Toddler!? I'm in denial.

I have a love/hate relationship with this stage of the Kid's development.

I LOVE that she is beginning to play more, by herself more, and her receptive language blows me away. She still doesn't have much for expressive words - that we can understand anyway - but she's getting more and more each week - new ones this week include Baby and Doggy (Which just comes out Dee, but says it every time she points to Red or Moaka).  She can be so much fun to play with, but can also be very frustrating when she can't tell us what she wants, or we don't understand what she wants.  The whiny "eh-eh" drives me nuts most days, so my plan of action is distraction.

She hasn't been feeling well lately, teething mixed with a viral infection in her gums has made her very moody and not-so-much-fun to be around.  Since I work full time right now I only get to see her in the evenings and on weekends.  I determined this past weekend to be one we were going to have fun!  We got out early Saturday morning and ran our errands and visited the grandparents, then came home for a nice long nap (well she napped, I cleaned).  Did the sensory activity from the other day, and some other fun play ideas.

She loves when I stack something up so she can knock it down, up until now it's mostly been her blocks, but I decided to try something new - Solo Cups!  She thought that game was such fun.  I could barely get them stacked again before KidZilla was over knocking them down!  (Sorry for the blurry photos... trying to focus on a moving toddler... not an easy task!)

She loves when I stack something up so she can knock it down, up until now it's mostly been her blocks, but I decided to try something new - Solo Cups!  She thought that game was such fun.  I could barely get them stacked again before KidZilla was over knocking them down!


The next game was after a friend and neighbor dropped off some toys their girls had outgrown.. She received a dollhouse that she just loves ringing the doorbell on, a stroller to push her dollies around in and a bunch of other toys, but do you know what a toddler's favorite part is?  The box of course! Especially when The King pushes her around in it!

Thanks for stopping by!!

Sensory Play

I don't believe I have told you yet, but my dream is to someday become an Occupational Therapist.  One of the things I love about OT work is sensory play. I'm huge into working with kids with fine motor skill problems and helping them out.  I have worked with so many clients and students over the years while working as an Ed. Tech and Daily Habilitation Worker with these kinds of issues, as well as observed an amazing OT doing her thing, which has definitely inspired me to want to do more with that dream.  What I haven't done much of yet though is do these sensory activities with The Kid.  We have fingerpainted in the tub, and on paper, which I will blog about soon.  Today I was inspired by Creative with Kids blog and her awesome sensory ideas, and chose to do a pasta and rice sensory bin with some things I had on hand.

Here's what I found in my pantry for leftover rice and pasta:

I had this empty bin on hand waiting for something to be put in it, so I decided to make a sensory bucket.  I added all the rice and pasta, a few cups and odds n ends to dig with, pour with, bury, find, and otherwise play with, and let the kid at it!  Such a great exploration for kiddos at The Kid's age (almost 15 months), and a great way to use up those nearly-empty boxes/bags of pasta and rice that aren't enough to make a meal out of! Win-Win!

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