Name Familiar Sounds

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Whenever I come across auditory activities for a baby, there’s a part of me that feels bored with the idea; I prefer activities that are craftier or cuter, I guess! But then I remember: if I don’t tell Veronika the name of a sound, who will? Everything at this age is new, including what might feel ho-hum to a grown-up.

So all that said, today Veronika and I focused on sounds. We started inside, finding familiar, noticeable noises. Some good candidates included: the tea kettle;

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The laundry machine;

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and running water.

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She was fascinated by my phone when I programmed it to make an old-fashioned telephone ring.

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Give your child time to absorb each sound, and name what it is, and some descriptive words about it.

Next, we headed outside for further exploration. The first thing we noticed was the wind rustling leaves. It was beautiful to pause and hear the whisper and whoosh together.

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We also paused to hear the splash of a fountain.

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My girl was listening intently!

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Other sounds included barking dogs, footsteps, and chirping birds. She got to hear several modes of transportation, including cars and a train roaring by.

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There was even a helicopter making noise overhead.

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What else did you hear on your exploration? Please share in the comments!

Peace Hug

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After a busy weekend away, I felt like I was scrambling today. Not just to complete today’s to-do list, but to catch up on the past four days, too. And I know we’ve all been there.

It was the perfect day, in other words, for a peace hug.

What’s a peace hug, you might ask? Babies (and older kids) can pick up on your mood when you’re stressed, or tense, or anxious, and one of the best tricks you can have up your sleeve as a parent is a way to calm yourself down. You can do this simple hug after you erupt, if it comes to that, but ideally you’ll do it before and prevent the stress eruption in the first place.

Feeling my stress rising, I simply took Veronika to my chest on the couch and sat.

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Listen to your breathing. Listen to your baby’s breathing. Feel your chests rising up and down together.

It might take as long as five minutes, but gradually you’ll feel yourself relax. Keep hugging. If baby falls asleep, then the peace hug has worked even better.

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Consider this peace hug offering my belated Happy Mother’s Day wish to all my readers! I remain so grateful for your readership.

Sitting Up Ball Games

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By six-and-a-half months old, your baby is probably a sitter – which means it’s time for some ball games together! Veronika can hold a ball easily, but today we got more sophisticated with her ball play; consider this her first little sports lesson!

First, we played a basic rolling game. I rolled an easy-to-hold baby ball to Veronika.

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Her natural inclination was to pick it up and keep it to herself for play, of course.

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But I encouraged her to roll it back, using the word and gesturing. When she dropped it, it rolled toward me accidentally, but I praised this like she’d done it on purpose.

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In this way, we kept up a little back and forth that she soon loved.

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The next goal was to teach her to pass a ball between her hands. For this game, I used large fluffy pom-poms; these have the benefit of feeling yucky if your baby puts them up to the mouth, and I wanted Veronika to focus on her hands.

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I handed her the ball first. She loved the novel texture!

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Next I showed her how to pass it from hand to hand, then gave it back to her and encouraged her to do the same. As with the rolling, this really happened by accident, but each time, I praised her success! From right…

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…to left!

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Next, I held out my hand and asked her to hand me the ball. I had to sort of take it, but then could “pass” it back to her, talking to her about what it meant to “pass”, too.

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These games are both great ways to build up linguistic concepts and motor skills all in one!

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How do you and your baby play with balls? Please share in the comments!

Humpty Dumpty Goes Round the Garden

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The actions are getting bigger when I play with Veronika and nursery rhymes! As the mash-up in this post’s title suggests, here are a couple we’ve been having fun with lately:

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First comes the classic Humpty Dumpty. For this one, I sat on the floor with my knees bent, and Veronika on my tummy.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall

All the king’s horses and all the king’s men

Couldn’t put Humpty together again!

As you say the rhyme, tilt your baby off your tummy on the word “fall”. You’ll want to do this on a soft rug, or have a pillow near you. Or even try it outside in the grass!

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For the second, we did an update on Round and Round the Garden.

Round and round the garden

Like a teddy bear.

One step, two steps,

And tickle him under there!

When she was little, I would circle on Veronika’s palm. Now her whole belly gets a circle.

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Walk your fingers two big “steps” up baby’s torso.

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Then end with a tickle under the chin!

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Instant Replay

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I try not to bring smart phones into my kids’ worlds too often, but sometimes modern technology presents neat opportunities for fun and games with babies.

Today while she played, I recorded a few clips of Veronika. This was a great way to capture her sounds, actions, babbling, and more.

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More than just providing you with a keepsake, playing back the recording can become a game. Veronika was fascinated with the video.

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She loved when I pressed play and she got to watch the little baby on the phone babble and play with toys. She probably still doesn’t recognize herself, but she did love the sound and motion (and of course the screen itself!).

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Mind Your Manners

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It’s never too early to start modeling good behavior and manners for your baby; after all, you are their first and best role model!

Today, I made a point of exaggerating manners for Veronika. For example, at meal time and play time I pointedly used the words ‘please’ and ‘thank you’. “Please may I have the spoon back, Veronika?”

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Or: “Thank you for sharing your toy, Veronika!”

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These are two words that are great for baby sign language, too. ‘Thank you’ is a simple motion of your fingertips forward from your chin. ‘Please’ is an open hand rubbing on your chest. Encourage big siblings to sign these words when they interact with your baby – Travis loves showing off his skills!

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Make sure, too, to highlight ‘thank you’ after your child receives a gift. Good manners go a long way!

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And of course, I make a point of pleases and thank yous when I take Veronika out on errands.  It’s a helpful reminder for me as a grown-up, and she gets a good lesson!

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Start a News Book

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Often, one parent is home with a child while the other is at work, or perhaps you and your spouse take turns and you both feel like you occasionally miss out on baby’s “news.” Either way, babies change so quickly that it can feel like you miss a lot, even in 24 hours. Enter this idea of a “news book” about your baby’s day. Although it would be tough to keep up this activity on a regular basis, it’s great for a day when your know another family member might feel left out.

You can take pictures on your phone and just forward them along, but there’s something about the instant camera that’s so much more fun. At various points throughout Veronika’s day today, I snapped a quick pic.

Starting with early playtime!

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I arranged the photos into a simple lined notebook, nothing fancy. If you want, though, decorate with photo corners, illustrations, or scrapbook stickers! I labeled each photo, and added the approximate time. Nap time, Daddy!

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And here she is at play in a fun local museum.

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Older siblings may enjoy taking pictures, too, which is a nice way to get them involved in a younger sibling’s day.

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You can also note any milestones that happen, perhaps if baby rolls for the first time. We made a note of Veronika’s first tooth poking through the gums!

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At the end of the day, we left a sweet note for Daddy to find so he could share in our day, even if he was home after the rest of us were asleep!

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Make a Father’s or Mother’s Day Gift

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With Mother’s and Father’s Day just around the corner, here’s the perfect idea for your spouse: Put together a gift featuring photos or sounds of your little ones. The following gifts will actually be mine to my husband in June, but adapt them for a special mom this coming Sunday, if you’d like!

There are so many websites on which you can make photo projects. I used simple software at Zazzle for two versions.

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The first was a tote bag, featuring one big photo of the kids.

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The second was a mug, which was able to feature three pics, plus a sweet inscription.

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As a final photo touch, I added a picture of Veronika to the front of a card.

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The final piece of the gift was auditory: a recording of Veronika’s babbles to be a ringtone!

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These personalized gifts are sure to make a mom or dad feel special, whether it’s the first Mother’s/Father’s Day, the tenth, or beyond!

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More Piggy Toes

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How is Vernoika six months old, and yet I’ve barely played “This Little Piggy” with her? After all, doesn’t every baby get tickles after that little piggy runs wee wee wee all the way home? It was time to remedy the situation!

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No doubt you’re familiar with the rhyme, but I have two silly vegan variations that I always use. For the first:

This little piggy went to market.

This little piggy stayed home.

This little piggy had roast beef,

But this little piggy was vegan!

And this little piggy went wee wee wee wee wee all the way home.

The second version goes:

This little piggy went to market.

This little piggy stayed home.

This little piggy had tofu,

And this little piggy had none!

And this little piggy went wee wee wee wee wee all the way home.

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Wiggle one toe for each line, working your way from the big toe to the smallest, then run that little last toe up for tickles. Veronika’s sweet spot is her armpit!

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To add to the day’s play, I pulled out a few plastic pig toys.

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She of course didn’t make the connection, but loved playing with them and their barn!

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Balancing on a Ball

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The last time I put Veronika on a beach ball, she was only about three months old, and the goal was to strengthen her core muscles.

Today’s time on the ball was for a slightly different purpose, more about learning where her body is in space.

Say what? This is a funny concept for grown-ups; of course you know where your hands and feet and limbs are! But it’s all new to babies, and at six months old, they still have to look at their hands to know where those hands are and where to put them. Moving around on a ball will help strengthen spacial awareness. And of course the sooner baby knows where his or her hands are, the sooner he or she can reach out to grab things like toys or oh, all those yummy bites of food they’re old enough for now!

Today’s activity was simple then. I put Veronika on a ball, holding her firmly around the middle, and rocked her back and forth.

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And side to side.

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She seemed a little surprised at times, but soon warmed up with big smiles.

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If you don’t have a beach ball, try a yoga stability ball, or even a big sibling’s toy ball hopper.