuff to do with your baby/toddler

My toddler stays busy by:
1)  watching Baby Einstein videos
2) reading
3) playing with her toys and stuffed animals
4) playing with the tupperware in the kitchen cabinets and drawers
5) going to the park, Publix, the mall, or over to grandma’s
6) following mommy and daddy around

I’m so lucky to have friends who are ahead of me in this arena!  What do you do to keep your toddler busy, happy, healthy and learning?

~Life as Mom

Aden at 10 months old

Aden,

Almost one year old!  Can temper tantrums come early?
You are doing this thing-when we take something from you or move you when you are not ready and you throw your whole body back as hard as you can while simultaniously whining. You’ve knocked your head a couple of times, but we have been able to catch you most of the time. Note to self, get a baby helmet.

The goose egg that you have on your forehead this week is from exploring the house. While I was in the bedroom you wandered into the dining area and must have pulled yourself up with the dining chairs. That night you hit your eye on the faucet as well. Note to self, get a faucet cover. I hope you learn to not fall on your head soon. Again, the helmet thing.

You are teetering on taking that first step. I have to say that is one milestone that I really hope I’m around for because I’m really looking forward to that one. If you walk first at your grandmother’s or at your sitter’s I’ll be highly upset.

You can say STOP now and hold up your hand in a traffic cop sort of way. You are starting to wave a bit. You really like chocolate fudgecicles. You are starting to hate your baths because you can’t stand up and move around. You do not like being forced to sit down. You love to be chased when you are crawling around the house. You can say dog now and don’t refer to everything as cat. You father loves it when you say Da Da which isn’t very often.

You went to the doctor on Monday because your parents are worried about the rattle in your throat that you’ve had for two weeks. The doctor said to wait it out for another week or so and then she might declare it a sinus infection.

You are getting pickier with your food preferring the step 1 baby foods and snacks. You eagerly eat adult food when given to you. You watch intently when your parents eat, studying everything they put into their mouths.

We see all the light switches turning on. What fun!

Love,
~Mom

I have always dreaded the holidays before. Not only the family pushing and pulling, but the commercialism, the have-to’s, and the endless eating. Although, the eating is enjoyable, it has the worst consequences. I do have to say that I am looking forward to Christmas this year. We did buy Aden some presents, nothing too crazy as I know the grandmothers have gotten him tons of stuff.

We put up our Christmas tree today. It’s a fake tree my MIL gave us a couple of years ago. It’s a beautiful tree and saves us a big expense through the holiday season. We don’t have much in the line of Christmas decorations. Our tree consists of a star at the top, colored lights, and ornaments we have collected from travels and our childhoods. Aden seemed absolutely fascinated by the lights. For someone as curious as Aden, I can see why it is recommended that ornaments be put up high on the tree. My MIL has never been to our house during the holiday seasons and seemed to enjoy watching us put up our tree and ornaments. Today was the first time in a long time that I felt that wonderful happy fuzzy feeling of being home and everything is as it should be.

~M

Aden sits with Santa