Playing
We try to allow SuperBoy exposure to lots of different opportunities to develop his motor skills, gross and fine. That means following blogs like Play At Home Mom–a fabulous resource for outside of the box learning in a hands on fashion for kiddos. One of SuperBoy’s favorite skill games is “BEANS!” Black beans are so easy to find, and fun fun fun for little ones. Just keep an eye on them because toddlers can put things into their mouth very quickly. Just use your household measuring cups and containers. Tupperware and yogurt containers go a long way. SuperBoy loves to fill measuring cups and then dump them into larger containers. He likes to stack the measuring cups into each other, smallest to largest. And when the beans spill, he picks them up and counts them aloud. Counting AND picking up small objects with his opposable thumb & forefinger. It’s an all-around win-win situation!
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SuperBoy loves music. Don’t all little tikes? He dances along, twirls, shrugs his shoulders, twists his wrists, and bobs his head from side to side. Sometimes there is jumping up and down involved. He only listens to two kids of music, though: classical or a limited selection of children/folk tunes. Why so limited? Why not open up his horizons to encompass the normal range of what’s out there? Well, for a few reasons. Most pop culture music has bad beats & bad lyrics. Classical music affects neurological development in a positive way (read more on my posts here and here). Heavy metal is bad for everyone’s ear drums. Folk & children’s tunes are generally benign enough lyrics-wise, and can be tolerated for protracted periods of time (by moi). What to we actually listen to, most of the time, aside from a small collection of random kid’s CDs? 1) Classical Minnesota Public Radio. MPR, baby! It’s commercial-free (unless you count the inane member drives), plays a huge variety, and never gets dull. When it burgeons into modern or what sounds like the scary violins in a thriller movie, we turn to our CD collection of opera, piano concertos, and orchestral suites. We had him listen to classical music exclusively until he was about 10-12 months, when those neurons were really REALLY forming. See below for reference to lecture on The Profound Effects of Music on Life. SuperBoy really loves Maria Callas. We have this old CD of her performing about 12 arias. He…
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People are always so surprised when I tell them (in response to the question, “What’s his favorite show?”) that SuperBoy doesn’t watch TV. Or have any screen time, really, except Skype with relatives out of town. I don’t think we’re that “out there” as parents to not have screen time for our less-than-two year old. Especially in light of the AAP’s serious recommendation of no-screen-time-before-two (see my post on that here). But because he’s not accustomed to being entertained by something, most of his activities are self-driven. He loves to pounce upon a pile of blocks, books, cars, and start sorting, or just wading through them. He directs his own play, instead of being a passive participant in it. (I’m not judging parents who do screen time; I’m passionate about ensuring parents make the most informed and best decision they can for their family lifestyle.) Does my child perfectly self-entertain while I do all the other things that parents need to do around a house? No way! I wish! But I will say that introducing books early has been my saving grace. Even if he doesn’t want to read by himself, he loves to read aloud to me. At almost 20 months, he’ll plop down in a chair in the kitchen and read to me so I can be at a hot stove, wash sharp knives, or blow my nose without his assistance. Sometimes the entire story is “mama, dada, baba, nunu (my mom’s name), NINA! (his beloved Great Dane).” 1)…
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People who live south of Iowa think that the activities we do in Minnesota in the winter are nuts. Cross country skiing, alpine skiing, ice fishing, hiking, even camping (yes, all outdoors). But the advantages to being cold-weather-ready are that you really do toughen up your blood, live on the edge a little, and get your cheeks pink. I also think it makes us live longer because we have to endure more, and in a Darwinian way, nature will weed out the weak. (There are no stats that I know of to back me up, here.) We went to our family home in Wisconsin recently and J loved loved loved it. Even at almost 30 pounds, he still fits in our great backpack (see post on baby wearing and carrying here). His favorite part is throwing rocks in the creek. Lord help me as he ages!
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Their little minds never cease to amaze me. J has come up with several container games of his own design as of late. We encourage unstructured exploration playtime during the day, in hopes his imagination will ignite. Sometimes this means lots of interactive play with him, but other times it means he becomes engrossed in something and can’t resurface for a while. The tennis ball tupperware game means you put as many tennis balls as you can in one tupperware, then move them to another all at once. If you find one that the dog has been chewing on and it’s a bit worn down, you turn to your mother or father and proclaim it to be “ishy!” Or you decide to chew on it as well. Bugs! Plastic ones. Moving them from container to container, using my mom’s old marshmallow cream jars, provided lots of fun the other day. He wouldn’t stop to give me a high five after having completed his self-assigned task. Instead, he began again, in earnest, to put them all in one container, and then pour them all at once into the other. Letters and numbers on his easel, the gift from my parents for Christmas, while playing with my dad. He loves his Baba, and loves showing him his letters and numbers. Our counting always starts at “two” and skips around a bit, and he’s obsessed with the letter “e.” Kisses for all! J is an equal…
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SuperBoy loves Nina so much. Great Danes have the sweetest and best disposition for kids! They are gentle, think they’re small, and are very protective while still maintaining their basic happy-go-lucky disposition. They also require very little exercise and are easy as puppies. SuperBoy does anything and everything to her, she just looks at me, and deals with it. We love her too! I’ve blogged about bringing baby home to pets and teaching children gentleness toward pets. This is just an appreciation-of-dog post. He or she endures so much with children in the house! Pet your dog today. And give an extra treat.
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