Playtime

I LOVE playtime with Bryce! My heart just bursts with happiness to see him grin when he is having fun. As you might expect playtime with him is a bit different, it requires a lot more involvement from me. I help Bryce move his limbs to engage with his toys and encourage him to do it on his own. It usually takes a few minutes before he starts moving on his own, but when he does I get so excited which encourages him even more!

One of his favorite toys is a little turtle that lights up and makes a noise when you touch one of the shapes on its shell. This toy is excellent for him not only because of the lights and noise, but because he doesn’t have to push any buttons (he hasn’t quite figured buttons out). All it takes is a little touch for it to work.

The other day we played with his turtle for at least half an hour, most of which Bryce was tapping the shapes ON HIS OWN! I can’t even begin to express what a HUGE accomplishment this is for him, especially for how long he intentionally touched the shapes. He even started moving his WHOLE ARM to touch it, not just his wrist. I am so proud of my son!

We also do a lot of sensory bins. Over the past year we have learned what textures Bryce likes and what he doesn’t. For example, he really dislikes rice but he LOVES Easter grass. During our most recent vision therapy visit, his wonderful therapist brought him some water beads to play with. These are the coolest things ever! I could tell he liked putting his feet in them and wiggling his toes. He enjoyed them so much that his therapist left them with us!

That night I decided to put them in his bath. BEST IDEA EVER! Bryce’s eyes were full of wonder when I laid him in the tub. He loved feeling them float past him when he moved his arms. I think his favorite was when I scooped up a handful and dropped them on his chest and belly. Some would bounce off him and others would roll down his side. He was so excited he even started chattering! We had so much fun playing with them that he stayed in the bath until the water was cold.

Another thing we played with this past week was sticky notes! Who knew they could be so much fun? Before we played with them, I wanted to play with stickers but we didn’t have any. Jus took the car to work so we couldn’t go out and buy some. Then I saw the sticky notes on top of the fridge and decided they would work just as well. I went to town sticking them on his feet, legs, hands, arms, belly and his face. He was in sticky note heaven!

Playing with the water beads!

We also tried playing in the rain for the first time. Bryce has ALWAYS loved listening to the rain, but I have avoided playing in it with him because I wasn’t sure how he would handle it. You see, he doesn’t like getting splashed. It is too surprising and unpleasant for him. When it started raining last week I figured it was time to give it a try. We went outside and just listened to the rain under our little porch for a few minutes. Then we walked over to the edge and I stuck his feet out in the rain. He immediately let me know that he was NOT okay with that and pulled his feet away from the falling water.

I let him calm down then we tried putting his hands in the rain. Again he complained about it and pulled his hands away. He was not a happy camper, so I turned around to take him back inside. That’s when I realized I had done something stupid (how typical). I grabbed the door knob and tried to turn it. Oh my, I had locked us out!

All I could do was laugh! I knew the back door was also locked and I really didn’t want to leave Bryce on the porch while I walked around the house trying to break in through a window. I didn’t have my phone on me. . . I hardly ever keep it with me (and yes, it drives Justin bonkers). We were stuck! I could have easily gone to a neighbor’s and I’m sure they would’ve let us bum at their place, but I knew Justin would be home soon for his dinner break. So we sat down and enjoyed listening to the wind, rain and thunder!

I love his smile!

While we were listening to everything I learned Bryce LOVES thunder (he definitely takes after his mama). Every time the thunder boomed, he would turn his head in the direction it came from and try to figure out what made that noise! He sat so still, eyes wide waiting for the next BOOM, then he'd try to find it again.

We were only locked out for about 15 minutes before Jus got home for dinner and let us in. Bryce was so excited to see his daddy (as always). He just had to tell him all about our little adventure getting locked out!