I don't know about you guys, but I am SO READY for winter to be over! This winter has been cold and downright mean. And we want out.
Yesterday, the thermostat hit 51 degrees, so I bundled up Jane and Emma Ralphie-style, hauled my Baby Jogger out of the trunk of our truck, and hoofed it up and down every street in a one mile radius around our house for 30 minutes. Through mud puddles, snow banks, it didn't matter, I was just happy to be OUT of the house, and the girls were, too!
I thought they may fall asleep on the walk, but considering they haven't been on a true walk since they were about 4 months old, they were wide awake for the full half hour, looking around and taking everything in! They are getting so active now that they are getting bored of the same old "Pet the kitty, play with stuff on the floor routine", so getting them out and about was a lot of fun. It also reminded me just how out of shape I am, and that I'm staring down the barrel of a twin toddler shotgun and I'd better start getting my butt in shape!
In the search for fun things to do with an 8 month old, I've put together a list of the top 5 fun things that gets us through these snowy home-bound days. It's not fool proof, and there are times where the girls just scream and Hershey and I consider running away from home because NOTHING seems to entertain them, but for the most part, this is what does it for Jane and Emma.
1. The ALWAYS entertaining "Pet the Kitty" game. We are so fortunate to have such patient cats who seem to LOVE the girls. Make sure that you know what your animal's reaction will be and always stay close by if you are unsure.
Yesterday, the thermostat hit 51 degrees, so I bundled up Jane and Emma Ralphie-style, hauled my Baby Jogger out of the trunk of our truck, and hoofed it up and down every street in a one mile radius around our house for 30 minutes. Through mud puddles, snow banks, it didn't matter, I was just happy to be OUT of the house, and the girls were, too!
In the search for fun things to do with an 8 month old, I've put together a list of the top 5 fun things that gets us through these snowy home-bound days. It's not fool proof, and there are times where the girls just scream and Hershey and I consider running away from home because NOTHING seems to entertain them, but for the most part, this is what does it for Jane and Emma.
1. The ALWAYS entertaining "Pet the Kitty" game. We are so fortunate to have such patient cats who seem to LOVE the girls. Make sure that you know what your animal's reaction will be and always stay close by if you are unsure.
2. Peekaboo. This sounds so elementary (literally) but they are starting to understand it, and they eat it up. It occupies at LEAST 10 minutes, sometimes more!
3. Play with Pots and Pans. One night, as I was trying to cook dinner, shit was going down in the living room. So I set up the playpen in the kitchen, put the girls' Boppies into the playpen, and supplied them with one pot, lid, $1 stacking cups, and wooden spoon each. They were QUIET for 25 minutes (until Jane had a poopy diaper). You would think that it would be noisy, but they were so busy putting EVERYTHING in their mouths and grabbing things out of each others' hands, that they were quiet! Just make sure to double check for stickers and tags. Emma found a rogue sticker before I did, but luckily I saw her inspecting the sticker before she could get it into her mouth.
4. Play with Stuff on the Floor. Now that Jane and Emma are getting better at sitting up on their own, they are happy if I just sit them on the floor and scatter toys everywhere. They flop over from time to time, and the jarring of hitting the floor scares the crap out of them for a hot second, but they will sit on the floor for 30 minutes sometimes just waving stuff from side-to-side, chewing on things, and smacking the cat in the head.
5. Fun with BH&G. My girls LOVE magazines. Well, they love anything with smooth crinkly paper. So when they get cranky, I just pull out my stash of Better Homes & Gardens magazines and they'll be happy for about 20 minutes. You just have to be sure to sit with them because they can rip them apart very easily and the first thing they'll do with those little tiny strips of paper is jam them into their mouths.
This is just a spattering of activities that we have fun with, but if this all fails, I found this very comprehensive list of activities that you may want to try. Emma napped for 23 minutes this afternoon and should be good and cranky by around 4:00, so I'm contemplating trying out the painting game (with yogurt instead of paint) and the water game, because they love splashing in the tub but I'm not ready for a bath yet.
What kinds of indoor things do you do with your active babies? I'd love some ideas!!!
The weather is working on dumping another pound of hell on us today, so Hershey and I are home for today, and I hear a rumor that we've got another storm coming our way in the next day or so. DANG YOU PUXATAWNY PHIL!!!! I guess we'll be here playing horsey and "painting" with yogurt in the meantime. Did I already say that I can't wait for spring?!
Have a great snow day everyone! xoxo
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- 2:39 PM
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