Some new things

Alright friends, I'm trying something new.  Or maybe a few new things.  I've recently been thinking about the different blogs I read, which ones I really like, and which ones I just skim over and look at the pictures without really ever reading a word.  You know the ones...  and hey, maybe my blog is one of those for you, who knows!  But anyway, a couple things I've found very useful lately on other people's blogs is when I get new ideas of things to do with Riley- things that I might not have otherwise thought of- ideas for new toys, games, activities, book recommendations, those sorts of things.  I like reading blogs with detailed monthly updates not because I necessarily want to compare my baby to yours, but because different mamas teach their babies different things, and sometimes I get ideas of new and  fun things to teach Riley, and I love it. I'm a stay at home mom, I have the luxury of spending all day with my little bug, but sometimes, I just plain old run out of ideas, and get bored of doing the same. exact. thing. over and over and over!

So, I'm going to be doing a little more of the above on this blog- sharing some of the fun activities I do with Riley, or maybe her current fave toys (in case you're in the market for buying some new toys), or her current fave books.  Maybe you get some ideas, or maybe you are already doing all the same things, who knows!  Plus, I think I might like to look back and see what some of Riley's favorite things were when she was just a wee thing!

So today, we start with her top 5 favorite toys RIGHT NOW, at 15 months.  This may change next week, or she may be in love with these much longer, who knows.

(1) PUZZLES...

Holy cow this girl loves puzzles.  We have 5 wooden puzzles, 4 of which are Melissa & Doug brand.  She will sit and play with puzzles with me for like and hour (or until I get bored!)  She loves to pull all the pieces out, then hand them back to me to put away.  She is learning how to put the pieces back herself, but prefers that I do it for her. :) Almost all her puzzles (except 1) are animal puzzles, so she is really learning her animals this way, since we say the animals and what sound they make every time we take a piece out and put it back in.   Her other favorite puzzle I bought for $1 at the dollar store and it's all numbers, and it's pretty cheap (hence the $1 price tag), but she loves it!  I try and point out all the numbers to her, although right now, she thinks every number is "nine." :)

(2) Melissa and Doug geometric rainbow stacker

This thing rarely ever has all its pieces on it.  As soon as she sees it all put together, she pulls every single piece off!  Then once they are all off, she asks me to help her put them back on.  She can put them on herself (slowly), but prefers to just take them off (see a trend here?). This is a good, easy way to teach her colors and shapes (there are circles, squares, and hexagons in every color) and she actually repeats all the colors when I say them to her (except orange, that one she doesn't say).

(3) Touch and feel flash cards

We have 3 different sets, and these are AWESOME!  They're thick, so she can't destroy them, and as the title would suggest, each one has some part of it that is textured and fun to touch.  She loves to pull them all out of the box, look at pictures, and carry them all around.  We don't actually use them as flash cards, but whatever one she's interested in we'll talk about and point out the name, colors, shapes, etc...  And if all she wants to do is play with the box, then we forgo the whole flash card aspect altogether and just play with the box! 

(4) Melissa and Doug alphabet tower

This was a birthday present, and she loved it from day 1.  It's so much easier to make a tower out of this than out of legos or any of those other blocks.  It take about 5 seconds and you have a tower taller than her, which is helpful if you have a baby that just wants to knock down towers over and over and over!  She can also build her own tower without getting too frustrated.  And, it has lots of bright colors and pictures, and the alphabet!!  Oh and added bonus?  They are nesting blocks so they stack into one another and take up very little space when put away.  Definite win.

(5) Books. 

This one is sort of cheating, and I think in the future will be its own separate category, since I'm pretty sure books will likely always be one of her favorite things.  But the exact books she likes does change, so here are her current favorites.  She loves the Dr. Seuss flip-the-flap books as well as the "Hide & Seek" flip the flap books (not pictured).  Those have been favorites for quite a while.  Some new additions to the favorite category include "Where is the green Sheep?" by M.E.M. Fox, and "Where is Baby's Belly Button" by Karen Katz.  Green sheep is a fun book of opposites, and the Belly Button book is a flip the flap book about body parts, which has caused Riley to become obsessed with her belly button.  She also likes the "bright baby" series of books, which are just simple books with one word, one picture per page that are fun to flip through and identify new colors/object/animals.

So those are all of Riley's current favorites!