7 Months: Reuben

It's important for me to set goals and to track my efforts otherwise I am prone to getting distracted by other things. So (hopefully) I'm going to give a recap of what Reubs is up to each month after being inspired by How We Montessori.

Our montessori inspired activities for Reuben at 7 months:

Building towers

I picked up a great set of cups from Ikea that stack and Reuben loves to see them stacked and tries to either pick the top off the stack or pick up the whole stack which inevitably leads to it being knocked over, he then rolls/crawls around playing with the individual cups.

Treasure baskets
I had intended to give him a new one each week but we were away often so we only did one - round objects. I put in it all the round things I could find. He loves it. Initially he would just dump the basket and play with that, then he would dump the basket and find one thing on the floor but now he sits in front of it and pulls things out one by one until he finds one that really takes his fancy.

Finger painting
I thought that Reub would love finger painting, I imagined that he would giggle and be amazed. He liked it but wasn't fussed when it was over. We made his painting into little gift cards for each of his aunties and uncles for Christmas, I'm not a big fan of stuff so it was a nice way for us to meaningfully use his first paintings. He didn't eat the paint nearly as much as I expected him to, he was still quite interested in mashing it into the paper.

Reuben is at the beautiful curious and interactive stage. It's lovely to just sit and watch him play with things, anything really we went camping and he gravitated towards the broom. He babbles to himself and says "mumumumumumum mum" and almost whispers "da da da da". He's got 5 teeth with a 6th not far away and loves putting everything in his mouth. For the most part he's an excellent eater, a terrible sleeper and generally happy and smiley. He's had a big December - travel to WA, a week in Melbourne before Christmas, his first Christmas, a week camping at the beach, swimming in the pool and the beach for the first time (hated the waves, loved the sand), he's started crawling and being able to sit himself up.

Reuben loves:

• pulling hair
• touching faces
• playing with cups, ribbons, things that roll, things that he can bang
• reading books
• when we sing (twinkle twinkle little star is very calming for him) 
• eating fruit especially apricots, grapes, apples and also loves cucumber and celery 
• being pushed in his pram
• patting our dog
• drinking from his shot glass

xx

Our Floor Bed: Pre-rolling

I'm finding that before Reuben can sit up there aren't many "activities" that I can do with him. Of course we play and interact but as far as the wonderful world of pinterest montessori activities goes it doesn't seem to kick in until we're working on fine motor skills etc.

So before he turns 6 months (in 2 weeks... eek!) and starts sitting independently it's about organising his spaces.

First up, the floor bed.

Yep, people look at me strange. Yep, they usually say "like, a regular single bed, on the floor? Oh.".

But with the support of my gorgeous hubby we decided, if we're going to do Montessori, this seems like a pretty essential part.

The theory behind the floor bed is recognition of the space around them, independence when they are able to move around and responsibility and trust for sleeping/quiet time.

Confession: the floor bed is easy when bub isn't moving around. Lately, Reubs has been shuffling around the bed so, inevitably, the day will come when he falls off. How will I deal with this? By hoping like hell he's a quick learner and only does it once or twice.

The pros so far has been that it's easy to pick him up, put him down, read a book to him while sitting next to him, comfort him by lying close to him when he's unsettled.

The cons so far is fear of falling (yet to happen, but will soon).

The challenge of the floor bed for us was that we didn't want it directly on the floor for air circulation issues to solve this we bought a trundle which makes it a few more inches for him to fall and an edge of which we've added some foam to soften the blow.

I'm excited about how Reubs will interact with his room once he's mobile.

For more info check out these posts:
http://laurenhartmann.com/2013/11/our-montessori-floor-bed-experience.html
http://www.voilamontessori.com/en/guest-post-the-floor-bed/

Getting Organised: Food!

Reuben is fast approaching 5 months, and everyone is getting very excited about starting him on solids. I'm excited, but waiting until the moment is right, not too soon and not to late; goldilocks style.

First I have to get organised - I love that being prepared is the Montessori way. So here is my list of getting organised:

1. Cutlery - The best deal I've found is through I Am Montessori

2. Plates, bowls, shot glasses and pitchers... searching the op shops.

3. Weaning table and chair - My father in law is going to help me make it thanks to the patterns from Voila Montessori and I've ordered this high chair so Reuben can be involved in our meals.

4. Read everything I can on the topic - so far my list involves
Montessori Moms - who makes reference to this great article
How We Montessori
Vibrant Wanderings
Montessori.org - PDF on food.
Natural Parents Network
Michael Olaf

5. Watch for the signs Reuben is ready. See the Raising Children Network
- can sit up and hold his head when supported - check!
- shows and interest in food - he's looking at the cup/fork going from the table/plate to mouth - check!
- reaches out for your food - not yet
- opens mouth when offered food - not yet

6. Start thinking about Reuben's first foods. 

7. Start introducing water and juice (he's not ready yet!):

Do you have any good references or experiences? Get in touch in the comments or via email jessclairewhite@gmail.com


References:
http://www.iammontessori.com.au/products/kids-stainless-steel-cutlery-set-zoo-animals-d-line
http://www.voilamontessori.com/en/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Weaning-chair-VoilaMontessori.pdf
http://www.michaelolaf.net/08%20weaning1.pdf
Montessori Moms - who makes reference to this great article
How We Montessori
Vibrant Wanderings
Montessori.org - PDF on food.
Natural Parents Network
Michael Olaf
http://raisingchildren.net.au/articles/when_to_introduce_solids.html
http://www.limetreekids.com.au/product-soho-wooden-highchair-1319.aspx