Magic Painting book with water

I've been saving this Magic Painting book for a rainy day, or as it turned out, a potty training day. I remember these from when I was little and I was interested to see what Harry would make of it.

It was a big hit! He applied his usual level of concentration to splashing on the water, and it kept him occupied for quite some time. He kept asking to do some more and he was really excited to show me the new pictures.

I did wonder whether the technology might have moved on and the pictures would be a bit less sludgy than I remembered them. Well the colours were a bit messy but he didn't seem to mind, and they did look a lot better when they had dried out!

It did make a bit of a mess of the table though. I must remember to be more diligent about covering up work surfaces!

Nap time

No, I am absolutely not at all tired whatsoever in any way, shape or form.

Well I could just rest my eyes a little bit.

What's that going on in my tummy?

Okay Mum, yes you were right, I could have a little nap.

You'll only get thirty minutes break though mind! And don't even think about trying to put me in my cot...

A tale of two babies

When Harry was a newborn, we were desperate for him to grow up and become more interesting. We played music to him and danced him around the room, we read him books, we waved rattles at him, we bought him noisy, flashy toys. At two weeks of age we bought him an activity mat with bright colours, dangly toys and music. He loved it! (although it did give him a wonky head, but that's another story).

Harry at 7 weeks

When Mia came along, Harry was still so demanding that it was impossible to give her the same level of attention. At nearly ten weeks old, the baby toys remain packed away in their box, and we have got out the baby books only to hang them on the bar of the bouncy chair. Mia spends a lot of time sitting quietly in her chair watching what Harry is up to and dodging his rapturous attentions.

Only yesterday did we manage to get out the same playmat to see what Mia would make of it.


Mia at 9 weeks

She loved it too! She was smiling at all the dangly toys and when the music played. But if we hadn't put her on it, I don't think that she would have missed it.

Harry as a baby was very grumpy. He had a very short attention span and never seemed happy or content. He needed constant entertainment, he would never just sit and look around. The minute you sat or lay him down somewhere he would be screaming. Mia however will sit in her chair or lie on her mat, sometimes for what seems like quite a long time, just looking around. The interesting question is, did too much attention overstimulate him early on, or is Mia just a naturally more chilled out baby?

What I do find though is that I am enjoying Mia a lot more as baby. Maybe she is easier, or maybe now I appreciate that as difficult as the baby stage is, it won't last forever, and the problems we face at the moment will quickly be replaced by different ones! At some point she will sleep through the night (although she might be two and a half like Harry), she won't be breastfeeding throughout the day (and night!) and we won't be constantly changing nappies. And then we'll look back and remember the cuddles and the smiles, and forget the screaming and the sleep deprivation.

Result of the momentarily distracted Mummy

Well at least he won't get sunburnt today. I was in the same room, not even one metre away from him. Perhaps I should have actually been listening to what he was saying ("Mummy, I'm putting on sun cream") instead of just going "Mmmm, yes dear" as I tried to concentrate on simultaneously entertaining the baby and hanging out the washing.

Messy play in the garden

I have just found an activity which kept Harry amused for over an hour! And if you know Harry, this is very impressive. I filled ice cube tray compartments with a selection of things - sand, hundred and thousands sweets, rice, lentils, flour, salt, sequins and tiny beads. Then I put some clear sticky backed plastic upside down onto a tray, gave Harry a spoon and let him go. The idea was to make a collage with everything sticking to the plastic, but I could have just given him the tray.

He carefully spooned everything out into little piles, he mixed it up, he asked for more flour and salt. We drew shapes with our fingers and drove his tractor around. When the whole tray was covered, I gave him a bowl of water to tip in for even more mess. He was fascinated by watching things float in the water.

This activity was a big hit and will definitely be repeated! He is sitting on an old shower curtain which can just be dried off and shaken out, so it was very easy to clean up.

And yes, he is still in his pyjamas. No point in dressing him for the day if he is just going to get dirty again in five minutes!

Five minutes to fill...

...let's cut paper! Don't worry they are plastic scissors. And he can't actually use them, he is really ripping the paper and pretending to cut.

We've spent the day at home today "potty training"...so I've spent the day cleaning up puddles. Still, I need to persevere, he is perfectly capable of it! We've had a packed day full of activities, in fact I've used up most of what was planned for the rest of the week so I need to quickly think of more things to do. We've made lots of mess with flour, sand and water, we've done sticking, reading, singing, hassling the baby, cleaning and tidying up, playing with cars, jigsaws, chasing round the garden, painting stones, washing the walls outside, scavenger hunts, a nature collage, made suncatchers and there is still an hour and a half until dinner time. So I've resorted to Button Moon.

(And Mia slept for a six hour stretch last night...)

Picnic and news

It has been a very hot day today. I started Harry off washing stones in the garden but that didn't last long and it became clear that we needed to get out of the house. So we went along a a picnic organised by the local Children and Family Centre. There were lots of toys for Harry to play with and we sat under a tree to eat our sandwiches. It is amazing how he can go from grumpy to lovely with just a change of scene and activity. Mia was also very well behaved and sat quietly in her pushchair. She behaves so differently to how Harry did as a baby!

And in related news, last night Mia slept continously for seven hours! Yes that's right, seven hours. Between 10.30pm and 5.30am. Then after a short feed she slept for another two hours. No, we can't believe it either. Harry was at least two before he managed that! In fact, he was up last night too. But she is a bit of a struggle to get to settle in the evening, and had been screaming for an hour before 10.30pm. Even so, at least we know that she is capable of doing it! One of the (many) mistakes that we made with Harry was assuming that he was waking because he was hungry, when in fact, he was just waking. I'm not expecting her to do it again tonight, or even in the next few weeks, but it will be interesting to see how we get on!

And tomorrow I start to potty train Harry properly, not the half-hearted approach we have had up until now. So, fingers crossed!