I've been carrying a few blog posts around in my head recently, so I'm going to try and get some of them written over the next week or so. I often think of a post, then forget about it when I'm in front of the computer, then run out of time when I next remember it...I feel I should be writing at least the titles down when I think of them!
Ideally, I wanted to write this one before Jake's birthday as he got a few new toys then which have quickly entered into his list of favourites. This post should act as a snapshot of Jake's favourite toys and interests now which should give some good comparisons later on.
1. Alan, or should I say ALAN! This is a puppet of the head of a white alpaca (hence the name). I don't think I've ever seen a child respond to a toy in such a way that Jake responds to Alan. His whole face lights up (we've got a great video where he's crying his eyes out then switches to giggles and smiles when he see Alan) and he grabs the puppet to cuddle and carry around with him. It's really cute when you've got your hand operating Alan as you can feel how tightly Jake cuddles him and it's fun to pretend to nuzzle him back through Alan.
2. The sorter. To be fair, Jake's favourite occupation at the moment is to take things out of a container and put them back in. It doesn't make any difference what the things are or what the container is, and he's as happy playing with the clothes in his wardrobe baskets as he is with an actual block sorter. However, he enjoys the challenge of putting a shape into the right hole (and beams when he does so first time round) so our wooden sorter always goes with us. His addiction to sorting means that you often find bits of food, socks and other toys stashed away at the end of the day, almost like he's saving them for later.
3. Plastic balls. We bought a couple of big bags (probably 100 total) of plastic balls to make a ball pit for his birthday, but Jake much prefers them as an indoor game. We simple unzip the bag and he scoots over, takes a few out and then tips the whole bag over. He'll then happily chase them around the floor, picking some up to bang together, putting others back into the bag. My favourite moments are where he decides on a ball to pick up, but because he scoots on his bum with his feet facing out meaning that he kicks the ball away from himself. This makes him laugh as he chases it again, only to kick it away. The sheer quantity of balls stops him from getting too frustrated.
4. Push bike. Another nearly new sale purchase. This bike slowly transforms to become a push along bike that Jake will walk behind, but at the moment he's much more interested in riding it, especially as his feet now touch the ground. It took him a while to work out how to move his legs to move the bike forward, but his favourite kitchen game is to push himself along to you and then be pushed back across the floor to start all over again. It's also full of buttons to press and make noise, making it a toy that we'll use a lot in the future!
5. Sunny. Sunny is a car toy to keep him calm on long rides and it's up there as it's got so many different sounds, movements and textures to keep Jake occupied. I like especially as it comes from an unlikely source, a friend who I wouldn't have put down as buying fantastic kids toys, but obviously knows his way around the Early Learning Centre. Sunny is about the same size as Jake, which makes me laugh as I tend to cover Jake up with Sunny as we get into the car.
The rest of his toys come and go in popularity, but the sheer quantity that we've accumulated means that we can always rediscover toys later on. We'll always be on the lookout for new things that will engage him and it'll be interesting to see the transition from his current favourites to new toys in the weeks and months to come.
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