We’re definitely ready for some rearranged space in our house. Both kids are sitting very steadily, and Rebecca is seemingly moments away from real crawling. She’s currently doing the downward-dog, step forward with feet, flop forward with arms and chest move like my friend Bev described with her son, Jack. It’s not graceful, but it is resulting in slow forward motion.
And yet, I have been totally procrastinating on the babyproofing front. I think I’m in denial. I will shortly need to work on some true rethinking of our space, like Tracey did for her boys. In the meantime, though, we made a small organizational (and safety) step forward.
We finally took the bassinet attachment off of our Pack & Play yesterday. We really use the PnP for the changing station, as the kids long since outgrew the bassinet, and only nap in their cribs, anyways. Instead, the shallow basket turned into a catch-all for sweaters, hats, and outgrown baby clothes. A mess.
So, now, it’s really a “playyard!” It helps that it’s in our den, the room where M and I have our desks and computers. This way, the kiddos can safely play while we check email (or, I don’t know, write a blog entry?). Not only does this help with the newfound screams of protest when we walk more than 10 feet away from them, but we’ve even turned it into a new game. The top rail blocks my face from view, so I totally play the “Where’s Daniel?” And he bends down and peeks at me underneath the rail. So cute, and he gets a big kick out of it.
It’s obviously not a huge amount of space for nearly-mobile babies, but it’s nice to have another “spot” for them to hang out and play, while still interacting with me a bit. M lovingly calls it “Baby State Penitentiary.” And they seem to dig it, so far…
Don’t you think the term “play yard” is kind of amusing? We picked up a spare one for our nanny’s house (Jack sometimes spends time over there when she picks up her daughter from school in the afternoon) on Sunday. While we were packing it into our car, a (presumably babyless) couple walked by and said, “Haha, look, it’s called a play YARD! I didn’t know one of those could fit into a box.” It got me thinking that it’s definitely not much of a “yard”! It IS more like baby jail.
But yes, we need the confined space now that our babies are mobile!
As for the sand question, that’s why we haven’t let Jack play in the sand until now … I was afraid he’d plop down in the sand face-first and get a mouthful. I’m crossing my fingers, but for now he seems to be content with feeling the sand, but not eating it. One time he got some in his mouth, and he made this awful face and hasn’t done it again. The greater concern is getting it in his eyes. He’ll stick his hands in the sand, then want to rub his eyes. As a result, I’m constantly rushing over to his rescue on the playground. Then I see the more experienced moms, and they’re like, “Whatever, it’s just sand.” Their kids are shoveling it into their mouths by the fistful and dumping it over each other’s heads. Maybe someday I’ll become so relaxed!
supremely cute babies, and i am pretty partial to my set. it is so hard to get on the babyproofing front. i am still not quite there, we have our front room cordoned off but it is not longer enough as the boys are walking runners at this point. they want to be everywhere in the house and it is crazy. i have screamed and dived for things from three feet away as they pull and push and grab and open….yeah, it is a challenge. hopefully they will not escape yet, their favorite thing is to try to walk down the front step. i guess they feel that they are ready to leave home on their own.
btw: i just read the comment before and with them out in the park a lot now i just let them eat it because eventually they will realize that it is not food….i hope.