The Power Of Play

Today was a super busy day! Here was what our little sweetie was up to this morning:

Sometimes he reminds us of the T-Rex from Meet The Robinsons, "I have a big head and little arms!"

Haha, he's always bumping his head on things while he tries to reach for items that are just out of reach under the kitchen counter, a table, the bed, dresser, etc.  It rarely actually hurts him, which is a good thing, but he'll let it happen over and over with how persistent he is. Silly boy, I wonder when he'll make that connection...

Here is a comparison picture of his rash progress:

Wednesday on the left, today on the right

Looking good, no?

We had our second house showing scheduled from 2-3pm so my plan was to spend from when we woke up until the showing: getting ready, packing for us, packing up the pets, putting everything in its place and making sure Ayden got in his morning nap. Guess who left the house at 1:50? I couldn't believe that I actually pulled it off! I have struggled with punctuality my whole life and contrary to what some people in my life may think, I really do prefer and strive to be on time. Today I challenged myself to list everything that I needed to get accomplished, think REALISTICALLY about how long each task would take and then add in time for the unexpected Ayden events (ie. fussiness, extra feedings, book reading breaks, etc. all of which happened...). I am proud to report that I did it :).

During the showing timeframe (we have to be out of the house), I went to Little Miss' family's pet store for some cat food, took Mav to the kennel, Polly to my parents' house, donated a broken vacuum to a vacuum shop for parts, made a quick stop at Whole Foods and was home by 4:00. Ayden slept almost the whole time and I actually had to pause the events above for a nursing break in the Whole Foods parking lot when he woke up. The plan once I got home was to get all of our food prepped and packed and David got home at 4:30 to help. Luckily, Ayden was in an awesome mood after his long car nap so he played while we worked. I LOVE watching him play! Some parents feel like the only way their child will learn is through direct instruction and constant interaction but this is not the case. It is very important to talk to a child about the world and happenings all around them but it is EQUALLY important that they get the chance to explore the world on their own. This time allows them to use their little brains, peaks their curiosity and lets them make their own predictions and, through cause and effect, come up with their own conclusions.

Mr. Rogers totally got it!

 An added bonus in all this? Parents can take a [limited] break while their child is playing. Obviously you need to keep an eye/ear out for safety but if you are in a baby proofed room, or if Baby is playing contentedly in a play pen, get settled nearby and answer a few emails or check your Facebook newsfeed. It's hard not to feel a little guilty, and obviously don't take too long, but remind yourself that stepping back and giving your baby a little room to be their own little person is good too. Here are a few clips of our busy little bee during his play while I cooked:

My favorite parts were 1) how he is putting so many raspberry sounds into his babbling that he sounds like he is becoming fluent in Tasmanian Devil and 2) he is pulling up on everything all the time. So cute! He made it over to the dishwasher too. I think the kitchen is his favorite room in our house to explore. He loves the open dishwasher, fridge and pantry for so many reasons! They all have something he can practice his standing on as well as all kinds of stuff to get his hands (and mouth) on.

At about 5:45 when he declared he was finished with playing independently and ready to have some interaction he let us know by starting to fuss. Luckily we were almost done and were able to hold him off long enough to finish everything up by singing songs and acting silly. Actually, David sang all the songs and did the silly acting while I cleaned up the kitchen. The benefit of having to KEEP our house in showing order is that we'll come home to a super clean house which is always nice.

We are in the car headed to Nashville as I write this. Even though I fed Ayden before we left, I grabbed the 3 ounces I had in the fridge from a recent pumping session just in case. Apparently Ayden is well aware of what bottles are now because he saw it and there was no turning back. Besides the dream feeds that I used to do (which took place in his sleep so he probably doesn't remember them) the only bottles he's gotten are a couple while David had him without me and an ounce here and there for his probiotics. Anyway, he saw it and wanted it right then. He sucked it down and wanted more but we were already on the road and had left later than we had wanted so I leaned over his carseat and nursed him to sleep. It wasn't comfortable but it got the job done. Oh man, the things moms do...  Here's a funny video I saw on YouTube recently that was inspired by this type of situation:

So funny and so true, ha! Ayden's been asleep for over an hour now and we're hoping he'll sleep the whole way since he's not a huge fan of long car rides when he's awake. Now I shall sign off and read some Mocking Jay to my love.

What is the craziest thing you've done in your car for your child?

~Sarah