It’s official! My Munchkin has turned two. So does that mean I need to prepare for the terrible twos everyone talks about? Well, we’ll find out.

Unlike her first birthday, which we spent with a small family get-together, we were travelling on her second birthday. We, however, planned it in a way that we took her to the zoo on her birthday and what a great decision it was!

Time at the Zoo

My Munchkin has been to a local zoo earlier when she was much smaller then. She did enjoy it then as well but this time around was different. She recognized most of the animals and hence could enjoy the experience a lot more. You could actually see the joy when she was seeing the animal in real as compared to just seeing the pictures. In Montessori, we believe in giving real experiences to the child and it is at times like this where I truly understand how effective that is.

It was a long day but we did not feel it as My Munchkin was up and about all the time. We are definitely doing Zoo trips more often once back home.

Flight Experience

Although this wasn’t her first flight but it was a long one compared to the one she has done earlier so we were a little apprehensive. We planned the entire journey and took some travel activities for her to make sure she was busy on flight. It was a fairly good experience though and went by pretty easily. I will put up a detailed blog on the activities I made for the trip.

Terrible Twos

Most people dread this age and it’s always talked about as the terrible twos. There was a lovely post I shared sometime back that explains it really well, you can read it below:

https://www.facebook.com/munchkindiaries/posts/523506878048495

Very simply put, Munchkins this age are going through developmental changes and hence what we call tantrums are often frustration for them not being able to express themselves, for us not letting them try doing things themselves, for a “NO” we tell them for most things and so on..

Personally, we haven’t felt it so far and hoping that we would not in the future as well. Have you experience what they call as the ‘terrible twos’?

So my Munchkin is almost 2 now. What new things have we gone through? There is a major leap in independence and she wants to do almost everything by herself (or at least give it a shot). This is also with choices; she wants to make her own decisions with her basics needs like clothes, shoes, food and more. We have been experiencing this for sometime now, however, suddenly it’s a big leap and it now happens even more. Well, we do respect her choices and decisions and try to accommodate them as long as it’s safe for her.

Two Year Olds can be Tricky!

It is not always easy to deal with a 2 year old – they can be very tricky. One moment they are laughing and the next you will find them crying. What we can do best is acknowledge their feelings always. It’s okay for them to cry, give them a hug if they need it, and let them know it’s going to be okay. A lot of times, too many options overwhelm them and so they are unsure and that eventually upsets them. Hence, when giving choices keep it as two or maximum three.

Language and Writing

At this age (more often earlier) they are extremely interested in Alphabets and Numbers and would probably ask you what they are called. It’s best to not start teaching these to them yet and divert them. Ideally, you start with sounds and then move to the Alphabet. At 2, they are still too young to start learning the Alphabets and Numbers and most often just rote-learn them, which actually does not help. (I hope to do a detailed write up on this topic soon).

Writing too, should not be introduced for a long time. Yes they definitely want to and it’s best to allow them to scribble as they wish preferably with chalk on a blackboard or with thick crayons on paper.

Surroundings

They are able to understand a lot more now and express themselves well. It is a good time to take them places or to events where they can view various portraits, handwork, décor. We recently went to a mall, where they was an exhibit of artwork and My Munchkin was extremely fascinated by the things she saw.

Culture

A great time to start introducing our culture and festivals to her. Since it was December, the Christmas festivities were in full swing. We tried to take her to as many places as possible where she could simply take in what she saw, ask questions and understand the basics.

Apart from this, as mentioned there was a wedding in our family and we were away for some part due to that. My Munchkin had a blast with all the fun, laughter and love around. It was an experience in itself for her to try and understand things going on.

So this month and the holiday season was pretty much full of fun with both Christmas and the Wedding.

What did you and your Munchkin do during the holidays?

9 months in… 9 months out… Once they are out, they are growing so fast you don’t even realize it. Before you know it, they are recognizing, rolling, sitting, crawling, walking and time does not stop.

My Munchkin has started crawling and sitting by herself around the same time. Crawling came first and a few days later she started sitting unaided as well. She has been on the go from the time she started crawling, exited about being able to explore things on her own. You can tell she is enjoying being able to move about independently.

We have moved her to a highchair for her meals. Though, Montessori encourages the use of a Weaning table we decided to use a highchair gifted to her for sometime before moving her to the table.

With each passing month, there is more that we can do with our Munchkins.

Pincer Movements

Around this time, children start their pincer movements (index finger and thumb). We can provide them with things like finger food, thin slices of bread, thin slices of fruit and anything your Munchkin likes which is easy for them to pick up and hold.  The pincer movement is one of the foundation for preparation to writing.

Bar on wall

Once your Munchkin is sitting / crawling, you can sit a bar into the ball. This should be about 2 to 3 cm from the wall so that they can hold it. It should be around the chest height of your Munchkin. You can also put a mirror behind the bar. This encourages the baby to pull himself to stand and also develops gross motor movements. We, unfortunately, did not have the space to do this but I do highly recommend it.

Ottoman / Small Stool

This is another option that can be used to encourage standing. A small stool or ottoman, around the stomach height of your Munchkin can be kept in their play area. It is important to make sure that the stool / ottoman is heavy and stable so that it does not turn over when they try pulling themselves up with it.

Basket of balls

A basket with 5 to 6 balls of different sizes and textures. This should be given to the to explore. They can kick, roll them, chase it, feel with their hands, anything as they wish.  This again develops gross motor movements.

Music box

Children love music so any kind of music box is recommended. When I say any kind, I mean more related to instrumental music and soft soothing sounds.

Books

Books should be a part of your Munchkin’s life from birth (or pregnancy). At this stage, have a basket of books that he can choose from. Soft cloth books are the best at this age. Alternately, hardbound books that do not have sharp edges should be used,

DIY Colourful Soft Blocks

These are very simple to make and your Munchkin will love using them. My Munckin has been playing with them for more than 6 months. These are good to give as first blocks to your baby. The commercial ones can be given a little later.

To make the Soft Blocks, cut out sponge in square / rectangle shapes – try keeping them around the same size. Then, cover each one and stitch cloth over each of them in your primary, secondary and tertiary colours. If you can arrange cloth of material, that would be even better. Give these to your Munchkin to play with, they can observe them, build with them, chew on them and do lots more.

Colours – Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, Purple, Pink, Brown, Orange, Grey, Black and White.

Have you tried making Soft Blocks for your Munchkin? Did he / she enjoy playing with them? Share your experience with us.

Entering into Month 7, my munchkin is still developing her back muscles and spine and still isn’t sitting completely unaided yet. We do make her sit with the support of something till she is comfortable. 

She continues to enjoy tummy time and tries to move forward as well. We give her some toy she likes, encouraging her to reach for it. I sometimes wonder if she will crawl first or sit first – only time will tell!!

While she follows her natural growth chart, we continue to give her things/toys to explore and develop her senses and movements.

Cylinder with Bell

This should ideally be wooden but a little difficult to find in India. There are many commercial rattles with a similar concept that you can use for your baby. The Cylinder with Bell is placed near the baby to encourage movement. It is an activity for gross motor movement and also permits auditory stimulation.

"Movement is one of the most important aspects of development in the first years of life. [It] is an essential characteristic of life and serves all living beings as an indispensable tool." Silvana Quattrochcchi Montanaro

Big Soft Ball

A big ball made of fabric and cotton is used to encourage play with the child. They enjoy throwing the ball, holding it up and trying various things to discover their own potentialities. I often give my munchkin the ball to play and let her play by herself (of course supervising from far). She would try to throw it up, and really enjoy the hand and wrist movement.   She had a firm grip on the ball as well.

Talking to your Baby

You must wonder why I am rewriting this topic but I cannot stress how important this is. Conversations we have with our babies play a vital role in their conversational skills later.

“Everything you say to your child is absorbed, catalogued and remembered.” – Maria Montessori

This is exactly why it is important for us to use correct language at all times when speaking to a child. We should always look at them when we speak to them – after all, there is more than words that they are taking in from us.

DIY Colour Sensory Bottles

This month I decided to introduce her to different colour sensory bottles. I came across this simple DIY on another blog and loved the idea. So I used empty bottles (same kind) and took off the labels, filled them with water and added food colouring to it. I chose to do only five colours – red, blue, yellow, green and orange. The result as you can see became another workbasket she will be using for many months.

I simply prop her up or when she is on her tummy and give her the basket to explore. For now, I am not giving her any colour names and trying to teach her that. All I want is for her to explore each colour and take in as much as she can from these bottles.

She enjoyed them a lot and would spend a lot of time looking at them, removing them from the basket, trying to put them back in.

I saw another variation in this on some site where instead of water, you could add in objects of the same colour in each bottle, for e.g, in the red bottle you put all sorts of objects red in colour, add in some red confetti, pom poms, ribbon, paper, etc too. Then a basket of these coloured bottles can be offered to the child to explore. There would definitely be a lot more for the baby to look at in these as compared to the ones I made her.

Would you try the Colour Sensory Bottles for your munchkin?  Share your experience, would love to hear if you munchkin responded to it !!

Almost half a year old, we now understand more of what our munchkin tries to communicate. She is quite a talker! It was her first Eid and she had a simple, quiet celebration at home.

We have learnt so much in these few months and still have along way to go. Even though I have a professional training in Montessori (3-6 years), I research in the free time I have, read article, other’s blogs, Maria Montessori’s books and more. The fundamental is the same for all age groups but I like to know of the various materials and toys recommended for Birth to 3 years and then see what works for my munchkin and what replicas can be made or procured.

She is beginning to sit unsupported (still sometime to go) and seems to enjoy it as she looks at things from a different angle now. We have recently started her on solids and water so she is still understanding their tastes. Though it is recommended to start weaning (will cover this later) them, we have opted to wait for some time. She uses a sipper to drink water and manages to drink by herself with supervision. We were gifted a bouncer and currently use that when feeding her as she still does not still completely unsupported.

We have not yet set up her Montessori shelves and give her things to explore during her playtime. This is a good time to introduce your munchkins to treasure baskets – no they aren’t too young for it.

First treasure basket

Treasure baskets offer a lot of sensorial opportunities apart from hand eye coordination.  Things of various textures, smells, weight, sizes and so on can be introduced over time.

For the first few baskets, introduce things that are familiar to them like keys, bangles, spoon, hairbrush, clothes peg. Always check that none of the object have sharp edges or are too small or dangerous in any way for the baby.

You can rotate and add new objects if you feel your baby needs variations. You can initially mix things and later do them in categories like bathroom objects, bedroom objects, kitchen objects, balls, etc.

My munchkin’s first basket included a spatula, a strainer, empty baby bath bottle, empty moisturizer bottle and detergent measurer.

I later had a separate basket of different types of balls. She enjoys this till date at 15 months.

Apart from this, there are some more recommended baskets for 6 months:

Basket with Textured Fabrics

A basket with 3-4 fabrics of different textures cut into a square. Fabrics like jute, cotton, towel, linen would work well. You can cut them up into 6 x6 inch squares and keep them in a basket or small open box for your baby to explore. They look at it, touch and feel it, put it in their mouth (this goes for everything these days).

This is a simple basket you can make yourself with cloth available at home.

Basket with Rattles

Similar to the above, take 3-4 different looking rattles and put it in a box/basket for them to explore. Avoid using the extremely noisy plastic ones available in the market.

Knitted or crocheted ball

Someone in the family generally knows how to knit so these are relatively easy to source. A knitted / crocheted ball is something they enjoy playing with. It is easy for them to grasp as when they hold it, their fingers can go into it. Place this ball in close reach of your baby to encourage movement.

Basket of Animals

Basket with farm animals like horse, cow, goat, sheep, etc. This can be given at a later stage once your baby sits unaided so as to be able to explore further.

Themed Baskets

At a later stage, you can have themed baskets and use themes like kitchen, a specific colour, rings, brushes, different sounds, colour, brushes and so on.

There are various ways of making treasure baskets but most important is to observe what your baby enjoys and work on the baskets accordingly.

Have just one basket out at a time and rotate the things in them every few days, weekly, as you feel works for your baby. These baskets can be used and explored for the next few months.

Do you use Treasure Baskets for your baby? Which is your favourite one?

With each passing day, I see more movement with my munchkin. She manages to turn about 180 degrees when on her tummy and even rolls to her side. We give her ample of opportunities for movement during her waking hours. She has also become very responsive when we speak to her. Each step is a milestone in itself and I’m sue you are going through the same feelings of excitement with every new move your baby makes. I would love to hear about it.

Considering all the movement going on with the munchkin, there are some things that we can do to encourage them some more.

If you are not able to sew something on, you even get socks online that have some figure already on them. Do give it a try when you feel your baby has started noticing their legs and has developed certain level of movement.

Montessori Puzzle Ball

This is something I wish I had made (rather asked my aunt to make). It’s a great DIY for mommies good at sewing.

A great developmental toy that allows a lot of grasping opportunities. It is made in such a way that the baby can hold the ball from any angle and it does not even roll too far away from them. It is soft and so babies can even chew on it. The bell in it also attracts the baby with its soft pleasant sound.

Interlocking Rings

Three or four rings, which interlock and are preferably made of metal or wood – different materials produce a different sound. Develops grasping and should be placed within baby’s reach. I had interlocking bangles and used those; you could also try something similar.

Commercial rattles

Again not the noisy plastic ones and preferably ones made of wood or natural materials. Look for rattles that are easy for the babies to hold and make a sound themselves. Good for auditory and tactile experiences. Companies like Aatike and Shumee make good wooden ones and can be easily bought online.

Play Gym

By now I am sure you have understood the important of freedom of movement in the Montessori Method. Allowing your baby to move around and explore their environment without restrictions (we must of course always be careful). One of the best ways for this is using a Play Gym.

It gives the baby a free movement area, objects to develop their senses and encourages independent play. Additionally, it can be moved around and setup at different places in your house as per your convenience.

There are various types of Montessori play gyms, which are simple and made as per the child’s needs. They are a little difficult to get in India (unless we have them made). Most of the play gyms available are extremely overwhelming for the baby with lights, sounds, and irrelevant toys hanging. 

I was searching for a long time but was unable to source one. Around this time, my munchkin was gifted a play gym by her uncle. Unlike most mainstream play gyms, this one had no lights, sounds and simple toys (teether and rings) hanging from it.

The play gym gave her lots of time for independent play and she could grasp the toys, pull them, try to chew on it, kick in the air. I even had the option to remove the toys and hang the ones she used like the bell on a ribbon, rattle, etc. It was not a Montessori play gym however my munchkin loved it (and so did I!).

Do you use or plan to use a play gym for your munchkin? Do share your experience with us.