Baby Blog

There are only a few species on the planet that use tools. As far as I know, it’s human and apes. Despite the fact that baby Nik has had an early introduction to such things as pens and paintbrushes, he has left them alone. Except of course when he was banging them off the nearest surface or hitting the cat with them. Things they are a changing.

In the last few weeks Nik has gone from putting toothbrushes down the toilet to brushing his hair with them and then finally pretending to brush his teeth with them. There seems to be a lot going on with my baby all at once and I’m trying to keep track of all these milestones. Using tools has got to mean my little monkey is on his way to becoming a toddler right?

His fine motor skills came in a little earlier, around eight months. His pincher grasp has seen him through the last few months without a problem. Now he’s gone from delicately eating one grain of rice at a time to using his collective fingertips to squish it all together and shove lumps of rice down his throat. He’s still working on the whole eating thing but he’s finally using his spoon the right way round so that’s something.

Still transitioning between being a mouth and hand explorer, baby Nik colors with his crayons in between sucking them. He now also uses them to color in the television screen which is progress right? He’s making connections and trying to manipulate his environment. No, I don’t how to get it off without smearing the wax all over the glass.

At the restaurant the other day Nik was painting with his milk and the straw that came in his cup. He can hold a paintbrush too but prefers that tools for brushing the cat.

The point is, he understands that things around him have purpose and can be manipulated and aren’t just fuzzy bright colors anymore. They are not just weird things that mom and dad play with. These “toys” are everywhere and way more interesting than anything in his toy box.

Nik’s discovery of tools and the world of parental “toys” came on pretty fast and it’s a constant battle to keep the right things in his hands and the wrong things out of his mouth.

Yep, there’s a whole lot of things that show up with walking. Be prepared.