Anika is 5 months old already! It reminds me to savor moments like these….

Anika is rolling over and has got a lot more mobile on her tummy and her back. So it was time to make some important changes in the room. While Anika slept in the stroller this morning, I quickly re organised her room and shelf. The final look for this month is…

The 2 most important changes in the room are:
- We replaced our much loved rainbow wool rug with this large thick play mat (PVC and phthalate free). So she now has more space to explore her movements. We found this rug at Baby Show in Auckland last year, but you can find similar one here.
- I have placed my breastfeeding pillow, near the shelf. We now spend 5-10 minutes every work cycle doing assisted sitting practice. Sitting is the only gross motor skill that babies need to “practice” with help before they can master it on their own and 5 months is the perfect time to start this. To be honest, 2 pillows joined at an angle will work just fine.
For a few more days, her favorite bell chimes mobile stays because she absolutely loves working with it. I am always in the room with her, so it’s ok but generally as soon as babies start to roll over its safer to take all the mobiles out.

Now time for our exciting shelfie!!

We were very happy to receive some amazing rattles from Sarah at Every Educaid. I love this company and all their beautiful natural and hands-on educational resources. Anika has come a long way with her grasp this last month, so these beautiful rattles are just perfect for 5th month to further refine her grasp.


Top shelf Details:
Wooden bowls- are from flea markets in Bali.
First bowl– Playsilk since Anika is REALLY into peekaboo atm. She is trying to make sense of order permanence.
Second bowl– Interlocking discs. During 5th month a very important thing happens with hands- TRANSFER FROM ONE HAND TO ANOTHER. So if there is only 1 resource I recommend for this age, it would be this beautiful discs designed ideally for hand to hand transfer.
Third, fourth, fifth and sixth bowls- are all rattles from Every Educaid. Anika hardly misses grasping what she wants now. These rattles are much more trickier to hold than her previous ones, which will further refine her grasp.

First box- has willow rattle (from Every Educaid) and wooden rattle from Essential Montessori.
Hug a Planet– We LOVE this cloth ball. It gives a great height and support to work with specially when Anika is practicing sitting.
Skwish Toy– Still a favorite at 5 months!
Montessori Perfect Pacifier– we use it as a teether and its easy to hold and great to gnaw on.
We have another basket with toys in the living room. That includes her all time favorite teether- Sophie the Giraffe and lots of books! Happy Wednesday everyone.