Repetitive Brain Syndrome

What day is it? I'm never quite sure, as my days have started blurring together. My routine is like a stuck record - same thing over and over and over.

Get up.. feed the babies breakfast... put them down for a morning nap... shower... breakfast... wash up... get babies up... babies sit and play with toys in a bowl... lunch... more play (same toys) and watch Waybuloo...lunchtime nap... up and walk to the park... walk home... dinner... bath... bed... blogging/twitter. Put this on repeat and that's my week.

As a day it's not that bad, we have some fun, we get outside, but the repetition gets more than a little boring, not only for me, but I think the babies need some more variety to their playtime too. So I appealed to Twitter for new things to do with Mr A and Miss E and got some fantastic responses. @vwallop (It's a small world after all) suggested sitting the babies next to a bowl of water with toys in it, or giving them some newspaper to shred (or the phonebook is apparently very popular). @violetposy (Violet Posy) sent some links about heuristic play, and suggested finger painting and homemade playdough.

I tried out the water bowl idea and though it was a little wet (putting cups in the bowl was not one of my brightest moments), Miss E and Mr A did seem to really enjoy it. I also gave them a phonebook to tear up, but Miss E was just intent on eating small bits of paper so I might leave this one for a while.

Mr A and Miss E make a splash

I'm going to try to give our week some structure and create a bit of a timetable...

Monday - Sensory play (water, lights, textures, noises etc) or heuristic play (creating a 'treasure basket' - a collection of found and natural objects made from any material but plastic such as shells, egg boxes, wooden napkin rings, ribbons, leather purse, tea strainer, small mirror etc)
Tuesday - This is the day we used to go to Monkey Music, so I think this should be 'music day'. Sing some songs, play with some instruments, have a little dance about.
Wednesday - Art/crafts? Finger painting. Any other ideas?
Thursday - Need some ideas please!
Friday - Meet up with NCT friends

I think we'll always keep our afternoon walk, as it's great to get some fresh air and explore the park or surrounding area, but have you got any other great ideas for additional activities I can do with the babies?

We're on the move

I'm on borrowed time. Like a tiger waiting to pounce, Miss E is biding her time, patiently lingering until my back is turned so she can make her move. I am about to face life with a mobile baby.

She's done it in breakneck speed. It was only three weeks ago that she started rolling over, but almost as soon as she'd accomplished that, she focused all her efforts on moving with purpose. When she started to get herself up on her hands and knees and rock forwards and backwards I knew we didn't have long left until she was off.

But it's still taken me by surprise. She'd perfected backwards crawling (getting stuck under the sofa a few times - I laughed, she didn't!), and then today she suddenly mastered a forward movement. It's not pretty, it's somewhere between a proper crawl, a commano crawl, and an ape-like amble, but she pulls and drags herself bit by bit until she's where she wants to be.

And I have to own up, I was caught out twice on Monday when I wasn't watching properly and she took a couple of tumbles. The first off the sofa (it's pretty low so nothing too dramatic), but then she rolled off our bed (again I was very lucky and she was absolutely fine, just shocked and alarmed). She's just so quick and I'm too easily distracted.

I need to change my habits, become more watchful, be more cautious. And we have to work fast to provide a safe area for her to play in. We've moved the dining table into the kitchen so the dining area can become a playspace, and at the weekend we'll get to work making it as babyproof as we can. Something I read recommends getting down low for a baby's eye view so you can see the hazards for yourself - I'm thinking this could make an interesting vlog!

A natural cat burgler..

I'm happy to say that Miss E has been a lot perkier today, but every time I turn my back she seems to have somehow managed to get hold of something I thought was out of her reach. She was lying in her cot while I was changing Mr A and when I turned around the picture book that is tied to her cot was on top of her. Then last night I was bathing Mr A while Miss E was kicking about in her cot and when I looked round she had managed to get the towel that was hanging over the end of the cot up to her mouth to suck on. I can think of three possible explanations:

• She's crawling when I'm not looking!! Of course she isn't (give her a break, she is only five months old after all)
• She can move things with her mind (this was Young Daddy's suggestion)
• She is stretching and twisting to pull things towards her. We are going to need to be more careful about stuff we leave within her reach such as hot drinks. I'm constantly amazed at how these babies always seem to be one step ahead of you!

I’m really excited to have been included in the latest Best of British Mummy Bloggers Carnival at Insomniac Mummy (a blogging carnival is where bloggers submit their best post to a nominated host, who picks out their favourites). It’s my first carnival and I’m looking forward to reading all the other posts that are on the roundup. I just wish I could take my laptop into the bath with me so I could read them there...