Babe in Toyland

I made a fun discovery this week while running errands at the local K-mart. I was making my rounds in the baby section getting some more baby oatmeal and a new pack of pacies to replace the one I lost recently on a walk, when I saw the baby TOYS.
It's so exciting! With Eliza's 6 month bday, she has made a big step in the baby world!

But one of the most exciting for me is that all the coolest toys all say "For ages 6m+!" Meaning it's play time in the Meldau Morrison house!
Steve and I used to joke about the reason we wanted kids was so we'd get to play again! And in many ways that's come true! It seems like the sillier we get, the more Eliza is entertained by us and the more laughs we're able to squeeze out of her.So I found some baby keys that Eliza was chewing on before we even left the store that also make some funny noises (which I'm sure we'll be sick of in about a week). And also found these really neat balls that have different textures to help the babies grab them. Eliza really likes them, and I'm hoping they'll motivate her to MOVE! She already scoots after them when she plays on her tummy!
Our favorite new toy is definitely the baby keyboard! Eliza was playing with it before we left the store too and now she's even learned to sing along. Perhaps she inherited the Morrison talent for musical instruments (sorry Meldau's, but you know the truth about our musical (in)abilities-- hard work and practice can only take us so far).

Another discovery she's made this week is that she now knows how to pick up her paci off of the ground and put it back in her mouth all by herself! This may seem like a small thing, but O NO! This is ground breaking! And this skill also provides minutes of entertainment for the times where she ends up putting the paci in backwards.

One of Steve's and my favorite new toys is our new Baby Einstein Baby Neptune: Discovering Water DVD that we got for cheap at Sam's! It's got neat music and some very neat nature clips along with some great corny puppet shows! Eliza we'll sit and watch (not quietly) only if we're sitting and watching with her! Which is how I am-- I always make Steve sit and watch my shows and movies with me too. Steve definitely lives with 2 very demanding women...
Another favorite new activity for Eliza is "walking." She loves for us to walk her around the apartment, especially when it involves chasing the puppy. Whenever she gets close to mika she screams with delight! She's gotten so fond of walking that now all we have to do is pull her into a standing position and hold her arms, and she starts kicking her legs forward and walking along! Once I'm ready to be done "walking," I'll try to put her back into a sitting position, and she locks her legs and won't let me!

She's so much more interested in "walking" and standing up against the couch or chair rather than tummy time or just sitting. But I still make her have some mandatory tummy time every day, and I've seen some improvement.

Her attention span with even her coolest new toys still is fairly minimal. Every minute or so she looks up to "check" on Steve and me, and if we're not close at hand she'll watch us walking back and forth or voice her displeasure. I keep thinking that she shouldn't have been a firstborn child because she just loves people (and animals) so much! Much more than any inanimate objects. She loves just watching all the older kids playing at the gym's child care center. Such a funny interactive child!

But what is it that never fails to bring this smile to Eliza's face....?...Mika! Poor mika! He's such a good sport with Eliza. She grabs him any chance she gets. Steve said he thinks we should shave mika... I don't think I'm ready for that quite yet.
With all the fun play time we've been having lately, by 6:30 or 7pm Eliza looks like this...


And did I mention that this wild woman is actually a cuddler?? She's all about cuddling in my lap and arms lately. She's such a sweetheart, and especially right after her nap, she snuggles up with me and her blankey for a good little while before she starts babbling to me and then squirming away to her toyland!