At 16-months, Gus is at one of my favorite ages! He is sweet and curious, snuggly and gaining independence. Every day he is learning something new, his own interests are becoming stronger and his own personality is shining through.
He's also super busy, into everything and just a lot of fun! I thought I would share a few minutes of his playtime and some observations that I can see by looking at these pictures. These pictures are totally candid and are just about 10 minutes of his playtime (these pictures aren't totally in order)!
What He's Doing: Looking out the side door at the older kids playing outside, while throwing balls all over the room.
My Thoughts: I love this picture because it is a very real view of how play looks at this age. It looks messy, but if you look past that, there is so much order that is developing! I see:
- the binoculars he was using (see below) are put back on the shelf but not in the right spot
- the basket for the Matryoshka doll is restored but he forgot to put the dolls in it
- movement is important for him
- the work on the shelf is attractive to him, he explored a lot of it
- I should probably model cleaning work up a bit quicker as he moves on to something new
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What He's Doing: Looking out the window at the squirrels, holding a pair of binoculars meant for the older children. Concentrating on a Matryoshka doll.
My Thoughts: Picture 1: He's imitating me and the older children with the binoculars. He loves animals and will stare out the window for long periods of time watching the squirrels and birds. This reminds me to get him more involved in filling our bird feeders.
Picture 2: I love the stillness in his concentration. His sense of order must be increasing since he is very into the size puzzle and the nesting doll which both have a focus on putting things in the right order. I love his wavy-curlyish hair, that one spot is almost always sticking straight up.
What He's Doing: Putting away his toy car. Crawling under the climber for a ball.
My Thoughts: Picture 1: I started to restore some of the work on the shelves and he followed suit by grabbing the yellow car and putting it away. He enjoys being part of the family and doing practical clean up work. Again, probably speaking to his strengthening sense of order.
Picture 2: There is so much movement in his play! These balls have been out on his shelves for months and they are still one of the most popular toys. But, even with the movement you can see how concentrated he is on tracking down the ball.
What He's Doing: Showing me his hair. Putting away the balls he was playing with.
My Thoughts: Picture 1: He is the cutest baby! He loves having conversations now, and I can see he is becoming more interested in his own body. Maybe time to get some body books or work out.
Picture 2: It's clear that he is starting to really take all of our modeling to heart and understand that things have a place and that they need to be put back when you are done. I was the one that put away all of the other things as he was playing. There's nothing more physically impressive to me than a toddler squat! I wish I had that kind of flexibility. It's just amazing how far his gross motor skills have come.
Do you ever watch your baby play? What observations have you made lately?
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