playing with. . . toys!?

so far, nissa has had more fun playing with boxes than actual toys. she'll chew on her diapers instead of a teether.

but i pulled out the walker toy the other day, intended for 9 months and up, and she loves it. she'll crawl to "chase" one of the balls along the floor (when she grabs for it, she ends up pushing it away, or does she do it on purpose?). she'll pull the lever to make it play the stupid song. but the most exciting thing she does is take the balls and other shapes and put them right in the hole at the top. she did this for the first time a few days ago and i was so impressed. the lights light up, the little tune sounds and she reaches for another. when did she get so coordinated? surely this is some type of milestone? it's just so cool. i'm working on showing her which shapes go in which hole, but those don't make sounds or light up, so there's a lot less motivation there.


nissa's other neat trick is to climb up the toy. if i hold it still, she'll pull herself up to kneeling from her stomach, then inch in her knees. if she's really feeling tough, she'll keep pulling until she's standing. she's already taken a tumble from this position, but still goes back, so i feel less guilty for letting her fall [and bawl hysterically :(]. the other day she kept pulling, stepping on the wheels for more height, so she could chew on the red handlebar. it was so cute to watch her work so hard to get into such a precarious position. she seemed happy up there, though.


when the day is done, nissa's gotten an excellent work out and i know she'll love to climb when she's bigger (just like me!). when she's tired and ready for bed, sometimes she'll scream, but usually she sucks her thumb and folds her ear. i like the latter much better.