What helped us (6-9 months)

I cannot believe it's already time for another what helped us post. Time is flying by way too quickly and I know it will only get faster during the holidays. So here is what helped us during the 6-9 months period.

Pack n' Play- Mia is a busy body! She is always on the move and into something. With Mia being so active these days, the pack n' play has become a great option. I usually put some of her favorite toys in there and she keeps herself occupied long enough for me to get some chores done. She can play safely, I can have peace of mind, and the dogs get a break from being chased all over the house. It's a win-win for everyone. 

Bath toys- Mia has also become very active in the bathtub and she makes the process pretty difficult if she is not distracted with some bath toys. We had some basic rubber duckies that worked for a while, but she got bored with them and they got gross. We have these toys that were a total waste of money and Mia just wanted to drink the water instead of play with the toys.

The toy that she likes the most is her bath time book, it keeps her the most entertained while taking a bath. These toys are on her Christmas list. From now on, I will only spend money on foam bath toys, everything else seems to be a waste/gets gross.  

Books- Mia had a library of books before she was even born. I even read to her in utero, but this girl has not been interested in books until recently. She would get frustrated while I was reading or just want to eat the book. This past month, she has actually pointed to her book shelves for a book! She still tries to eat the book, but I'm just so excited that she is finally getting into her books. These indestructible books are also on her Christmas list. 

Banana teether- I have mentioned this teether before and it is still Mia's favorite teether. Other than the price, the #1 thing I like about this teether over Sophie the giraffe is the portability. I have seen that there are "leashes" for Sophie on Etsy, but come on, I have to buy a custom lease for the already $$$ giraffe, so it doesn't end up on the ground?!? No thanks, I'll take the cheaper banana and the cheap secure a toy that is easily attached to the banana's peel. Sorry, rant over. 

She likes to keep her banana close by at all times

Gate- We have one gate in the house and it is on the door of her nursery. The gate also goes back to safety and peace of mind. We initially put it up to keep the dogs out of her room. However, once she became mobile, it was also used to keep her in her room. Her room is the "safest" (read: most baby-proofed) room of the house, so we spend a lot of time in there. It is adorable to watch the dogs and Mia meet up at the gate, our Yorkie will rub up on the gate and Mia will pet him through it. We have the Regalo extra tall gate.  

Activity table/Sit to stand walker- We have the Fisher Price musical activity table and the VTech sit to stand walker. We bought these toys for Mia when she was about 7 months old. However, she was not quite stable enough, so we left the legs off the activity table and took the activity panel off the walker. We initially thought since she could pull to stand, she could handle these toys, but she was using the table to balance herself and almost tipped it over onto her. You could also tell that she was being overstimulated by these toys at first, so we left them off until she seemed like she was ready for them to make noise. 

Around 9 months is when we were able to put the legs on the table and put the activity panel on the walker. Even at 10 months, she is just now starting to use the walker as a walker. And as far as the noise goes, she loves it now! This girl loves to dance and she will dance along with the music of both toys. She favors the activity table right now, but I'm thinking she will start favoring the walker once she starts taking more steps. 

Standing up with her walker (and you can see her legless activity table in the background)

The activity panel off the walker (pic)

We just bought this activity table, but there is a newer version out already (pic)

Mobile/Music box- Bonus points that we got to bust out her old mobile and use it again. Mia's mobile has the ability to remove the rotating arm and be used as a stand-alone music box. You can "shuffle" the music as well as "skip" songs. This girl will skip songs until she finds the one she wants like a boss! She loves this music box! 

Her mobile back in the day, HA! 

(pic)

I feel like this age period was when she really started to play and interact with us, it has been really fun! I'm so excited to see how she reacts to Santa and her first Christmas! I cannot believe how close Christmas is, we still have so much to do! I hope everyone has a safe holiday season with minimal road/shopping rage!