world's best puzzle!

Nana and PopPop came to visit this weekend and brought this Melissa and Doug Puzzle.


I almost think I love it more than Owen does; it is absolutely perfect! First, it has several of his beloved animals (giraffe, lion) but also a few he does not know yet. The pictures are very cute and interesting, the puzzle is sturdy, but the best feature of all, in my opinion, is that the pieces are very thick! They are taller than the puzzle itself, which makes it easy to take them out but also fun to play with. I've been finding the pieces all over the house the past two days, it is such a hit! Definitely have to invest in more Melissa and Doug puzzles in the future.


...oh and the disclaimer is that this is, in fact, the only puzzle we have so I have no idea if it is the best ever ;) But I still love it!

We also did a little shopping and I was finally able to pick up some stacking cups (better late then never, right?) And I have been so pleased at how much fun Owen has with them. They are definitely easier for him than the nesting blocks he has so I think I will be on the lookout for fun things we can do with them together. Hope you had a fun weekend, we were very busy with the grandparents!

in which we make noise, eat finger paint, stack and explore color (or not)

at the library, Owen really seemed to enjoy playing with shakers while dancing around to music so I decided to implement this at home. We've danced, and we've shaked, but never at the same time. I rounded up some noisemakers-- a set of keys, bells, a homemade shaker bottle (beads, rice and found items in a waterbottle), round bead containers, a package of beads and a vitamin container with magnets inside.


I was searching for the Ting Tings, which I think is the essential toddler dance music (and should be marketed as such) but settled for Mates of State instead. It was a blast, well for about four songs, and then he suddenly found coloring more appealing, but that is exactly why I set up the color table so I was cool with that.


Fingerpainting with pudding was another activity of the day. I had mixed up and colored instant pudding last week so we used the leftovers. If I were making it fresh today I would have had Owen help stir in the food coloring. I laid out tinfoil (interesting to play with and easy cleanup) and set out some utensils and objects and let him do his thing with the pudding. He had lots of fun smearing and eventually eating, the pudding. And spoon practice!


I thought this stacking rings-type activity was going to be a hit, but it wasn't. As soon as Owen saw the paper towel holder, he started making car noises and was driving it around the room. lol. Well I had cut up some toilet paper rolls, and gathered up other round objects with holes in them like stacking rings, bracelets, duct tape, etc for him to place on and take off of the paper towel holder. I will definitely try this again because I still think its a great activity.


the final thing we did was introduce the color green, which I don't think he's really ready to embrace but we will keep looking at colors. Today I put a bunch of green things in a green bag and had him play with them and take them out while I named the items...Usually this sort of discovery is really fun but the bag must have been full of lame stuff because he was so over it in a few seconds... Maybe if I had said "these are my cherished treasures please do not touch them" he would have spent a lot of time on it, who knows. Anyway, I have some piles of red and blue objects put together in the closet, I am sure we will try this again soon.