Grimm's pick for 18m+

OK, I would buy everything because their toys are genial! But if I had to choose 5, I would choose these and we are getting some of them for Teodor, not sure which one yet.

1. Leaning tower with felt applications

Teodor is one eager tower builder, so this is a sure choice :)

2. Sorting Game Rainbow Bowls

Ridiculously expensive, but soooo cute. So much cooler than those Montessori-inspired activities with tweezers and small fluffy balls.  

3. Building blocks - Owls or maybe the Dwarf village

Both would be great for a stacking lover.

4. Rainbow Bridge

Something cool for his train

5. Large Sailing Boat

Less plastic in our bathroom

Winter jacket drama

I want to write a post about his winter garment but this made me laugh a few minutes ago. He jut hates them both despite the amount of time I spent choosing them (obviously I bought the blue one).

Toys

The other day I read this article and, well, it made me thinking about the topic again as I am a strong believer in toys. Don't get me wrong, I definitely am not up for piles of toys nobody plays with but I am totally up for development and age appropriate toys.

I agree with the points mentioned in the article - it is wonderful for a child to grow up in a community, to help with real-life tasks, to spend a lot of time outdoors, to play with whatever they find...but it is unrealistic for me. I wouldn't like to live on the edge of poverty and wouldn't want my son not to be able to have nice things. I don't mean for him to have whatever he points at, but you know it is pleasant not to be an outsider. I remember when we were teenagers, my parents bought us a super-expensive PC Pentium 2, we were one of the first in the village to have a PC and we were so popular because of that. Again, I don't plan to buy him the newest versions of everything, I would like to raise not too consumerist child - but it is nice to spoil yourself from time to time, isn't it?
We take two walks per day no matter what the weather is like, but it is not really possible for him to spend there all day long except for summers because his mother is always cold while watching over him, plus I can't really do anything else. I don't have anybody else to watch over him.

If you choose the right toy and the right amount, I believe it can help to develop the child's motor skills, spatial understanding, creativity,...and it entertains the child while you are doing something else. Let's face it, most of us are most of the days home alone with the child/ren and I don't believe you want them always to help you..or you might wanna do your own things without the child and then the toys are a great helper.
I am afraid to write this but Teodor is able to play on his own most of the time we are at home - I hope after publishing this it is not going to change. He sometimes needs me to watch him play or to read with him but generally his toys are suiting his development and needs, so they entertain him quite well.

This was my view a few days ago...the Grimm's rainbow arch made me laugh, have no idea why he put it there.

Reading with his friends.

I am quite done with organizing his play or trying to develop him on purpose (I used to be a bit crazy before he turned 1), I mostly let him play as he wants to. If he wanders around and looks bored, I suggest an activity, sometimes he is happy with it, sometimes not, then I try something else...and sometimes I let him be bored.
As you have probably noticed from my previous posts, I pay quite a close attention to each toy before I buy it and it seems it pays off as most of the toys are played with. He has a very minimum battery-operated toys (e.g. the Melissa and Doug house is battery-operated but it came with no batteries, so it stayed that way), he has no blinking toys except for the FP dog, his heart blinks but I guess it is not over-stimulating, he has started to like the dog lately, he uses it as a music background for his other activities. What I'm trying to say toys are working for us and I definitely wouldn't want to give them up. I remember having nice toys as a child, maybe that's why I value them...?

To sum up, I didn't write this as an opposition to the article mentioned in especially if they have a reasonable amount and are age/development appropriate, if they force child to play with them actively, not just to push buttons to see what's going to happen...

Grimm's in our post box

Look what I found in our post box today.

It is like the cutest product catalogue ever, so colourful, so many many wonderful toys...I would buy them all for Teodor if I could and didn't believe that having too many toys isn't very beneficial for a toddler. 

If you haven't heard of Grimm's, google them, their products are awesome!

Our babywearing story

To celebrate the International Babywearing Week I joined several giveaways on Facebook (keep your fingers crossed for me to win a Tula carrier, I already know I didn't win Artipoppe wrap, booo) and also decided to write down our babywearing story.*

I got a used elastic wrap and Ergo carrier some time before Teodor was born, later I found out that the elastic wrap was totally wrong (probably Medley) and the carrier was a fake...well-spent money. Anyway, It took me two months before I started babywearing,  he was happy either in a stroller or sleeping in our Stokke daybed before, so why to bother, right?. The first weeks were just so exhausting that I couldn't find energy to give it a try...and once we did, we did it totally wrong. Lesson learnt - not all instructional videos on youtube are useful. 

July 2014, first and probably last try, the wrap was not supportive at all.

The carrier was my no. 1 choice from the beginning, he hated the newborn support or maybe I put him in it wrong, so we slowly started to try without it... 

June 2014, one of the first tries

...soon he would spend a lot of time being worn because he started hating the stroller. And he slept so well in it. But only if I walked. So we took a lot of trips to the malls, that helped me to keep sane. There was no other way how to make him sleep...I remember walking up the stairs in the evening and down and up and then Charlie would give up...and then finally Teodor fell asleep. Crazy times. 

Snuggled in on a cold July day, unfortunately I lost the fleece cover :(

When he was about 3 months old, he wouldn't latch...once I found out it is possible to breastfeed him in the carrier, breastfeeding was saved...the price I had to pay was a lot of babywearing because when he got finally sleepy, he would eat...Soon I started breastfeeding him anywhere, even on the streets in the city, on the bus, in the hobby shop...(the carrier actually gave kinda privacy)

Revolution came with a real woven wrap, Ellevill Zara...It was million times more comfortable than the fake carrier...

I found proper instructional videos, found out that the cross-carry isn't a rocket science...and totally fell in love with babywearing (I probably already was in love but having a proper wrap spiced it up :)

With babywearing another revolution came, I decided to go with attachment parenting, I mean I always inclined to it but wasn't sure if it is the right way but being close to our son for many hours every day persuaded me not to be worried to spoil the child.

Having a wrap was so handy when he had to undergo his two surgeries, the doctors and nurses had some comments on it but it turned out that they have never seen such a calm baby after surgery...I mean seriously, there was a child crying in the crib, 5 people were standing around and nobody would pick the child up...I don't know what the child's condition was, I just over-saw it, but this is how it seemed to me. Surprisingly enough, the staff had no comments on us bed-sharing. 

Once you have a wrap and are part of the babywearing community, you feel like you need more. Plus autumn was coming and a good woolen wrap was exactly what one needs, right?

I ordered Oscha Liberty Maya (why nobody told me it was as supportive as Ellevill?) and also Oscha Ring Sling (which I used only a few times, never learnet how to use it.) 

Our shopping trips would look like this, people seemed to judge me from time to time..

As you can see, he was getting bigger and bigger every month, so I was very motivated to learn to wear him on my back.

Unfortunately, never learned more than a simple rucksack because at some point he stopped to mind the stroller and with the weather getting colder, I didn't mind stopping babywearing him. I got a Lilliputi babywearing coat, but never learned how to close the zips when he was on my back (in the carrier) and when he was in the front, he would take his arms out...so the stroller was an easier option. Plus he slept longer in it. This happened when he was about 8-9 months and worked till he was 11.5 months. 

The only picture I have of the babywearing coat, me and Teodor.

Before his first birthday, he started screaming a lot, hated the stroller,...only the carrier seemed to help. But he was way to heavy for the fake ergo, so I order Tula. The best-spent money ever! So comfy! Since then, Tula is our best friend, there hasn't been a week when he wouldn't fall asleep in it...We use it a lot even now when he is 18 months...It is probably true that toddlers have a lot of problems to calm down and Tula is a great helper. 

In the time between Oscha and Tula era I got a Yaro wrap with linen, it was supposed to be very supportive, which it is, but Teodor didn't like it when I was wraping him on my back, so it's more or less unused. Might come handy when my belly grows too much and can't Tula-wear him...

¨

Anyway, babywearing isn't only for babies, toddlers do benefit a lot from it too...Even though he can run on his own, he seems to appreciate the closeness and he falls asleep in no time. When I make him sleep in the bed, there is always some screaming before and it takes an hour.

Two days ago

I definitely plan to babywear the second baby, this time totally from the beginning and I plan to become a that person who has a big stash of wraps :))

* I also intended to write our breastfeeding story when the International Week of Breastfeedinw was, but didn't find time. 

Worth it

Here is a list of things, which are, in my opinion, worth the money.

Stokke Tripp Trapp

A definitely a high-end high chair (itself it doesn't cost more than some fancier high chairs), the accessories can double the price, actually. For me it was an iconic chair, a must-have. What do I love about it? It grows with Teodor, he is always at the right height, the table is never too low or too high, now, 17 months old, he can get up and down on his own (we took out the front part of the babyset), which other high chair (if not a copy of tripp trapp) can offer it? He can have till he's a teenager. Myself remember loving those things from my childhood and didn't want to change them, so our son doesn't have to get used to another chair for at least 10 years.

Downside? The cushions we bought are not wipe-able, now it's ok as he is not that messy-eater any more.

Stacking cups from Mothercare

 

Likes them since he got them. So many possibilities how to play with them: throw them, stack them, practise pouring skills, flood the bathroom, make bubbles by pressing the cup against the water,... A lot of fun for almost no money.

Motorbike

Got it from his grandmother at the age of 15 months and is in love with it since then. 

Push and pull duck by Hapé

Is there any other better toy you can chase the dog with? Actually this morning I noticed he paid attention to its moving wings, probably he didn't notice before? Anyway, he sometimes brings it to bed, puts it in his own bed and then goes to sleep with me in the big bed :)

Rocking horse by Mamas and Papas

A very pricey rocking horse, but totally worth the money. I guess even a simple one would make the job, but this one is just soooo cuuuute. Different textures, a rattling and squeaky ear, he can put his finger into the horse's nose...Soon he learnt how to get down, little bit later how to get up. And he rocks almost every day. 

Brio train set

Another love at the first sight. At the beginning, he loved just the train, later he learnt how to keep it on the tracks, now he can build the tracks on his own and he loves it. Of course, he is not able to make a ring or the 8-shape, but he can put 4-5 tracks together and it's enough for his play. What I love about this toy that it can be extended with either additional track or parts, e.g. bridges.

Henré Tullet: Knížka (Press Here in English)

Of course there are other great books he loves, but this one is special. He loves all the tasks in the book and is able to keep focused through the whole book (like 20? pages). 

Coin box

His father made him a cute Montessori inspired coin-box, but he likes this pig so much more. Plus he can put the coins in also through its legs. Also an activity, which he is fond of for at least 3 months now.

Sticker books

Never-ending fun. Stick them and try to rub them off and then again and again :)

Ball run

Another toy made by his dad. It's super-noisy and he loves it. Since he got it when he was 12 months old.

Standard Tula Baby Carrier

Also very well-invested money. Now we need toddler version but it is so difficult to choose the pattern :(

Toys he used to like a lot

Melissa and Doug Latches Board

It would be his favourite toy for 4 months (cca 12-16/17 months), now he doesn't play with it that much any more as he can open all the locks, so it is not a proper challenge.

Magnetic fishing game

Another toy which used to be his favourite for at leat 5 months, he doesn't like it much any more. He likes to take the sea creatures out and wants me to name them.

Poster

September has been quite a ride for us, I am glad it is over and we have our slow-paced days back. Nevertheless, even in "bad" things you can find something good - I noticed both in the language school and in Montessori-inspired daycare his interest in posters, so I got him one. Probably more are going to follow...depends on his dad when he takes a trip to the other part of the town to buy more, it is honestly super-exhausting for me to travel with him different routes than he is used, he gets so whiny, cranky, he is close to having meltdowns, so it is the best for us to stay at home for now.