Happy Weekend!

So Big! A Sesame Street Book

Here is a sweet and simple post before I sign out for the weekend!  Sorry for the late post, we had birthday festivities for our (now) ELEVEN-year-old!! 

Read It
Elmo is a favorite of every household I think.  Here is a great Elmo book for those who want a great read for babies!  Elmo is so big, exploring the world around him--reaching up high, touching his nose, saying new words, and wiggling his toes.  The last page has a fun pop-up Elmo to surprise baby at the end.  This is a great read for six- to twelve-month-olds.

Enjoy It
You can tell a committee of people who study and research child development wrote this book--every page makes causes baby to pause and interact.  My ten-month-old and I enjoy reading together a lot, but I have never seen a book catch his attention more than this one!  The words rhyme, and everything Elmos does or tries my little buddy can imitate.  It is so fun to watch him try new sounds and reach up high like Elmo!

Make It Come to Life
Maybe some of you are familiar with the "So Big!" game that my Parents as Teachers professional taught me when my first son was born.  It is a fun game for babies like peek-a-boo that helps them to develop social skills and hand-eye coordination.  You can read here about more games to play with your baby.  In the "So Big!" game, you ask your child, "How big is ______?" filling in the blank with his or her name.  Then help her raise her hands above her head and say, "SO BIG!" Eventually your child will raise her arms all by herself--it is so fun to see your child learn and respond to the question, to see how proud she is of being big and how much fun she has playing with Mom or Dad.  This game pairs perfectly with Elmo's So Big! book. 

On one of the pages, Elmo shakes a rattle in a band, so my little buddy and I got out our musical instrument box and played along with Elmo.  Babies love to shake rattles or instruments to make noise and become excited when they learn the cause/effect process of their actions.  Help baby sing along with the band by making different sounds and encouraging baby to imitate you.  This is a great way to begin developing language and social skills: babies can practice making sounds and love to interact and play this way.