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Learning to Point

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Pointing is an obvious thing that we do as adults, but such an important skill for a baby to learn. Especially before words come easily, many toddlers will point for what they want, which can ease frustration for a parent trying to understand! Get a head start and encourage pointing with this simple game.

I lined up a few toys in front of Veronika, slightly out of reach so she wouldn’t automatically grab them.

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One by one, I pointed to each object and named it. I made sure to make my index finger very obvious, pointing and tapping it against the toy.

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This inadvertently became a cute game of “you choose”, since she ignored some of the objects I pointed out, but others got scooped up in her hands almost immediately!

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If that was the case, I pointed to it again as she held it.

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Your baby won’t be pointing yet but may wave hands towards a particular toy or pat at it, both of which are good practice towards eventually using just the index finger.

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Whatever the case, keep pointing, and your little one will soon follow suit!

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Animal Diaper Time

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The days of Veronika lying still during diaper changes are over and my little squirmer is constantly trying to grab at diapers or wipes or roll all around. I needed something to shake things up and keep her entertained!

The answer? Animals! I now have a few ways I include them at diaper time. First, I hung a few animal pictures from magazines on her wall. The bright visuals catch her attention!

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I also glued a few animal pictures onto index cards, favoring familiar farm animals and pets.

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I present these to her at diaper time, name the animal, and make its sound. Look Veronika, pigs! Oink oink.

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Finally, if even that doesn’t do the trick, I have a few plastic animals handy.

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I hand her a horse (or cow, or sheep) and name the animal and its sound, and she is happily distracted during the change.

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If all else fails, keep a favorite stuffed animal on hand, who can swoop in for a hug!

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Special Snack for Pets

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Summer always brings so many celebrations for people: graduations, birthdays… or just an excuse to get together with good friends in warm weather. Here’s a really cute way to include your animal pals in the fun! After a weekend of human celebrations, Travis proudly helped put together this cat cake for our cat.

In a bowl , we stirred together 2 tablespoons canned tuna, 1 tablespoon shredded cheese, and 1 teaspoon dry oats.

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Press the mixture into a ramekin or muffin tin. Ideally, this will hold its shape when you invert it over a cat bowl. Ours didn’t, but the cat didn’t mind! Decorate with a few cat treats.

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Travis proudly carried it over to where the cat could “celebrate.” He wanted to make sure the cat enjoyed his cake!

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He then needed to eat some shredded cheese of his own (Daiya mozzarella) and pretended to be a cat the rest of the evening.

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Showing affection and caring for animals is always a valuable lesson for kids, teaching them that all species deserve love and care.

Have a dog instead? Highlights magazine suggests mixing together dry dog food with 1 tablespoon peanut butter and 1 tablespoon mashed banana, then decorating with dog treats and banana slices.

Have an animal like a guinea pig or rabbit who eats veggies? Stack a few sliced fruits and veggies into a “cake”, and top with a treat.

Scrunchy Sock

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This easy DIY toy will delight your baby both in sound and looks!

To start, you’ll simply need to use any old sock. I actually used a pair of girl’s tights, which meant I could have a longer snake… and could also make two, one for big brother, since he eagerly needed one after seeing the project.

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Fill each sock with crumpled cellophane, and securely knot at the end. The sound of the cellophane seemed to alarm Veronika somewhat…

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But already she loved it!

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To make it a snake, I cut out details from felt: a red tongue, white and black eyes, and yellow triangles along the back.

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Hot glue on the pieces securely before baby plays.

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Now our snake was ready to slither and scrunch!

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Look Before You Leap

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As parents, we’re hard-wired to want to step in when we hear a baby mewling for help. But sometimes, it’s good to sit back and wait a minute (as long as your little one isn’t in true distress or in harm’s way) and let them figure a problem out for themselves. There aren’t really “do-overs” in parenting, but knowing I leaped a little too quickly with my eldest, this time around I’m remembering to look first.

To wit, today Veronika was busy figuring out how to get the lid off this box of toys. After a moment, she was quite frustrated.

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I encouraged her with a positive tone of voice and smiles.

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Pretty soon – she’d lifted the lid herself!

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I had one proud little lady.

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Waiting to leap can also help your baby reach his or her next milestone. Veronika is currently trying to crawl, and I deliberately set her up a little out of reach from some favorite toys.

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After initial frustration, she managed to turn herself sideways, but not forwards.

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Even this movement is excellent for her gross motor development, and then mommy could swoop in to help.

Same goes when I placed toys just out of reach during sit-up play.

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She’s become a “scooter” and pretty soon she beamed proudly, having reached a favorite squishy square.

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Remembering to look before I leap will no doubt be high on the agenda once she’s crawling, toddling, or running around on a playground. Start now, and you’ll get in the habit of raising a confident kid who can solve his or her own dilemmas… With you watching safely from close by, of course!

Go get that computer toy, Veronika!

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You can do it…

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Atta girl!

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Starring Role

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I’ve previously recorded Veronika and then played back the short clips for her to see. Even if she didn’t recognize herself in the videos, she liked seeing a baby on screen!

Today, big brother Travis wanted to have a bit more organized fun with this concept. We made a short “movie” with Veronika as the star – as baby godzilla!

This being a five-year-old boy’s movie, the plot was about a baby on the loose who was going to knock over city towers – oh no!

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While the two of them played, I snapped pictures of the “movie” unfolding.

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More importantly, I filmed!

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When it was finished, I sat them down to watch the playback. Travis was thrilled, and Veronika was delighted, even if she didn’t understand on the same level.

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This was such a cute concept, both to engage siblings in parallel play even if there is an age gap between them, and also to capture memories and moments in time.

Behold, Travis’s directorial debut:

Foot Day

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On the heels of a hands day with Veronika, today was all about feet… and those adorable piggy toes of course.

The idea, as with the day we devoted to hands, was to pick a body part and make it the focus for twenty-four hours. I recited a few nursery rhymes that feature feet (This Little Piggy is an obvious choice). I also sang ‘Clap Your Hands’, but made up verses about feet: stomp stomp stomp your feet; tip tip tippy toe; wiggle wiggle wiggle your toes etc.

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I then pulled out a few stuffed animal friends to show her their feet.

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It was fun to play with a clean pair of baby shoes!

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We read books about feet, including Dr. Seuss’s classic The Foot Book…

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…and one that focused on toes.

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Finally, I pointed out feet to her wherever we saw them throughout the day. Look, mommy’s feet are in slippers!

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Grocery Store Game

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When she was very little, I grocery shopped with Veronika against my chest in the Ergo carrier, napping more often than not. Now that she’s big enough to sit up and look around, I highly recommend a seat cover with an infant booster. Veronika sits happily ensconced and gets to take in all the sights and sounds of the grocery store – one of my very favorite locations for language-learning and texture exploration!

Instead of racing through my list today, I set aside extra time for Veronika and I to shop slowly and talk about each item we purchased. There was a crinkly bag of lettuce to scrunch in her hands.

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Next we talked about colors – like bold green zucchini!

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She loved the papery feel of a head of garlic.

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And playing with the wrappers of energy bars.

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Temperature is another fun area to discuss, like the cold items from the refrigerator case. And a dehydrated soup cup makes sounds like a maraca!

Engage your child’s senses fully in this way and you might just get lucky and be that parent at checkout whose baby is not fussing.

Whale Napkin Holder

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As we head into summer nights and summer dinners – whether poolside, seaside, or just out on the patio – this is a cute napkin holder project for kids to put together. Make as many as you want, whether just one whale to add summer fun to your child’s table, or a whole pod of whales for family dinners al fresco!

Cut a length of cardstock (we chose blue) to fit around a toilet paper tube, and attach with a gluestick.

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Travis thought it was so neat that the rectangle he cut out could be wrapped around in this way!

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While he worked on that rectangle, I drew a whale for him on a second piece of blue cardstock and cut it out (bigger kids can do this part themselves).

Travis added some belly lines with marker, and glued down a wiggly eye.

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Glue the whale to the tube and your holder is ready!

It was fun to show him how to accordion-fold a napkin, alternating folds over and under.

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Slip the napkin in the tube and your whale now has a water spout. Meanwhile, summer diners have a napkin ready when it’s time to wipe those buttery fingers from corn on the cob!

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Exaggerate Your Facial Expressions

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As your baby learns about emotions and expressions, bigger is better. So today, while reading books and telling stories with Veronika, it was all about exaggeration!

My go-to stories to tell are Goldilocks and the Three Bears and the Three Little Pigs. Both of these feature a range of emotions, and Veronika echoed them back to me on her face.

Goldilocks was so excited to find the yummy porridge!

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The bears were very concerned when they got back to the house.

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Mama bear was surprised someone had eaten her porridge!

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Hurray, the three pigs are safe from the big bad wolf.

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Books with baby faces can also help your little one learn about facial cues. We love Baby Faces by Margaret Miller, which simply features… baby faces! I point out each emotion to Veronika, made the expression on my own face, and tell her what she’s looking at.

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A useful activity to help your baby pick up on facial cues – an important skill for the lifetime ahead!