Melissa and Doug is the God of Toddler toys. They make the best stuff. I knew I wanted to get her a shopping cart for Christmas but all the ones I found were plastic and flimsy and she pushed down on them when she pushed it so it would flip over. I had given up. Until one day at the library I was talking with some moms about Alan wanting to get Madison a train table and they asked if I'd been to the local toy store downtown. So we went right after story time to look at the tables and came across this buggy! It's a bit pricey($60) but it's a made out of metal. It also serves as toy storage downstairs. :)
Books
Since a baby, Madison has loved books. Since day 1 we have read her books at nap and bedtime and we owe it to that. Now she loves to grab books and jibber jabber her way while flipping the pages. I love that she loves books!
Leap Frog house
This was an impulse buy for Christmas. I think it was randomly laying somewhere and we thought she would like it since it had a ton of buttons, doors and sounds. She loves this thing! She carries it around. It has a lot of sayings and songs and buttons on each side. It keeps her entertained in the car too!
Toys R Us microwave
She loves putting her play food in here. You press the buttons and it sets a timer. The start button turns the turntable, light and timer on. It beeps when it stops. The timer is sped up.
We never much used the bonus room before Madison's 1st Birthday party except for our workout equipment and the cat's litter box. We always knew once she grew up a bit, we would turn it into her play room. Enter her birthday party where she got a ton of toys. I set it up the best I could with what I had to work with. I will be posting later on all of the ideas I've gotten from Pinterest. Forgive my dark pictures as I took them with my phone for convenience :)
The view from the bonus room door. It will still house our workout equipment and tv but we did move the litterbox to downstairs. I tried to build a 'wall' with the kitchen and the trunk to the right. She still tries playing with the eliptical and cords.. You will see in my future idea post on how I plan to resolve this. :)
View from the opposite wall, looking back at the door.
A horrible, dark picture of the couch, windows and the radio on the end table.
I have set everything up in stations. I thought it would help her play a bit better with similar items.
Music
Books
Including crayons, coloring book and Alan's quiet book that his mom made when he was little.
She loves playing with the zipper page and the little felt person that goes in the 'bed'
Stuffed animals
Learning station
Flash cards, puzzles, letter blocks, sensory bottles/tupperware, shaped blocks
For the sensory items, I put dried beans in a baby food jar, water and baby oil and blue food coloring in another food jar, water and oil with rubber bands and safety pins in another food jar and in the red tupperware is dried pasta. She loves digging in the pasta and throwing it everywhere. She also likes shaking the little bottles with liquid and the baby food jar is the perfect size for her little hands!
As a follow up post to my Things baby needs 0-6 months, this post will tell you the things that Madison enjoyed during this time.
Mesh teether
We got her one for her Easter basket and she loves it! I like this brand because it has a gel pocket to keep the food cool. We keep ours in the fridge in between Madison using it. Her favorite food to eat from it is strawberry and banana. It does get messy but seeing her enjoy it so much is worth having to change her clothes afterward!
Mum Mums and Puffs
We gave her some at 8 months and she loves them. She loves feeding herself and feeling independent.
The Puffs seem to disolve faster than the Mum-mums and since they are small pieces, they don't break off
in her mouth which can be scary since she puts as much of the Mum-mums in her mouth that will fit!
Buttoned bibs
Around 8 months, she figured out how to pull her bibs with the velcro closure off.
Frozen vegetables
We started giving her chunks of food at 9 months. I know we could have done it sooner, we were just paranoid. I bought a package of frozen mixed veggies(corn, carrots, green beans and green peas) for us to eat as a side but one night when I fixed them my lightbulb went off. These were the perfect size for her to pick up! I now keep them in stock and she loves them!
Inflatable tub
When she started sitting up at 6 months, it was time to get rid of the baby tub. We used it from 6-9 months, until we put her in the regular tub
Food pouches
I waited until 11 months to give her one but now I wish I'd introduced them a lot earlier than that. She loves them and it makes for an easy car ride home when she's fussy and we give her one of those.
I went to a local consignment sale last night for Consignor night since I put some of her things for sale in there. When I dropped of her things, I was scouting out the big toys and had my eye on a play kitchen for her! I got there early and got in line and made a b-line to the kitchen! Score! There were 2 exactly alike but $14 difference between them. Of course I grabbed the cheaper one :) I also found a booster seat(not pictured) for Alan's mom when she watches Madison, 6 sleepers, 4 shirts, 4 pants and 3 pair of shoes all for $56! I am so excited at my scores and plan on going back for half off day on Sunday. I've also made $9 at the sale(after the $8 fee was taken out) so hopefully that number will keep going up and I can break even! We plan on giving her the kitchen for her 1st Birthday here in a couple of weeks(!!!!) If you don't shop consignor sales and you have kids, you are crazy :) I got name brand clothes and shoes(Old Navy, K Swiss, Carters) for next to nothing!
On a side note, every one that was invited should hopefully have their invite by now. Isn't she the cutest thing? Here's the picture from her invite. Love.that.girl.
On the day she turned 10 months old (July 6th), she woke up pulling up on everything! She wouldn't even nap without pulling up 5 times! She pulls up and cries because she isn't sure how to get back down. She still pulls up and cries.
We also weaned her from her Paci starting that day. She seemed to do fine for the few days following but naps have been an absolute nightmare ever since-an.entire.month. She won't just put herself to sleep anymore, except for bedtime, which is great, but mama needs her time during the day to do some things while baby is napping and that hasn't much happened this month. She will be absolutely exhausted by as soon as you turn around to walk out, she pops up screaming her eyes out. Sigh.
This month she is really talking a lot. None of it makes sense and she talks to herself constantly. Sometimes I swear she is repeating stuff we say. Today she seemed to be saying "Uh Oh". If she drops throws something, I always say it and today she started saying "Uh" right after it, every time I did it. Of course when Alan got home and I told him about it, she just looked at him like "I don't have a clue what she's talking about" Her jibberish is so cute!
She also loves music. I mean this girl will hear music before we hear it. She will bob her head or shake her body and start clapping. It's the cutest thing ever! She has finally started clapping with open hands and it's just precious. She used to clap with closed hands. Such a smart girl!
and more dancing.. She has learned to hit the green music note to play the songs. Such a smartie pants!
She started walking with her push toy really well. She will go back and forth the living room for a while(with our help turning her around!) She's also a pro at opening the entertainment center and changing table cabinet doors. Both doors are hard to open so it shows us how strong she is!
She started drinking from a straw cup. She started drinking from a regular straw here and there a couple of months ago so I finally bought her a straw cup a couple of weeks ago. She did it the first time without choking or spitting up or gagging. She really knows what she's doing. It's weird but she will grab the cup when she's thirsty. She's a little person now.
She learned to share. Not only her food but her toys, fingernail clippers and nasal aspirator. Yum!
She also reaches or points to a lot of things now. We make sure to say whatever it is she's pointing at. Fan should be her first word.
She has finally started crawling on her knees! She learned to army crawl/scoot at 8 months but in the past few weeks she has picked up her tummy and crawls on her knees. Now she doesn't even army crawl anymore and she can fly on those knees!
She learned how to crawl up the stairs. Guess it's time for a baby gate!
Bedtime beauty
Kissing Super Grover, or eating his nose.
The buggy I got for Madison at a local Consignment Sale for $14! Now we just have to figure out what to get her for her birthday now, since this was what we were getting...
Driving the buggy!
"Nobody's getting my things!!"
She's found her tongue..
First meal at Waffle House...and she paid!
Sweet baby girl
Peek a boo!
I see you :)
Working with using a spoon
Maybe her first non-furry pet...
Happy girl!
Nothing like a picture of a sleeping baby
Our little bookworm. She loves flipping through books and I have seen her do it for 20 minutes at a time! She will just flip front to back, jibber jabbering away. If there's flaps to lift, she will lift them all and keep going. It's so cute.
Wilma begging for attention and Madison focused on her book!
Her schedule has changed a bit. She is now getting up between 7:30-8am. I also started weaning her to cow's milk today, so hopefully by her 1st birthday we will both be weaned! I talked to a nurse at the Pedi's office and she said it typically takes 2 weeks for a breastfed baby to get weaned fully. I won't know what to do with all my free time not pumping and I feel a little guilty weaning her. Even though she hasn't actually nursed since she was 3 weeks old, I feel it's a bonding experience somehow. She's still doing great eating finger foods and we will start having to order her something when we go out. This child eats like an adult! For breakfast she will eat 10 oz milk, 3 strawberries, an entire nectarine and some Cheerios! It's crazy!
It's hard to believe we have an almost 1 year old! She is and has always been the sweetest baby. She goes to anyone, smiles at everything and her laugh is the best sound! We can be out all day long, through 2 or 3 of her (should be) nap times and she will just cruise right along! As long as she's fed, she's a happy girl! We are so blessed!
*Disclaimer - that piano is not her only toy, but she does love it! :) *
