Toys

I know I promised I'd write next about cloth diapers, but lets be real - I know you're not all checking my blog every hour to read about cloth diapers. I know (most of you) want to see pictures of Liam and hear what he's been up to these days. So all of you (one of you) who are waiting to read my riveting news about cloth diapers, check back later. Today I want to talk about "toys" that Liam has enjoyed so far this week.

This child is not deprived of toys. He even got a lot of new toys for his birthday. But ever since he understood what toys were he has chosen instead to play with things that are not actually toys. Namely cups, spoons, straws, boxes, fridge magnets, paper, coupon books, etc. He will occasionally play with his toys, but that lasts a short while before he is opening my cabinets and taking out bowls to play with. Honestly, I have no problem with this type of "play." I encourage him to play with various things and use his imagination in playing. It does require a lot more picking up on my part and some discipline to teach him what he can't play with (an entire package of paper napkins) and teach him how to put things away, but I figure that is a small price to play for a child who can think outside the box and invent new ways to play.

A typical scene. Playing with a breast milk storage container he found in his closet and a yogurt container. The yogurt container is perfect for taking smaller toys in and out of.

Lately his latest find has been a bag of Hershey's Bliss chocolate squares. Thank goodness he has no idea what chocolate is! I call them his "squares." It fascinates me to watch what he can do with a bag of chocolate squares and how long it keeps him entertained. This week he's: taken the chocolates in and out of the bag, carried them one at a time to a stool, set them up on top and then one at a time brought them back to me, put them in the washing machine and taken them out again (don't worry, I checked before I did laundry!) spun them around on the floor like a top and my favorite, stacked them inside a napkin ring. This last one was especially fascinating to me because completely unprovoked by me, he got a napkin ring out of the drawer, stacked the chocolates one at a time in the napkin ring (it held four), then picked up the napkin ring so they all fell out and did it again and again.

Playing with his "squares"

Yesterday I actually took some pictures of his various "non-toy" activities. Excuse the condition of the photos - my camera is not fast enough to catch a busy boy!

A new adventure yesterday -- dragging mama's apron around by the strings like it was a dog on a leash. He walked around and around the house laughing to himself and dragging the apron.

Another object he has been fascinated with this week are my tall rain boots that sit by our front door. He is starting to even say the word "boot." Yesterday he was having so much fun dropping a ball into the boot and getting it out again. Later I found about ten various toys down inside the boot.

Papa helped Liam stand up in the boots, but his feet couldn't touch the bottom so it wasn't very comfortable.

There is no lack of curiosity from this little guy and I love it. I hope he always keeps a sense of wonder about the world and how things work.