Month: March 2019

Diaper-Free Time

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Whether or not your baby has sensitive skin and is prone to diaper rash, giving him or her diaper-free time on occasion is fantastic. It’s good for the skin, and also their gross motor skills! Their little bodies can wiggle and move in new ways when unencumbered with a bulky diaper, so on today (and future days), here’s a little activity to sneak in.

Veronika does indeed have sensitive skin, so this is actually something we started early and often; I try to give her about 15 minutes of diaper-free time each day, and she usually spends the time cooing and giggling.

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Practicality comes first: you’re going to want baby on a surface that can get wet (or poopy). I always put down an old burp cloth on top of her playmat, and this double-layer has caught any accidents along the way.

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Next, I always increase the room temperature by about two degrees while she’s bare below the waist – the last thing you want is a shivering baby!

She immediately starts to kick and play in new ways. Her toes definitely seem to get higher, and she’ll start reaching and rolling for all her toys.

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She’s also a little scooter, scooching clear off the burp cloth (to which I gently return her). Her first rolls were diaper-free, and in general she seems to just love the freedom.

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Car Picture Game

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Veronika had the longest car trip of her life so far this past weekend, and I knew she’d need some extra entertainment. For this easy game, tailor the pictures to your baby’s interests. Good sources are magazines, picture books you don’t mind cutting up, or family photos.

Veronika particularly loves animals, so we went through big brother’s old Ranger Rick Jr. to cut out cute pictures. I also added a few random images, like cars and hearts.

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Laminate the photos and then trim down to size. (Note: if you don’t have a laminator, a copy shop in town can usually do so for you). Punch a hole in the top of each image.

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Thread a string through the pictures, and suspend for your child in the car.

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You can attach them to the brim of a car seat with safety pins, but I didn’t want them dangling that close to Veronika’s face.

Instead, I threaded the string around the headrests of the rear seat, and they dangled exactly where she could see them.

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She stayed mostly calm throughout a six hour drive, so hopefully these pictures helped!

Change of Face

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It’s fun to widen your baby’s social circle at around four months old. Whether friends or relatives, be sure to let your little one enjoy sitting in new laps and checking out new faces. You can invite folks over for a luncheon or coffee, or head to their house; either way, now is a great time to devote a day to this change of faces, especially since babies are delighted by facial features around now.

A weekend with relatives was the perfect excuse. Veronika loved checking everybody out!

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Encourage people to play favorite games with your little one. She liked hearing familiar words and tunes, but from different voices. One that we love is “Trot, Trot to Boston.”

Trot trot to Boston

Trot trot to Lynn

Be careful of the bridges

That you don’t fall in!

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On the last line, give a gentle dip backwards.

Family members can also read favorite books, or recite old classics like Itsy Bitsy Spider.

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Either way, your baby will love the face time!

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Play the Name Game

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Although it’s great to talk to your baby in full sentences, this can also make it hard for a baby to separate the name of an item from the noise. So today we played a game that focused on nouns!

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I divided common items into four categories:

  • Toys: block, rattle, and car
  • Food: banana, apple, and lettuce (Note: these were soft toys, not the real version)
  • Clothing: shoe, sock, and diaper
  • Kitchen: spoon, bowl, and cup

Within each category, I placed them before her and named them. “Where is the rattle?” you can say, before handing over the rattle, saying just “rattle” again as baby touches it.

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She had clear favorites, reaching for them. I gave her time to touch (and mouth!) each object, and then named all three in the category again before moving on to the next.

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She was really fascinated by the kitchen items, since these are new to her – a nice reminder that solid food isn’t far off!

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And ha, she seemed to look at me and say, “A diaper, Mom? Really?” when I presented her with that.

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Good thing she didn’t put that one in her mouth! Socks were more interesting.

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Breaking down language like this on occasion is great for your baby’s brain, so take a pause and enjoy this little game. What categories of items did you show your little one? Please share in the comments!

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Leprechaun Lollipops and St. Patrick’s Day Fun

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We’re getting in the mood for all things green here in honor of St. Paddy’s Day. Confession: I have not a drop of Irish blood in me, but I’m obsessed with Ireland, so I love making this holiday special for Travis.

This year, we had so much fun with this lollipop idea from Parents magazine. First, insert lollipop sticks into kiwi slices.

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Place 1 bar of vegan white chocolate (such as Charm School Chocolate) in the microwave for about 30 seconds, until melted.

Dip each kiwi slice in the white chocolate, then press into a dish of green sprinkles.  Alternatively, try yellow (gold) sprinkles or rainbow color, which also fit with this holiday theme!

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Transfer to a plate lined with parchment paper and chill in the fridge for about 5 hours, or until set.

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While we enjoyed this Emerald Isle treat, we also did a little learning! Travis’s class has been working a lot on tracing letters at school, so we did a St. Patrick’s-themed word trace.

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Writing and spelling is so much fun with this St. Patrick’s Day Word Tracer worksheet! For more educational resources, visit Education.com!

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Travis was so proud of his ability to follow along, since the letters were smaller than his school worksheets. He loved discovering that this word spelled “luck!”

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Finish off the St Paddy’s snack with a video clip of Irish dancing or a quick rundown of Irish symbols like the shamrock or the pot of gold.

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What Happens Next?

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If you follow along with the Wonder Weeks for your infant (which I loosely do; I like to be aware when a wonder week is approaching, but have never used the app or explored further resources), then watch for one at about 19 weeks old. Veronika is right on schedule with this Wonder leap, as she starts to understand the sequence of events. It’s an exciting development for your baby, so don’t be upset by a day or two of unusual fussiness!

To help Veronika through the leap, today we played a game simply called, “what happens next?” As much as I could throughout the day, I talked about what would happen next with each action. Some were easy. Hold out your arms and say, “I’m going to pick you up next.” And then do!

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Cause-and-effect toys work great for this game. What happens if I shake rice in a container? It makes a noise!

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What happens next if I wind up a jack-in-the-box? The bunny pops out!

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You can also walk around the house looking for cause-and-effect. Think light switches, faucets, or other easily observable changes.

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And of course, as you’re getting your little one dressed or doing diaper changes, talk through it step-by-step. “Next I’m going to put on your diaper!” “Next we’ll put on your pajamas!” Even though she doesn’t entirely follow, Veronika babbles and smiles along whenever we chat like this.

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What happens next? A big kiss I think!

Maple-Sesame Mashed Sweet Potatoes

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It’s the tail end of maple sugaring season, something Travis and I got to check out in person last year, helping to collect sap from a spile! So we decided to feature maple syrup in tonight’s dinner, to celebrate the tail-end of winter.

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Ingredients:

  • 2 medium sweet potatoes
  • 1/4 cup vanilla almond milk
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 1/2 teaspoon tahini
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  1. Peel and cube the sweet potatoes, and cook in boiling water until very tender – about 15 minutes.
  2. Mash the potatoes with a potato masher until smooth – Travis loved this step!Maple Sweet Potatoes (1)
  3. Stir in the maple syrup, almond milk, and tahini, then sprinkle with the salt.Maple Sweet Potatoes (2)

Ready to Clap

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Following up on Patty Cake, today Veronika and I played another game to prep her for clapping. This time, she automatically tried to clap one of my hands between her two, almost as if it were a toy. This is a great first step towards bringing her own two hands together.

To make clapping fun, we put it to music of course – this time it was If You’re Happy and You Know It, concentrating on the first verse. 

I alternated clapping my own hands…

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…bringing her two hands together in an imitation clap..

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…letting her clap one of my hands between her two.

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…and even modeling on a teddy bear!

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We did then move on to the other verses, but only briefly. Get those baby toes tapping.

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And those arms up for “hoorays”!

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This might be a fun activity to involve big siblings, too, who can help out with the motions.

Finally, a cute video never hurts. We love this version from Little Baby Bum. We’ll certainly have something to clap about soon when Veronika does her first real one!

Cartesian Diver

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I had no idea until after Travis and I made this little project that this is a classic experiment dating back to… the 1600s! It’s so-named because it was first described in detail by Rene Descartes, and it’s a neat way to show kids some basic principles of pressure and density.

First, we made our little diver – and by little, I mean little! Measure a 1 inch x 1.5 inch rectangle on aluminum foil (we folded our foil double so it was a little thicker and sturdier).

Draw a little diver shape onto this rectangle and cut out.

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Travis thought he was so cute!

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Cut 1.5 inches from a bendy straw. Bend into an upside-down U and attach to your diver with a small paper clip. Be sure to use a small one! Our first was big and so heavy our diver sank right down.

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Now add a tiny bit of clay to his feet. Test that he doesn’t sink in a glass of water before you use a bottle; if so, just remove some clay.

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If he’s horizontal, you need a little more clay. We made the mistake of skipping this step on our first try, although Travis thought it was hilarious to fish our diver out from the bottle once we realized he was sinking.

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Once we had the proper diver who floated just right, we filled an empty 2 liter bottle with water nearly to the top. Screw the cap on tightly.

Squeeze the bottle and watch him go up and down! He’ll sink when his straw fills with water, increasing the density just enough, then float when you release the bottle and the water drains out of the straw again.

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Ours wasn’t as perfect as some example we saw online, but we had fun!

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Draw Your Baby’s Family Tree

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Following up on our extra large photo album, today I made another project to help Veronika recognize and know the closest members of our family.

On a piece of construction paper, first draw a basic tree shape with markers.

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I added brown lines for each family member we’d include in an upside-down V (to look like each picture is hanging from a wire).

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Now cut faces from photos, and “hang” on your tree. Whoops, you’ll notice I had to leave a few spaces blank until my next trip to the drugstore, but you can always add to your tree as you go.

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Veronika and I talked through all the family members, which is great since some relatives live near and some far. Make sure to point to each person as you say the name.

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And don’t forget a picture of baby!

This tree works great for tummy time.

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It’s also nice if you hang it on the wall, especially in a place your little one lies often and can take in the details of the family slowly.