When E. was a baby I wanted to write a post about what books we are using every 6-12 months. I didn't. I feel it as a pity so I got a second chance with Baby Sis. Here it comes. The books we've been using in L.'s first year.
What you'll be reading about:
cloth books
educational board books
touchy-feely books
noisy books
lift the flap books
+1 extra surprise
0-6 months
We mainly "read" cloth books. Or while Baby Sis was lying awake she was looking at the black and white images, like in this one. I also pointed at the pictures and said what was seen (daddy, baby, heart etc.)
It's also important to mention that the Velcro on the book is TASTY. 😂
IKEA cloth books are great. Apart from looking at them I could make up a very simple story on the basis of the pics. They're also interactive (you can pull out a rabbit from a black top hat)
Drugstore (DM) cloth books that crackle and rustle:
Maisy's bedtime - We usually have a look at this booklet before bath time.
Ladybird series: Baby touch
The 2 on the top were E.'s favourite as a baby
E. as a baby, "reading"
L.'s favourite: Wiggle Jiggle Ladybird
It's not an advertisement but I love Usborne books. Baby books by Usborne are simple, have great contrast and the images are cute. The touchy-feely books are not only pleasure to look at but also exciting for little fingers to touch the varied surfaces. Even my 4,5-year old loves to paw them. Here are what we have:
This is not the touchy and feely kind
Baby Sis is examining the fluffy bunny
6-12 months:
We on reading the books above and introduced some new ones:
Noisy books are number one (not so amusing for parents though after 15-20 minutes of quacking)
Old MacDonald will be a Christmas present
Lift the flap books are also fun to read with your little ones. My only problem is that they can get damaged easily as my kids try to peep under the flaps. Our favourites are the following:
The traditional song with a little twist. Here is a review from goodreads that I could have written:
"This time five monkeys are silly and not just mischievous. They jump on the bed of course, then they eat on the bed, swing on the bed, slide on the bed, and then spin on the bed.
Great fun for little ones and they love holding the cover with the monkeys heads made out of plastic for them to feel!"
L. loves to put her little finger through the holes. Sometimes a sing the original version. Sometimes with the funny activities like jumping,, swinging, sliding etc.
I hope you could find some ideas about what to read with your little one. Feel free to share what books you're reading with this age group.
Breakfast time is quite difficult with 2 kids. L. finishes with her breakfast quickly and gets bored in her high chair. E. is as slow as a snail so it's hard to finish at the same time.
While E. is eating and I'm busy in the kitchen or clearing the table I always give L. something to play with. One morning this squishy bag.
I filled up an IKEA zip lock bag with a little water and added hair gel. I threw in some buttons and beads and gave it to her. Before closing it, I pushed out the air and then I put wide cello tape on the zip lock.
She was busy with the squishy bag only for 5 minutes. Better than nothing.
She poked the buttons gently. I love the careful and focused movement of her tiny fingers.
Next she needed to taste it just like everything else.
When she got bored she tossed it down and checked when it was on the floor, pointing at it. A few times I gave it back to her. And everything started all over again.
The problem was that E. was more interested and didn't want to eat. *sigh* I don't really know what to do with this...
Either L. might have made a hole on the bag with her 2 teeth or the hair gel was extremely bad quality as I could smell it 5 steps away from the high chair. After few days it ended in the rubbish bin.
Since autumn arrived we have been collecting leaves, talking about why leaves change colours and why they fall down. We've been hugging trees, examining their bark, trying to climb up on them, just to mention a few tree related activities. Outside.
When the weather got really rainy I thought I would bring the tree activities inside. That was when I introduced the popsicle tree activity to E.
What you need:
20-30-40 popsicle sticks (wooden spatulas can be bought at the chemists for 500 HUF - less than 2 euros - but in hobby stores they can be found too)
collected leaves (or felt leaves)
conkers, acorns or any other nuts
felt animals like hedgehog, any kind of bird, squirrel etc.
How we played:
I gave E. the bag which I collected all the goodies in and I showed her how to build a tree. I just started and she took the lead.
While doing it we were talking about the different parts of the tree (tree top, branches, leaves, trunk, bark, roots). Also we mentioned what we can see in the tree top in different seasons. (green leaves in the spring, fruits in the summer, bare branches and yellow leaves in the autumn, nothing in the winter).
She placed the leaves very accurately.
Then some conkers and a squirrel...
After a while I couldn't hold Baby Sis back and she came to "destroy" E.'s tree. There was some screaming and "don't touch it" but not much playing together. E. gave L. a conker to play with but I had take it away from L. as it was too small (and I wanted to avoid ER at all cost) E. tried to give Baby Sis a laminated leaf but she wasn't interested. Baby Sis wanted the popsicle sticks, which meant the end of the tree.
"Noooooooo"
After a while E. gave up (got a little offended) and turned away from us to build a house instead out of the popsicle sticks.
E. was so uninterested at the end that only Baby Sis helped me pack away. At least we practised "put it in" with her.
As you can see life and activities with 2 kids are quite a challenge. I keep trying but success is still far away...
Anyways, I'm thinking of adding some brown yarn or thin ribbons to create the roots. We'll try again next year when Baby Sis might not want to "destroy" but rather want to bulid.
Baby Sis is a big girl now and it was time to start her very first course of her life, where she can hear English in an organised way from other people that me or her sister.
First, there was a free session for those who wanted to see what goes on at a "lesson" on the second week of September. Then I totally forgot to take photos as L. was really tired and whiny. We had to start the day early to have time to take E. to the nursery and to get to the school by 9. It was almost impossible but we made it. Luckily, the other sessions start at 9.15 which makes a huge difference.
Next time was much better as E. was taken by my mother-in-law and Baby Sis could get a wink before we got to the school. She was more relaxed and curious. She made new friends and got familiar some teaching material.
There are 6 kids and their moms in the group: 3 boys and 3 girls. The youngest is about 5 months old and the oldest is about 18 months old.
Harvest season is here and E. was very disappointed that she couldn't take part in the grapes pressing/wine making fun at the kindergarten. Challenge accepted. We'll press grapes juice here at home in the traditional way.
In the morning we went to the market and bought, among other foodstuff, 2 kilos of grapes (Szaszla).
We washed them together and put them in a big plastic basin.
I also prepared for her a smaller bowl of water for rinsing her feet and a towel too and waited for V., our new nanny, to arrive.
At first, she was hesitant and didn't want to step in. Then she did and started to cry a little. She had ambivalent feelings concerning the experience, the feeling on her feet. She got out of the basin.
So Baby Sis gave it a try too.
After some pressure and reassurance, she tried it again and this was the time when she started to enjoy it. And she stomped and stomped and stomped like a dinosaur. She clawed some of the grapes from the sides and stomped some more.
She got the hang of it and she was even willing to sing the grapes song she'd learnt in the kindergarten.
E. tried the freshly pressed grape juice but it won't be her favourite refreshment.
We need to do this again with more preparation from my side and some more harvest activities to follow. Maybe next year when Baby Sis can join in more actively.
I hope I will have more time to write about some baby activities we've been doing, just like this one - smudging paint in a plastic bag. An easy to prepare activity for a baby.
What you need is in the picture. I used baby paint but any kind will do as the baby won't touch the paint directly.
I put dabs of paint on a white sheet of paper of 3 colours. Unfortunately, I used too much paint. In this case less is more. Next, I placed the white sheet with paint into the zip lock bag. You need to be extra careful not to smudge the paint while sliding it in the bag.
With painters' tape I fixed it on the floor and put L. close to it. In seconds she scooted there to check what it is.
To be perfectly honest, she was a bit more interested in the tape than the paint blobs against the white background. Kids are unpredictable.
I showed her how to press her little hands on the paint then she got the hang of it... I don't want to mislead you... her attention span was maximum 1 minute...
While she was messing around I was talking to her about the colours: red, yellow and blue. When E. came home from the kindergarten and she saw what we did. She enjoyed looking at the colour mixture. We talked about what happens when we mix colours: blue and yellow makes green; red and blue makes purple, red and yellow makes orange. So it's a two in one activity if you also have a bigger child.
We might do this activity again a little later too.
The original idea comes from Jen, a Canadian mum. You can find her great ideas on mama.papa.bubba.com
When Baby Sis turned 6 months, E. and I prepared these sensory bottles for her.
The idea was taken from pinterest, where you can find tons of variations. I tried to keep it as simple as possible.
I picked 5 Jana water bottles for babies. I peeled off the plastic cover. E. and I filled them up with all kind of things we found around the house:
Then added water to the one with the straws and the water beads. Simple as that. I know she can't open the bottles tops just now but sooner or later she'll be able to so I glued the tops on.
You can fill them up with glitter, hair gel, pom-poms, beans, lentils, buttons, tiny plastic toys, jelly beans, M&Ms, corn, popcorn, beads, elastic bands, jingle bells, sand or you name it.
If you add oil or glycerine to the water the light objects will float slowly.
When Baby Sis turned 6 months, E. and I prepared these sensory bottles for her.
The idea was taken from pinterest, where you can find tons of variations. I tried to keep it as simple as possible.
I picked 5 Jana water bottles for babies. I peeled off the plastic cover. We filled them up with all kind of things we found around the house:
Then added water to the straws and the water beads. Simple as that. I know she can't open the bottles tops just now but sooner or later she'll be able to so I glued the tops on.
You can fill them up with glitter, hair gel, pom-poms, beans, lentils, buttons, tiny plastic toys, jelly beans, M&Ms, corn, popcorn, beads, elastic bands, jingle bells, sand or you name it.
If you add oil or glycerine to the water the light objects will float slowly.
I haven't really been able to write blog posts lately thanks to Baby Sis, who has turned out to be a "sticker child". I thought separation anxiety starts around 8-9 months but no... it started when she was born.
Our 2nd 3 months went almost the same as the first 3, though everything seemed a little easier, like feeding, sleeping, daily routine etc. and it's true for our English usage too.
But let's not run ahead. Here is an update on the little lady:
She is about 65.5 cms long and 6.0 kgs. She is very active, moving around all the time even in her sleep. Boobs mean the world to her and whenever she starts crying she can be easily calmed on the boob. If she doesn't get what she wants the screaming gets louder and loader and more desperate. She still doesn't and can't drink from a baby bottle and use a dummy. As opposed to her Big Sister who really liked both and wasn't fascinated by the boob that much. (This is where I'll stop comparing the girls)
I can no longer watch TV, read or chat with someone while she's being fed as she gets distracted by EVERYTHING. She only allows me to sit quietly and do nothing. She even hits my phone out of my hand (she might have eyes on the back of her head...)
L. turned to her tummy just one day before her 5th month old birthday. Ever since then she's been rolling all around. So much that one Monday she fell from our bed... on her head. In the morning rush we looked away for half a minute and she rolled like 1.80 metres and fell. We spent the whole day at the emergency room where several examinations were made (X-ray, sonogram etc) and luckily she was fine. Since then we've been putting her on the floor all the time.
If she's on her back she's kicking like a maniac. So sweet. She also noticed that she's got two feet and LOVES them. Watching them, chewing her toes and comparing them with her hands.
I've always been against sleeping together with a child (I was mainly scared of lying on her, but I also find it unhealthy for the marriage) but Baby Sis begs to differ. She is unwilling to stay in her crib, even if I wait until she falls asleep. As soon as her little bum touches the bed and she can't feel body warmth close to her she's up screaming.
Daytime sleeping is done in an ergonomic baby carrier (Magyarinda) on Mummy during the week and on Daddy at weekends (Sometimes I wish I could buckle her up on the dog. ;) ) Once in a while she falls asleep in the pram, but only for 20-30 minutes. We're still practising it, though.
on holiday
She's got 2 working modes: smiley or whiny. If she's happy and contented she's ALWAYS smiley, she even smiles at strangers, which might change in the near future. She's very easy to cheer up. Whenever she sees her Big Sister her little face brightens immediately. She loves chatting with everybody, looking at the books on the book shelves (or on the floor), watching me drink from a bottle, slapping her hanging toys on the play mat and last but not least screaming.
The update got a little too long, but here comes what we do in English.
We regularly try to go to MEC (Mums' English Club), where L. either sleeps or is on the boob or both at the same time. Okay, every now and then she plays with her new buddies.
I started to introduce her board books after the cloth books. You can find a list of baby books we've been using ever since E. was born. She seemed interested and enjoyed looking at the colourful pages.
I try to be a lot in English when E.'s home from the kindergarten. Baby Sis listens to our conversations but surprisingly E. talks to her sister in Hungarian. I always have to remind her that she also needs to talk to L. in English. But E. entertains her a lot.
She makes Baby Sis's mobile move
E. involves L. in her doctors pretend play
Reads her books
sisterly bonding
She tells her rhymes:
I myself try to read them in English (simple stories and rhymes) as much as I can:
Nursery rhymes after feeding
Sign language is another topic that I'd like to write a seperate blog post about. Mainly I use Makaton signs both in English and Hungarian (the same sign for the same idea) but also some American Signs and some of our own as well. Signing to babies help them to connect the spoken languages. If I say "enni" in Hungarian I show the same sign as I say "eat" in English, just to give you an idea.
I still do a lot of singing and I tell her several nursery rhymes. Her favourites are: Golden slumbers (and other lullabies) and Open, Shut them either when I do it with my hands or I move her little legs.
She also enjoys the following: Finger family
Ba-ba black sheep
Humpty Dumpty
You're my Sunshine
Ride a cock horse I love you, you love me
This little pig went to the market
Round and round the garden
Head shoulders knees and toes Here we go looby loo
Two little eyes:
When we play together it involves some balloons
some musical instruments like maracas and jingle bells
Some balls: colours and sizes
Sensory bottles for babies (later I'll add a post on this topic too):
Apart from playing together in English, I should also mention the everyday activities, housework (just like with E.) we do in English when we are just the two of us at home like unloading the dishwasher, hanging the clothes to dry, going to the bakery or to the market. Of course, L. just watches me do the chores but I hope later on she'll join in.
I report everything to her. I tell her all the time what I'm doing or where we are going. Sometimes I feel like I talk to myself all the time but then she gives me a smile as if she understood everything.
