See Through Shakers

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It has been an interesting couple of days in our house. We got daddy back on Saturday night after a week away for work. It has been so nice having him home, we even went on a date on Saturday - coffee and a walk, dinner, dessert and drinks, and then a movie. I honestly do not remember the last time we did that, usually it is a quick dinner when we do go out! This week he has the overnight shift for the first time with his job. It is quite the adjustment, but at least he is home!

Then tonight, Skyler got sick. First, he walked into the kitchen where I was making dinner and all of a sudden the floor was covered and baby boy was crying. We went straight up to the bath and he seemed a lot happier (It is so sad right after a little one gets sick and they have no idea what happened and just start crying - I wanted to cry with him it was so hard to see him upset!) I made him a piece of toast and he started eating, he ate about half of the toast and got sick again. So many tears (I couldn't keep mine in that time...) We walked upstairs, put on some new jammies, read a few books, and into bed he went. I am hoping he feels better tomorrow. Although, it does explain why he slept until almost 10:00 this morning, woke up screaming from his nap, and refused to eat two of his favorite snacks.

Before Skyler got sick, we did this fun activity.

Skyler's six Easter eggs are filled with spaghetti, macaroni, rice, quinoa, oatmeal, and puffs

For Easter last year, I made Skyler some shakers with plastic Easter eggs. Skyler loved them at 9 months, and he loved them at 18 months (though I did put them in storage in his closet for the time being when I rotated his toys). Even though Skyler still played with them often, I decided it would be fun to have him make some new ones. When I started thinking of ways to repurpose egg cartons, I knew I wanted to make some see through shakers with him. He has been saying so many words, including many of the fillers that were inside his Easter eggs. Not only did he love filling up these shakers, but it is great because he can see what is inside the shaker, name what he is seeing, and understand what is creating the noise.

For these shakers, we used pasta and rice (two words Skyler learned from playing with his sensory bins!), oatmeal (a favorite breakfast around here), and coffee beans (one of Skyler's first words, no joke! Mama and Daddy like their coffee)

Skyler worked so hard to fill up the little individual egg cartons! He carefully spooned in the different fillers and surprisingly did not mix them. When he got a spoon full of a new filler, I put out a new cup and by the end, we had filled cups for all four shakers! Of course we had some spills, so Skyler ran over to his high chair to get his little broom and sweep up - always helpful :)

I started putting the tops on the shakers and taping them up, but decided at the last minute to go a different route. Because of the small size, when I started taping the egg cartons together, not much of the clear plastic was showing. I grabbed some saved plastic fruit cups and used those instead. The size is bigger and more fun to shake, and it is easy to see what filler is in each shaker. 

Skyler had a lot of fun playing with these and telling me and Joe what was in his shakers! The four fillers we used make very different noises, which is also a lot of fun to talk about! We liked shaking them, drumming them on the ground, and clacking them together. So many ways to play, and I know these will continue to be popular in our house!