DIY HOUSE DECAL

The LO has a new spot! She has her own little nook tucked in our bedroom.  It has a mattress on the floor, "Baba" the bear and some books.  To complete the space, I decorated the wall behind it with houses using washi tape.  Yes! washi tape!

HOW TO PACK BABY CLOTHES USIING ZIPLOCK BAGS

 It is common knowledge among my friends that when I travel, I travel light. I once traveled with a back pack for a 3 day weekend.  Now, however, that we have a toddler, packing has taken a new meaning.  It now means check in baggage, mixed up clothing and looking for things in a haystack.  On our first family trip, I over packed.  Half of our check in luggage was LO's; and her clothes are tiny compared to my clothes and my husband's.

DIY TENT

The LO got to play house today.  I was doing my end of year cleaning and I took out her gray mat. I realized I can assemble it to make a tent!

WHAT TOY STORES REALLY DO TO YOUR CHILD

The LO and I were at K-mart last weekend looking for a toy.  I was amazed by how much toys there were! It was aisle after aisle of toys; and this is just one section of the K-mart.  Then we went to Toys R Us since K-mart didn't carry the toy I was looking for and lo and behold!

You see, I'm a newbie when it comes to the toy department.  For the last year, I have been limited to the baby section; and the baby section is calm, uncluttered and spacious.  So, coming into K-mart and Toys R Us where you have toys that goes from floor to ceiling is just a bit too much compared to Target's toy section.  It was very overwhelming for me to be surrounded by all the toys and I'm an adult! Can you imagine how overwhelming it is for a child? Let alone a 14 month baby?

PAPER PLAY

This is an accidental activity for the LO and it kept her occupied for 20 minutes! (20 minutes of free time for me! wow!) I was going through our mail and tearing the ones we don't need while the LO was having snack.  When she finished eating, she tried to reach for one of the envelopes so I figured "why not?, what's the worst thing that could happen?". I handed her my pile of torn papers and she looked at each one of them as if its the most interesting thing. 

ENTERTAINING A BABY IN A RESTAURANT

I love the LO to the moon.  But I have to admit, it gets pretty challenging to entertain her when in a restaurant.  She's strapped in high chair unable to move as she pleases... of course she'll be antsy and make every available effort to squirm out of those straps.  I'm amazed at how flexible she can be! The average time for a meal is about 1-1.5 hours so we need to be pretty creative in keeping the LO occupied.  I refuse to give her my iphone to entertain her.  That being said, I've adapted a few tried and tested tricks to keep her busy.

OLD SCHOOL TOYS

We spent some time last weekend at Toys R Us and I found these classic Fisher Price toys. These toys brings back memories from my childhood.  This music box was one of my favorites.  I really can't remember the songs it played or if it actually played but I know its one of the things I've always played with.  

DIY SENSORY BOX

This is my friend's son Duke.  (He is also my daughter's soon to be boyfriend).  My friend Cita made him this amazing sensory box using common household products and a diaper box.

PLAY AREA FOR 10 MONTH OLD

The LO has a new play area again now that she is 10 1/2 months (FYI this is the 3rd time I have rearranged our apartment!).  She is now cruising and standing up on her own.  She needs a much bigger space where it will be safe for her to explore. One side has the sofa for her to hold on as she cruises, one side has a shelf for her toys and I propped pillows on the wall.  The other side opens to the living room where she could explore even more.

DIY RIBBON TOY

The little one is a curious bee!  She is putting every single thing in her mouth! She especially loves exposed tags and hanging strings.  She will stop at anything to put them in her mouth --- the sofa's tag, my lounge shorts strings, her burp cloth's tag... to redirect her attention, I decided to make a tug toy.  I found one from Imagination tree and made a version of my own.

DIY OBJECT PERMANENCE BOX

 For the longest time, I've been wanting to buy the object permanence box... but I could not justify the $25 price tag.  I just felt it was too much for a toy I was not sure the LO will play with.  So, I decided to make one instead. All you need is a box and a ball.  This is a box from Ikea.  Any rectangular box with a lid will be perfect.

PINCER GRASP @ 10 MONTHS

The LO's pincer grasp has improved a lot over the course of 2  months.   As soon as she started to crawl, we started her on baby cereal and she loved them! and so did our dog!  

STORING BABY CLOTHES

The LO is now 9 months! How time flies... Today, I organized her old clothes to put in storage.  This is an underbed storage box where I put her clothes as she outgrows them.  Not exactly organized.

  

DIY PHOTO CARD

My cousin recently had his birthday and I wanted the LO to greet him.  My cousin loves to go to the gym so I drew a muscle man on a poster board and had the LO hold it aka "eat" and "crumple" it.

BABY TOYS @ IKEA

I love Ikea. What is there not to love? Its modern, simple and inexpensive. Who would have known that I will one day venture into the baby section day? In my search of Montessori toys for the LO, I stumbled upon Ikea toys.  They are very inexpensive and seems very durable.  One drawback is that the toys are not entirely made of wood. This kind of bothers me but for the price, who am I to complain?

Toddler Wagon/Walker $19.99  /  Stack & Nest Cups $2.99  /  Shape Sorter $4.99  /  Building Blocks with Wagon $7.99  /  Sensory Ball $1.99  /  Baby Gym $29.99  /   Play Book $6.99  /  Stacking Rings $5.99  /    Toy Hammering Block $5.99

BABY'S FIRST PLANE RIDE

The LO just went on her first airplane ride! Actually, she traveled 2 times in a consecutive weekend.  It was not bad as I thought it would be.  Prior to traveling, I worried as to what to do at the airport and on the plane being that I've been to a lot of plane rides and I know that baby and airplanes do not go together.  I "googled" for information on what to expect when traveling with a baby but all I got was what to pack for a baby.  So, here is a run down of 5 things you should know when traveling by plane with a baby. Hope it helps! 

WHAT TO PACK FOR THE BABY

The LO just had her first family vacation.  We visited her uncle, aunt and cousins in Arizona.  It was a week of firsts -- first airplane ride, first swim and first trip to the shopping outlet.  It was also a first for my husband and myself to travel with an infant and did we screw up!

I'm not going to lie, but I may have over packed for the LO. I think 1/3 of our checked in luggage was her clothes alone and she only got to use half of it.  I also brought a lot of just "in case" clothes that were not even weather appropriate.  And don't get me started with the burp clothes!  As a general rule I think, it is better to have packed more than she needed.  But nevertheless, it is a lesson learned -- pack what is just needed.

DIY SENSORY BOTTLES

I made the LO these sensory bottles out of water bottles to heighten her sound awareness.  She is now 7 months and at this age, she is highly receptive to the sounds she hears around her. 

TOYS FOR 6-12 MONTHS

After weeks of research, I have narrowed my list for the ideal Montessori toys for the LO.  The LO is now 6.5 months old.  She is at the "I want to eat everything" stage and "I'm a wiggly worm" stage.  I had to take these two factors into consideration with my choice of toys. 

PLAY AREA FOR 6-12 MONTHS

The LO is now 6.5 months and is ready for a play area upgrade.  I recently got her some toys and I needed to make some changes to her current area to accommodate them.