Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Top Toys: 15 months

Baby E's favorite activity is anything that involves mess making and destruction. At 15 months, his only consistent word is "boom" which he repeats throughout the day as he knocks down block towers, clears out bookshelves, and destroys whatever his older brother is attempting to play with.

Here is our list of top toys at age 15 months:

Wooden Blocks: We have an ABC colorful set from Target, and it gets played with multiple times a day. The blocks have held up very well and are the perfect size. Sadly, it looks like Target doesn't have these anymore.  



Books: Believe it or not, Baby E also loves books. His favorites are the Elmo's World: First Flap Book Set, and he can spend a while looking at a bunch of different books when he feels like having some quiet time.

Elmo's World: First Flap-Book Library Book

Bucket of Toys: He is pretty content to sit with a bucket of items that can be taken out, and then put back in. His favorite right now is a bucket of plastic animals. He likes to empty it out, fill it up, pour it into another bucket etc. This basically works with any small toys that are not choking hazards like little people, play food, and other similar items.




Nesting Blocks: I bought cardboard nesting blocks on a whim at a consignment sale, and I'm so happy I did! Baby E heads for these first in the morning, and is constantly bringing us the blocks and asking to go "boom". He is starting to stack them on his own as well. I love that these are so lightweight; they are very easy to build with, and haven't injured anyone when being knocked down. An added bonus is that our toddler loves working on his counting skills with these blocks.  We have an Eeboo set like the one shown below.





Step2 Push Car: Baby E could ride around in this car all day. During the witching hour at the end of the day, this is sometimes the only activity that will keep him somewhat content. Whenever we go down to the basement, we better be ready to push him around the room until he decides he has had enough. I reviewed this car in another post which you can find here.





MagnaTiles: While I wouldn't buy magnatiles specifically for a 15 month old, I have to mention them because Baby E loves them. They are great for fill and dump activities, and Baby E also loves to stack them, and look through the different colored tiles.  

What is your 15 month old playing with?

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Thursday, February 13, 2014

Counting Fun and paper Chains!



We are snowed in today. Being snowed in with little kids can be an interesting adventure. The 3 year old has been keeping himself pretty busy, but Baby E does not like being cooped up inside.

Making paper chains is a great way to pass the time and have some fun. All you need is paper, scissors, and glue.



There are lots of ways to incorporate counting into this activity. We counted out our pieces of construction paper, we counted as we held our edges together for 10 seconds after gluing, and we counted the rings on our chains!

What toddler or pre-schooler doesn't enjoy the opportunity to cut (with mommy's help) and glue to his heart's content?



Now onto the next activity!


Saturday, February 1, 2014

3rd Birthday Blondies!




I originally had grand plans for Munchkin's 3rd birthday party. Eventually I realized that all he really wanted was to sing happy birthday and eat cake, so that's what we did. When I asked him what kind of cake he wanted, I got lots of answers including: "a square cake", "an ABC cake", "a chocolate chip cake", and "a mickey cake". The only detail he was really consistent about, was that he did not want any frosting.

I have been eyeing some cake mixes at Trader Joes, so I decided to try to the chocolate chip blondie mix. I liked that it has all natural ingredients, and that it does most of the work for me! I decided to use applesauce instead of butter, and it still came out great.

Here's what you need:

1 box of TJ blondie mix
1 egg
1/2 cup of applesauce

Pour into an 8x8 and bake at 350 for 28-30 minutes.



Happy 3rd Birthday!