Loving This Stuff-7 Months

Cruz is obsessed with the bath. Since the hardest time of day is the stretch right before bedtime, I have made bathtime part of his bedtime routine each night (although, if you do this, I would recommend not actually washing them with soap every night but probably every 2-3 nights). We take a bath, put jammies on, read a book, drink a bottle, say prayers and then it's "night night" time. Here is what I'm loving for bathtime:

Rubber Ducky:

http://www.diapers.com/product/productdetail.aspx?productid=6530

Cliche, I know:)

Cups:

He loves these hard plastic cups we have in our cupboard. Easy and cheap fun:)

Bath Letters & Numbers:

http://www.diapers.com/product/productdetail.aspx?productid=36253

Obviously he has no idea what these things are but he loves to chew on them:)

Aveeno Wash:

http://www.diapers.com/product/productdetail.aspx?productid=5376

I like this wash because it's reasonably priced and smells so good! I tried using organic wash for a while and it's just so expensive so I switched to this.

Other Toys Cruzer is loving right now:

Music Table:

http://www.diapers.com/product/productdetail.aspx?productid=15775

I help him stand at the music table and he bangs away at this thing for quite a while before getting bored.

Walker:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Combi-All-in-One-Activity-Walker-Black/12572801?sourceid=1500000000000003260330&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=12572801

This has been great! It has been really cute to see him learn how to "walk" in this thing. He puts his arms up over his head and totally goes for it, banging into anything that gets in his way!

Jumperoo:

http://www.diapers.com/product/productdetail.aspx?productid=20744

We actually had to leave ours in CA when we moved but this is such a great activity for babies who aren't mobile quite yet. They get a ton of exercise and it's a nice break for mama:)

Stacking Cups:

http://www.diapers.com/product/productdetail.aspx?productid=58781

Cheap and easy fun!

Teething Toys:

Cruz likes anything frozen. An easy and cheap trick (which most of you probably know already) is to roll up wet wash cloths and throw them in the freezer. This is probably Cruz's favorite teething "toy". He also likes these:

Sophie (way too expensive, but luckily I got it as a gift!)

http://www.diapers.com/product/productdetail.aspx?productid=15640

MAM Frozen Teethers

http://www.diapers.com/product/productdetail.aspx?productid=48937

Books, Books, Books!

Your baby is never too young to start "reading" books. I read a book to Cruz before every nap and bed and also during playtime. I'm hoping this early exposure will create a love for them in the future.

Independent Playtime

I put Cruz in his pack 'n play around the same time every day for about 30 minutes. He had to work up to playing this long alone but he does a pretty good job at keeping himself busy. I put him in there with a few toys I know will keep him interested and he makes it, most days, about 30 minutes.

Practice!

Cruz is almost crawling. He gets up on all 4's and rocks backward and then face plants. I think it's so important to help him practice conquering this new skill, so we do a ton of tummy time to get those core muscles stronger:). Practice, practice, practice!