Tag Archives: toys

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Blue

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Monday, 3 March 2014: Forty Eight Weeks Old.

Food colouring isn’t bad for kids… is it?

A friend of mine told me a few weeks ago that I should colour some bits of dried macaroni pasta with food dye so that Ayla can play with different colours which is apparently good for her development.

I was feeling crafty a couple of days ago and made up four colours of pasta, but I quickly realised that Ayla would simply eat the pasta and that the food dye ran very quickly after being in her slobbery gob.

So I packaged it up and made a colourful rattle instead, which has worked just fine considering Ayla loves anything even half musical.

But today Ayla somehow discovered a rogue piece of pasta and she made a right mess of it… and herself!

I had been busy on the computer, and when I turned around I could see blue dye all over the tiles, the toys and all over Ayla.

Ayla was stoked! She could see that her hands, feet and tummy had turned blue and thought it was a great game, then when I took her to the bathroom to try and wash it off Ayla caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and started giggling.

Cheeky monster!

I scrubbed for a bit and removed some of the excess dye but Ayla’s porcelain skin still has a delicate tinge of blue, but hopefully not for long!

 

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24 hours

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Wednesday, 22 January 2014: Two Hundred and Ninety Six Days Old.

Ayla is developing so fast! In just the last 24 hours alone she’s made so many new developments it’s hard to pick just one to blog about.

So I won’t.

Ayla officially crawled today. Not the strange bulldozing kind of crawl she’s been doing for the past week, but a proper crawl on her hands and knees.

Ayla didn’t crawl far mind you, probably just a couple of metres or so before collapsing on her belly, but she kept it up throughout the day which was enough for me to make a note of it in her baby book: First crawled… Wednesday 22 January 2014.

But then it was like there was no stopping her!

Every time I tried to put Ayla down for a nap she crawled around in her cot, grabbing at her toys and finding any distraction available to prevent sleep from happening.

It also only took a few attempts for Ayla to work out how to pull herself up to standing from all fours, and because her favourite place to do this is in her cot, now the bassinet insert has GOT to go.

I think the assortment of stuffed toys that have surrounded Ayla as she dreams since she was born are going to have to make themselves scarce pretty soon too.

It’s a shame, but during one attempted nap time routine today I poked my head in to see if Ayla was asleep and found her sitting upright with her toys surrounding her as if they were sharing a tea party!

I also saw Ayla push herself up into what looked like the downward dog yoga position this afternoon.

I nearly jumped out of my skin because it looked like Ayla was about to stand upright and walk off! Thankfully though, while I watched, Ayla sat her little bottom back down on the tiles and turned her attention to something else.

Ayla’s also making big developments in the pool. Although I don’t actually let her go, Ayla seems to have the basic motion of swimming sorted out, and she certainly has no fear of diving under the water…. Today she even seemed to deliberately hold her breath and stick her face in!

So as you can see, things are pretty full on here at the moment! I am excited, overwhelmed and a little anxious but I can’t wait to see what tomorrow will bring… I can almost see Ayla’s brain growing bigger and stronger every day, I just hope I can keep up!

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First Christmas

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Wednesday, 25 December 2013: Two Hundred and Sixty Eight Days Old.

Well, I think it’s safe to say Ayla’s first Christmas was a huge success.

The day started off with a sleep in (I know, awesome!) til 8.30 then Ayla was up and ready to see if Santa had come.

And he had!

Ayla’s stocking was full of little nic-nacs and there were presents oozing out from under the tree, we didn’t know where to start!

I think I even had myself believing in Santa’s magic again, even if just for a moment or two, as I walked Ayla around the tree explaining what had happened overnight.

Ayla is a very lucky girl indeed! From Santa she got a bucket of shaped blocks and a very cool push-along walker toy, and in her stocking was a couple of teething toys, a Schleich Shetland pony, some bubbles and a book about colours.

From her Mummy and Daddy, Ayla got a ladybug bouncing ball, a pop-up book called “Little Tadpoles Big Surprise”, a tambourine drum and a set of crayons with an art pad.

From friends and family Ayla got everything from gorgeous outfits to stuffed animals, from electronic learning toys to books and games.

Ayla even received a pair of genuine Baby Raybans and a beautiful butterfly bracelet engraved with her name.

Although most of our family is interstate, thanks to the wonders of FaceTime we were able to include them in our Christmas morning as they watched Ayla open her gifts.

It was great to know that despite thousands of kilometres they could still share in Ayla first Christmas, and see her face light up as her presents were unwrapped.

But after the gift giving, unwrapping and thanking was over we were off to our neighbours house for a street-party champagne breakfast, complete with bacon and eggs!

The afternoon was spent cleaning up and getting ready to go away on holidays tomorrow, and from evening to night we gorged ourselves leftovers while relaxing the couch with a wine, watching our little Baby Ayla play with her new toys.

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Paper? What paper?!

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Monday, 23 December 2013 Thirty Eight Weeks Old.

Everyone’s been telling me that at Ayla’s age she’ll be more interested in the paper than the presents on Christmas morning, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to beg to differ!

We had some friends pop over tonight for a Christmas Eve Eve celebration and they came bearing a gift for Baby Ayla.

Just like when she opened her gift from “Aunty” Ali the other day, Ayla was quick to realise there was a goodie hidden inside the crinkly stuff with Santa’s printed on it.

As soon as Ayla saw a glimmer of the sparkling FisherPrice fish tank she was mesmerised, staring at the piece of present peeking out beneath the wrapping.

I had to help her peel the paper back further, and once Ayla saw the whole gift she started squealing and bobbing up and down in delight.

Paper? What paper!?

It might have just been that Ayla’s “Aunty” Kez and “Uncle” Collie nailed the gift selection, or it could be a sign of things to come.

And that on Christmas morning in two days time, we can expect our little house to be filled with gorgeous wide eyes and adorable shrieks of excitement as Ayla opens her presents.

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Rolling around

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Wednesday, 11 December 2013: Two Hundred and Fifty Four Days Old.

Ayla is rolling around, squirming and wriggling full on now.

It’s super cute, and its been making things easier too because now Ayla’s able to move around enough to keep herself occupied but not so much that she’s technically “mobile”.

Like this morning. I heard a tiny peep of a noise come through the monitor so I knew Ayla was awake.

But for the next 30 minutes I didn’t hear another sound.

I thought that maybe Ayla had gone back to sleep but decided to check on her anyway.

When I pushed the monitor, up came an image of Baby Ayla waving a stuffed toy in the air with a massive grin on her face.

All around Ayla lay evidence of the super fun half-an-hour she’d just had with every single one of her teddies out of place and in awkward positions around the cot.

As I watched through the infra-red, Ayla started rolling around her cot with the toy (a green and rainbow monkey from her Aunty Brooke).

Ayla rolled from her front to her back and around in a circle like a clock, wriggling, squirming and having a ball before she finally decided she’d had enough and was ready to get up for the day.

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Do it herself

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Wednesday, 23 October; Two Hundred and Five Days Old.

Ayla’s going to be one of those kids who always wants to do it herself.

Like with food, for example; Ayla loves food but she won’t eat it unless she can hold it herself.

I think that’s why she’s gone off puréed baby foods – because I won’t let her hold the spoon for fear of flying blobs of mashed pumpkin.

And it’s becoming the same with toys too.

If I try to give Ayla a toy she won’t take it, but if I put it down nearby she’ll reach and squirm until she can grab it herself.

I’ve also noticed that anything I have suddenly becomes Ayla’s strongest desire – my wallet, keys, coffee – if it’s in my hands Ayla will drop what’s in hers in an attempt to get at it.

I’m so amazed and overwhelmed at her independence, her will, her attitude.

Ayla’s full of personality and its growing every day, right before my eyes.

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Best. Idea. Ever.

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Sunday, 20 October 2013: Two Hundred and Three Days Old.

We took a couple of friends out to the shack this weekend and given the stifling Build Up weather and Ayla’s rash I decided to pack the baby bath.

Best. Idea. Ever.

Ayla is now big enough to sit up in the bath herself, and she’s at the age where simple toys provide hours of fun – put the two together and we have one very happy little girl.

It meant I could let Ayla get as dirty as she wanted; I didn’t have to worry about giving her food to play with, or about how much sand landed on her when The Dog walk past wagging his tail.

I also didn’t have to worry about her overheating or about picking her up for a cuddle if I was dirty.

In less than twenty-four hours, Ayla was in the bath about 5 times. She sat there, quietly playing and splashing for ages and it was so wonderful to watch her.

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Grabbing

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Thursday, 5 September 2013: One Hundred and Fifty Eight Days Old

Ayla’s reached the stage where she grabs at everything!

I think it’s super cute.

Like today, when I nipped into Woolies I carried Ayla on my hip and everything I put in that hand she smacked and grabbed and pushed and tried to eat!

Ayla also loves grabbing at my face, my hair, my clothes and my handbag… The clothes and handbag grabs are the best though because it’s like she’s a little koala clinging to her mummy.

By grabbing things Ayla is also able to make choices now, like which toy she wants to play with.

But it also means that the supervision stakes have risen because everything goes on her mouth!

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The benefit of dolls

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Saturday, 31 August 2013: One Hundred and Fifty Two Days Old.

I think I’ve finally discovered the benefit of having dolls as a kid.

I was a horsey girl myself; the only doll I had was a single, solitary Barbie and that was simply so I had someone to ride the toy horses around.

But today, as I stared at the pink mess of Ayla’s atrociously painted toe nails, I found myself thinking that maybe a doll or two might have been good practice.

Poor Ayla…. her mummy is certainly no source of fashion info, no vault of make up secrets, no hidden trove of hair-do treasures and definitely, absolutely no teacher of nail polish application.

Who knows if a doll can teach a girl all those skills, but I guess we’ll find out soon enough…. As soon as Ayla’s old enough to go down the doll aisle herself that is, ’cause I can’t stand those creepy unblinking plastic eyes or the spine-tingling sound of a doll calling out “Mah-mee! Mah-mee!”.

BUT, in the meantime I can teach Ayla how to bake a cake, how to gut a fish and how to write a blog… does that count? 😉

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Favourites

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Wednesday, 21 August 2013: One Hundred and Forty Two Days Old

Ayla can now tell the difference between her toys, and it’s clear she has her favourites too.

She loves the noise her “Sophie the Giraffe” makes, and every time she hears the squeak Ayla opens up her mouth as if to taste the noise.

Ayla also loves her butterfly that stays with her seat in my car. It’s wings crinkle and there’s a tiny bell inside when she shakes it.

At home, Ayla loves her Alfie teddy which plays songs and says things like “I’m a happy bear”.

Ayla is also a gym junkie… Her play gym that is. She spends ages in there looking at herself in the mirror and grabbing at the hanging toys with her hands and feet.

But most of all Ayla loves her little blue elephant. It has two plastic “feet” for teething and inside it has the same crinkly material as her butterfly.

As soon as Ayla sees her elephant she gives the biggest grin, and before I know it she’s somehow managed to jam the trunk in her mouth.