Fascinated is an understatement! This kid was like a little kitten playing with the moving light- giggling, yelling, and trying so hard to catch the moving target! I had a larger flashlight for me and a small plastic light that was easy for him to handle. I set up some shatter proof mirrors and let him explore the light, shadows and reflections.   I hid the small flashlight under a small sheep skin and watched him "paw" at it as I moved it around! What makes dark? What makes light? Look at that shadow! Why can't I grab it? These simple activities are stepping stones for helping Parker understand the world around him! Physics for a 7 month old!!!

This sudsy activity was great entertainment and so easy to clean up! I created the soapy bubbles with about a 3/4 cup of water and a few squirts of Parker's tear free bath soap. I combined the water and soap with my kitchen mixer on high for about 3 minutes and... TADA! We had a big pan of suds!  Once you make the bubbles, there is very little water remaining so clean up is simple. No clothing change was required!  We added some new bath toys to discover in the bubbles; explored the suds on our hands, feet, the floor, our mouth (of course!); and threw it in the air!

This activity was inspired by one of Parker's favorite Sesame Street books: " Bubbles Bubbles!"

Happy Baby=Happy Mamma!

,"Hey Mom! What is that!?!?"  I love how curious babies are! Parker, along with most every other baby I know,  is incredibly interested to touch and play with things are are not toys! While this leads to great frustration for both he and I over the many objects I am still try to learn to child proof (because they are dangerous), it is so fun to watch him discover newness in the world around him.

This activity turned out to be much messier than I planned! I secured green construction paper on a baking sheet and covered the paper with white sugar. Sugar has a interesting texture- similar to sand in many ways- yet sticky and sweet tasting!  I taped the green construction paper underneath for the purpose of contrast so he could see the color as he drew in the sugar. Of course he tasted the sugar but did not eat more than a lick or two as it was far to sweet for his liking! He spent a good amount of time sitting still and examining the small bits of sugar on his fingers and rubbing them together curious at their sticky feel.

This did turn into a full body experience which is why it became far messier than I envisioned. If I was to do it again, I would do it right before bath time as we had stick body parts for the rest of the day regardless of how many times I attempted clean him off. Also, we had sugar all over our hard wood floor but truthfully that was much easier to clean up than the sticky baby! It's worth the mess!

Happy Baby= Happy Mamma!

My little baby has become quite the explorer! We are in full baby proofing mode and you can't leave anything on the floor (even a crumb) without this curious George getting a hold of it!

So tonight while prepping dinner, Parker discover a butternut squash seed that I dropped and with high concentration worked at picking it up...to of course stick it in his mouth! So while hollowing out my squash for dinner, I save the seeds and stringy innards for him to explore under more careful supervision while he waited for his salmon and squash to bake.

He found the seeds to be the most interesting part and worked for several minutes using his pinchers to pick up each seed one by one. He also used his hands to smear the orange. slimy squash all over the white butcher paper in a lovely display of artistic brilliance- aka mess!  This is not only a great sensory experience but butternut squash (acorn or pumpkin) are so very delicious and an awesome compliment to just about any dinner.  Dual purpose! Perfect for a busy mom! 

Happy Baby=Happy Mama!