Easy DIY baby toys

This past week has been full of easy DIY baby toys so I thought I'd share!

First, at my daughter's development class we made different texture booklets. To do this, you need to:
1. Find a few cool textures (we used: a cut up squishy ball, a cut up bath mat, a cut up stuffed animal (for the fur), a few sparkly stickers and foam)
2. Punch a hole in each item
3. Secure them together with something
4. Voilà!

Then, it was Easter so I bought colourful plastic eggs for Baby Z's first Easter egg hunt. I just hid a few of her toys in the eggs and she really enjoyed it. But the next day, I had a brilliant idea! We could make shakers out of the eggs! This is a really easy toy to make. All you have to do is:
1. Find a small container (ex. a plastic Easter egg)
2. Fill it with something you think will make a cool sound (we used: rice, lentils, and corn)
3. Shake it!
4. Voilà!

I have a few crafty projects in mind for the coming weeks so I will keep you updated on how those go!

Diaper wrangling

This should be a new Olympic sport, but who would provide the babies? haha! What I'm referring to here is the diaper change when baby just wants to crawl away. I'll take you through the steps:

1. Baby begins on her back

2. Baby twists and turns and arches her back, finally ending up on her stomach

3. Baby crawls away

This is great news for her motor development, and I'm glad she has mastered all of these skills. However, diaper changing has never been harder! So now here are some tricks I've discovered/stolen from other mommies:

1. Change baby on the floor (this should be obvious, as a baby crawling away from a changing table would be a serious hazard)
2. Give baby a toy/clean diaper/soother/anything to keep his hands and eyes busy in the meantime
3. Change baby near a mirror (those little egocentrics just love to smile at themselves)

*Oh my goodness tonight was the worst ever! She just kept running (crawling) away and I had to call for reinforcement (husband) to help distract her while I got the diaper on!

8 months

8 months already! It is scary to think of how fast time is going by. I feel like it definitely speeds up exponentially after the 6-month mark! Probably because Baby Z has changed so much in two short months and also probably because this means I only have 4 months left of maternity leave! Ah!

Baby Z can now:
-crawl on all fours (watch out Taco!)
-pull herself up to stand with assistance
-eat pretty much anything we give her (with certain exceptions, of course!)

Also, she has a tooth!!!! I have been waiting this tooth since she was 3 months old, I even bet my family she would have it before Christmas - boy was I off! I also predicted she'd be a boy... oh dear, my intuition seems be be off lately! She also has more hair, which I can't wait to be able to do fun stuff with, like pigtails, ponytails, and umbrellas. She also has a silly face she does where she scrunches up her nose. It is the cutest thing ever!

I have been really discouraged about finding a daycare... I have visited quite a few and none have seemed quite right yet. I'm hoping we won't have to settle for a mediocre daycare and/or pay millions of dollars for a great daycare.

I feel like I'm forgetting things, but I will keep you updated!

Dog & baby similarities

I know I should't compare my baby to other babies, but nowhere does it say not to compare your baby to your dog... when you do, the similarities are uncanny!

They both:

• love balls
• walk on all fours
• pant when excited (my baby might be weird)
• love squeaky toys
• love going outside
• love tissue and toilet paper (playing with and eating it)
• love getting into the dog food and water bowls (there has been no eating of the dog food by Baby Z ... yet!)