We had our 1 year developmental pediatrics appointment and I'm so happy to say the girls exceeded expectations in almost every area! I was so worried about Viv's lack of babbling but she showed off and started doing it after coloring on paper for the first time! Jules was a pro with the mini blocks - not only did she stack three of them but she then picked them up one in each hand and dropped them all back in the cup. They were delightful most of the time and even showed off their BLW skills by eating blueberries and peas while we waited for the doctor.
Nature and Outside Play
The construction down the road is wrapping up soon so we walked over and watched them bringing in a bunch of things on huge forklifts and saw a cement truck pouring the parking lot too. I don't like taking pictures down there, I think the guys would think it was weird but the girls just stare at it all. They're fascinated by the big trucks and machines!
We finally explored the grass more! They're crawling on it, but not too much yet, and they stick close to the blanket just in case! We also did more water play!
We celebrated Aunt Kate's 30th Birthday at Nova's and they loved playing outside and looking at all the people. They're getting to be so social and will sit with most people now and just enjoy taking it all in!
Sensory and Exploration
Now that they're mobile we're exploring new places a ton. This week it was Doctor's office waiting and exam rooms. Who knew that paper they put on exam tables could keep two 1 year olds entertained during the 45 minute wait for the doctor!? We crinkled it like crazy, played peek-a-boo, then tore it up and turned it into balls to toss and catch. And they even played like big kids at the developmental office - climbing right up to the train table and giving one little boy a run for his money! What happened to my babies?!
I'm working on a post about one of my favorite bloggers, CanDo Kiddo, and all of her fantastic ideas. You can find them in her wonderful e-books Simple Play for Babies and Begin With a Blanket! (affiliate links) We got the chance to check them out and tried so many great new activities! This week we tried the carrot peel sensory activity, made a magnet board and tried out the cups on the coffee table activity. That one we even turned into a different game (see below).
The carrot peel sensory activity was a huge hit - Viv played with them for almost an hour, Jules moved on to books after about 20 minutes but kept coming back to check in. The magnet board was fun for a few minutes until they realized they could take them all off and chew on them instead of unsticking and resticking. We'll keep trying though! Next week I'm hoping to try out some baby friendly play dough and once our new puzzles arrive that we ordered with their birthday money I'll be adding photos to those for them to discover. Make sure you check out Rachel over at CanDo Kiddo and get your hands on her ebooks on Amazon!
Music, Movement and Games
We listened to Disney songs this week and they are dancing along to so many of my favorites! They love The Lion King music, especially "I Just Can't Wait to Be King"! It's hilarious to see them shaking and bouncing up and down while trying to do something like stand or catch a ball.
I also found a great Yoga playlist for when we're doing quieter or sensory activities. They focus more when there is less distracting sound.
We're working on standing independently still and although neither has mastered it they're getting quite confident and trying it more and more. Sometimes they catch themselves off guard when they're leaning on something and use two hands to grab an object. It's funny to see how their bodies shift and balance out and they're not even aware of it.
Their favorite game is chase and hide and seek with Daddy in the tent. Every night now when he comes home they both race to the tent and hide and giggle until he finds them. And back and forth they go forever! It is so cute!
After trying out the Cups on the Coffee Table activity I discovered I could hold their attention a little longer if I switched the cups from over/on the coffee table to under the coffee table. They will stand and kneel down to look below and work on balance while they reach them with one hand. Then they practice dropping down and crawling under to grab them and tossing them back onto the table for me to do it all again. We tried it with balls, rags and bottle tops too. It was a great game!
Favorite Toys
Balls - This week they were really into their plastic balls. Jules loves throwing them, Viv loves mouthing them and banging them together and she's trying so hard to toss them. We roll them down the tunnel, into baskets and pop them up in the air!
Anything new to explore - They are loving anything new and unusual. Sensory activities are working really well but anything novel catches their attention. The car seats before I got them back out to the car, a big box that got delivered (it made an awesome step for climbing while it was out here), the stroller, my water bottle pop top (which they now know how to open, awesome!), and as always the scrapbooks and picture books we have.
Favorite Books
I picked up some more dollar spot books at target last week and they're loving the pop up books although the stories themselves leave a bit to be desired - they're weird. They will open and close them over and over to see them pop out. They're getting better at looking at paper books and not trying to tear the pages out the whole time too!
New Foods
I made a few new recipes this week and I'm working on a post to share them all. We tried homemade chicken fingers, baked eggplant, cottage cheese pancakes and turkey meatballs.We hope you have a great week!
Xo,
Maigen
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