Now that our Birdie is mobile, we’ve shifted more of his materials to the living room shelves and moved more of A’s small pieces to his room and to the dining room shelves. We plan to get a taller set of shelves for the living room next month, so that A can have more of his materials accessible while also keeping them safe from baby hands and mouths.
Reaching to the top!
Birdie loves any gross motor activity right now: exploring the house by crawling from room to room, pulling up on the Pikler triangle or the couch, clambering over pillows on the floor, and crawling around the garden. He also spends a lot of time taking books in and out of his book box, and looking at the pictures.
He likes to tip toys and blocks out of baskets, knock over towers, and use his simple one-shape puzzle. He likes to drum, bang on the piano, and pull silks out of the basket. I lay out three toys for him each day, but he is free to take anything else out of his basket. Of course, the most fun thing is to tip it all out, bang it together, and then crawl over it!
His treasure basket usually has 3 items in it. I’ve been rotating them every few days. There’s rarely anything fancy: the contents are usually a mix of a small whisk, a shaker full of beans or pasta, a rectangle of crinkly baking paper, a pinecone, a wooden box, and a soft ball. He uses his object permanence box while supervised because he can and will put the ball in his mouth.
It’s surprised me how much he is drawn to wheels. A had no interest in anything with wheels until a few months ago (and even then, only with going on the wheels rather than the wheels themselves). Birdie however will crawl about the house looking for wheels he can spin and explore. He will climb into his Brio wagon and wait expectantly for a push around the room, and he will sit on A’s scooter and try to make it move. Other than the wagon, we don’t have any wheeled toys, so I have my eye on a couple of things, including this Grimm’s horse, for his birthday in April.
We are taking a Montessori approach to weaning, similar to baby led weaning, but also with some purees and spoon feeding. Kylie at How We Montessori gives a great breakdown of the differences in the two approaches.
Birdie uses a mix of open cup (which we help him use when in the kitchen, because our slate tiles are completely unforgiving to dropped objects), and a straw cup to help strengthen his mouth. He will feed himself with a fork or spoon, and is practicing his pincer grasp. He has taken to eating much quicker than A did, I think in part because we are all eating together and he is eager to copy what his big brother is doing.
We haven’t re-introduced the weaning table and chair after packing it away to make room for the Christmas tree, but we’ll give it a go soon. Earlier Birdie wasn’t able to get out of the chair safely himself, and I want his experience of the table and chair to be one of full independence. If he’s able to climb out and crawl away, we’ll leave it out for him. There’s no hurry.
I’ve written before about our choice to take away our floor bed for the time being. Birdie sleeps in a cot/crib in our bedroom and as soon as we are able to make a secure space for him - which will be when we feel he’s old enough to be in his own room, or to share a room with A - we will have him in his own floor bed or low bed. For the meantime, he is happy in his cozy cot.
On the horizon: use of the weaning table for eating (mostly snacks and lunch) and independent work, introduction of a 3 shape puzzle, rings on a dowel, and a more complex object permanence box. I am also looking forward to beginning toilet learning once Birdie can walk. He is at such a fun age, and we are loving all of his discoveries!