Pulling Up

The Bug started pulling up around 7 months and went crazy with it a few weeks later. Hubby is extremely creative but in a technical way so upon seeing another families PVC pull up bar, he went downstairs to his shop and created one for the Bug. It got a revamp lowering the bar a bit and adding the ramp (in hindsight we probably did not need to do both but now the Bug's shorter friends can take a turn!)

He crawls up the ramp...

And is too lazy to actually stand...

The next morning (love that milk drunk look...)

And he's got it (Note his feet back on the mat NOT on the ramp)

The reason I wanted the ramp (besides the obvious crawl up factor) was to launch cars off of. The Bug has been obsessed and of course I have no pictures because it all happens too fast but I line cars up at the top of his ramp and we push them down and he cackles with glee...

Considering it's made from leftovers, it isn't half bad! (I'm sorry I cannot give you technical dimensions of anything... It is an H shape on the bottom with the ramp coming down one side. Then the sides that hold the bar come up in the center and there's a bar across at the 12 inch mark...)

Cardboard Creations- Tunnels

So the Bug outgrew his infant carseat. I'm having severely mixed emotions about the whole thing but it came with a giant carseat box...

The Bug also started crawling and it has been developing from the army crawl to weird yoga poses and we've reached a mostly belly off the ground style of movement. This means going out places is tough because he constantly wants to practice these moves and while I am all about exposing him to germs, letting him crawl around on the floor at Walmart isn't really in my comfort zone...

I racked my brain for things we could do to give him a chance to crawl around in different ways and suddenly I have a giant cardboard box- can we say tunnel???

For now, it's just a basic box tunnel as we work on getting the Bug to actually crawl through it on his own- for now there is a lot of coaxing or me trying to crawl through and back up...

Once he gets going, its hard to stop him!

To give him a bit more enticing without hurting my back, we tried out a texture crawl! I had 6 options but only 3 fit in the box so we'll have more to try another time!

The Bug just started eating Kix (let's be honest, Puffs are super expensive compared to Kix and Cheerios so we do a combo to cut down on cost- he does well since he chews food with his gums anyway!) but he's obsessed so the first texture was a bag of Kix- not only is it bumpy but as he crawls on them, they crunch!

Next came aluminum foil. The Bug likes the sound it made though it wasn't quite as cool as actually holding it. The sun was hitting it at a good angle too!

He kept turning around to go back to his trucks... My son is OBSESSED with wheels lately!

Back to scratch at the aluminum foil!

OOO he discovered the tape...

Last was a sheet of thick bubble wrap. I have gotten it in a few packages and always save it since I haven't seen it for sale anywhere. Much safer because it's cushy but doesn't pop so it's completely different from traditional bubble wrap!

Busy Board for Baby!

So the Bug is moving more and will entertain himself for a while so of course, I decided he needed a busy board. He's not quite ready for the crazy pulls and latches ones that I LOVE looking at on Pinterest (can we say 1st birthday???) so I thought and struggled to come up with things that weren't on his sensory board...

The Bug is rather obsessed with wheels so if this was a better quality board, I would have put a wheel on a caster on it but it's cardboard (the side of his tunnel- check back on Monday!) because I'm assuming he will destroy it and I didn't want to spend a lot of money (I didn't spend any but I have an insane amount of random stuff so...) here we go!


I started with a big piece of fabric (left from covering my diaper box shelves) which in hindsight, I might not have done because it slides around too much even glued down.

I wanted this to be a busy board and while he will not likely learn his colors, I liked the idea of putting the paint samples on so that I can talk about the colors with him. Plus- paint samples are always free!!!

He's extremely into shaking so I added some bells on ribbon (they are tied and glued) and a velcro shaker made from an old Gerber baby food container and beads. 

 

In the center, I put a sensory bag with hair gel and beads. It didn't quite work because gravity pulls it all down to the bottom after a little while but it's still fun to move around!

I have quite a collection of wooden spools from my aunt so we created a "wheel" by threading them onto a straw. To attach it and reinforce the straw, I stuck a pipe cleaner in it. They spin great but the Bug really wants to take them off and chew on them... Oh well!

What 7 month old isn't obsessed with untying??? So this ribbon is retied about 30 bizillion times a day BUT he loves it and it was like the easiest part... Maybe not but still super simple!

I'm not expecting him to learn his letters (there are only 4 cuz we were out of E...) but the more he seems them, the better right?!?

Another favorite right now is peek-a-boo but he's still working on object permanence so- I made a peek-a-boo pom- pom! The paper towel tube is glued and taped to the box (I know, hard core...) Then I threaded the pipe cleaner through the pom pom and taped it to the tube. 

So that's it! The Bug is still discovering it and he's having a blast! It's nice to be able to create something that took about an hour but keeps him entertained! It's not the most beautiful thing though my funky duct tape helps but I am well aware this box will not last the year so I didn't want to invest too much!

What would your little one want on their busy board???

Creating a Space for Baby- in the Kitchen

I see all these posts with these beautiful kitchens with drawers at a child's level full of their dishes... I'm jealous! We recently did a minor kitchen renovation (it seemed major to me) but kept the existing cabinets. The hubby added a few organizational pieces so I did a bit of rearranging and since the Bug was starting to move, I took the opportunity to create a cabinet for him.

There is a shelf in the back where things that are his but we don't use everyday life- the pouch system, extra disposable bibs, the freezer bottles that only hold 2 ounces of milk...

Then I bought baskets (I love buying baskets). I made everything look pretty for pictures- it never looks like this. The Bug mostly plays with the tupperware basket (since that's what I get out for him) and even though I am the one cleaning it up, it's usually at the last second before we are moving on...

All of his bowls, cups, plates, spoons and of course forks (oh your 7 month old isn't obsessed with forks? You are lucky!) are in these baskets with a few bottles mixed in for the rare use (we used to do more bottles but he's nursing less often and eating solids so we have less of a need since I can leave the house for 3-4 hours now instead of 20 minutes!)

That's it.

I mean, his junk food is in the pantry cabinet and he has finger foods in the fridge and freezer but they are in with the adult food...

But seriously, the moment the Bug could sit unassisted, he became OBSESSED with tupperware. It's his new favorite thing and I actually like that he's playing with things similar to what I'm using/cleaning. We even had a mini math lesson seeing which measuring cups fit together- they're like stacking cups with sticks!

Creating a Space for Baby

Babies take over. They come in perfectly content to look at things around them but we have all these toys that someone thought were cute!

We are lucky to have a house with space but the Family Room doesn't quite lend itself to becoming an all out playroom unless we want to never use the porch or fireplace so, I set out to create a space for the Bug to be able to play.

I wanted shelves but the Husband said with our baseboard heaters, shelves would block the heat come winter. I wanted something the Bug could crawl up to and see his toys. I wanted to not spend a ton of money.

I looked around and discovered a number of diaper boxes flooding the house. I grabbed 3 yards of fabric (I went light and solid but you can go crazy if you want!) and covered diaper boxes. I turned them onto their sides and FLOOR SHELVES! 
I wrapped the boxes like a present covering all 4 sides and the bottom in the hopes that if they are not destroyed, these can transition to toy boxes (as opposed to shelves) as the Bug grows.
I tried out adding accent fabric around the top and while I like the look, it is unnecessary at this stage since it won't be seen under the toys...
The baskets are from Target and the giant foam mats are from Lowes.

I can rearrange them, replace them, and they're the perfect size for the Bug's toys! In fact, since their introduction 2 months ago, I have rearranged several times (including making baskets to put in other rooms so not all his toys are in one place- another day!) and making it more "mobile Bug" friendly!

Here's the Bug's area (after a cleanup and nighttime...) I have little areas within his bigger area but that's a post for another time... The puzzle mats are from Lowe's and the baskets are from Target!