Play D'oh

I have been anxiously waiting for River to be old enough to play with Play D’oh.  I was hesitant in buying it because I was afraid he would eat it, so I looked online for a homemade version and found one at The Imagination Tree.  The first time he played with it he took a bite and instantly spat it out.  Needless to say, he didn’t try that again.  Our dog, Boo, on the other hand is an idiot and waits anxiously for him to drop a piece so that she can have a taste!  After learning that the Play D’oh didn’t taste good, he poked his finger in it and said “yuck”.   He has learned how to play with it the best a toddler his age can and I have to say that he really has a blast with it!

Presents from Great Grammy "M"

Today, River received presents in the mail from my mom, or as River would know her, "Great Grammy M". In the first box was a cute little motorized bear that plays peek-a-boo. I didn't know how it worked at first so I just put it by him and said "peek-a-boo!" He then started playing along.

 I then realized that there was a button on his foot that you push, so after pushing in, the bear started talking and playing peek-a-boo. He smiled at first but really wasn't sure what to think.

It scared the crap out of him! He started to cry, the dogs started to bark, and he ran and hid behind a chair. Yes, I couldn't help but laugh. At least I put the camera down to comfort him. I then hid the bear back in the box and we opened the second present.

Magformers! He loved playing with these not-as-scary toys--pulling them apart, stacking them. He was engaged for a long while.

We tried playing peek-a-boo with the bear after a few minutes, and he started to warm up better to it.  He still won't touch, and keeps his distance, but at least he laughs and talks to it, now!

Eating All by Himself

River has been able to eat by himself for awhile now. I just don't like the messes he makes. Since he is almost 1 1/2 I guess I better let him, since he begs me to let him do it himself. 

Clean off!

Easy way to clean off the paint.

Finger Paint

Finger Paint! 

Discovery Boxes

River is 17 months old now, and he is easily bored. This has made him very cranky day after day, so after some research I found this wonderful website:  The Imagination Tree  it is the perfect place for fun activities to do with your toddler.

I made him a discovery "bowl" today. I found safe objects around the house, and piled them in. When I showed it to him, he became excited to get his hands on it. I didn't know it would be so traumatic for him at first...I thought putting an egg timer that vibrates would be fun for him.  As he was playing inside the bowl moving things around the timer went off , it scared the heck out of him. He jumped up with a petrified look on his face and came running to me. I couldn't help but laugh. (mean grandma) I went over to show him the timer and how it worked. It soon became his favorite object in his bowl, and he has figured out how to turn it off and on. This was a wonderful idea, and he enjoyed it for some time.