He must stay entertained!

Okay, so I never wanted to be one of those moms that felt like I needed to entertain my child all day long. I felt like children should learn to sit patiently until their parents are finished doing whatever chore that needs to be completed. Of course, this theory of mine developed in the quiet moments of not having any children. And you are probably saying to yourself, Ah yes, how is the "learning to sit patiently" going with your 7.5 month old, Rachel?

Okay, so there were ALOT of things that I thought should happen before I knew any better. For instance, I used to roll my eyes at women who nagged their husbands, but then I got married. That's when it dawned on me that those women weren't nagging their husbands, they were trying to have a conversation and their husbands were choosing not to participate in it. Why men don't want to sit in the living room and talk through the "going on vacation checklist" or "Christmas gift buying" for an hour and a half completely baffles me. To me there is nothing better than making lists and spreadsheets. Oh and lest you think I'm insulting my husband, that is no the case, I know a good thing when I got it!

So back to entertaining Sam. Lately I have found myself rushing from one mound of toys to the next; one activity to another in the hopes that something will catch Sam's attention for more than five minutes. On the two days I come home from work early, I load him up in the car and we go wander around CVS or Office Depot (riveting, I know) so that he will have a change of scenery and I can wear him out so he'll be good and sleepy at bedtime. I put the smaller size nipples back on the bottles just so the activity of eating would be slower. I know, it sounds horrible and lately I have felt like Sam is running things in my house. Then someone told me (a few people actually) something that made me feel better. It was what an awkward and hard age this is. Pulling up and crawling. He wants to get out and explore the world around him, but he's not steady on his feet and he has no sense of danger. Also being in the Pack N Play is just not that interesting anymore. It is a hard age, I'm finding. I've baby-proofed areas, but being that he is unstable when pulling up, there is no safe place to let him play. I'm like the constant bouncer and he is a rowdy clubber. There are mornings that I confine him to his Baby Pen that I've fashioned out of couches and ottomans and I doze off only to wake up and see him chewing on his father's house shoe or trying to hop the pillow wall I've made so he can get to the phone cord. I just find it exhausting at times, and its not like I wasn't warned. But I find that, as a new mother, I really don't want you to tell me anything, I really just want you to wait until I ask or let me experience it myself.
But as exhausting as it can be at times, I wouldn't trade this age for anything. When he was younger, you had a few weeks and even months in between milestones. He wasn't interactive, he didn't care if you were his mother or the Orkin man. For Sam, at this age, everyday is a new discovery. He's learned to clap. He can walk a little while holding onto the ottoman. He makes new and interesting noises everyday. He likes the Wiggles (unfortunately). It's just such an amazing look back at how far he's come and all babies come in such a short amount of time.

In terms of the entertainment, I've solved part of my problem. Is it really necessary to pull out all 46 of his toys each morning? Do they all need to be crammed into his pack n play so he won't get bored? The answer to both of these questions is of course no. I'm finding that the many options are a bit overwhelming and if I leave him in his PNP with one or two toys, he stays in there longer. I also just sometimes let him get disgruntled about his predicaments. Mommy has to get ready for work. Everyday she does this. That means, you are in baby jail for 30 minutes. Life is hard, but you ain't seen nothing yet, Kid. One day you will wish you could crawl in that Pack N Play and drool all over "Roo". There are days I sure wish I could.

We also visited Nanny and G-daddy this weekend and had SUCH a good time!

Mommy Loves Sammy!
Rachel

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