The Next Phase

In a few weeks the babies will be SIX MONTHS OLD.  Holy moly.  I've decided that this milestone will be the beginning of the Next Phase in baby-related programming in our house.

At first it was just feed and sleep.  These were my two missions.  I made sure they ate and slept.  We didn't do much in the way of playtime or learning or stimulation, I just made sure they ate and slept.

Then I started adding stimulation in there once they were awake enough between feedings.  We have singing time, story time, tummy time, bumbo time, floor time, dance party time, etc.  I give them opportunities to be in many different situations and positions throughout the day - from snuggling to bouncing to sitting to kind of standing.  Pull-up games, neck stretches, whatever.  We also have some TV time so mama gets a break - baby einstein for the morning breakfast and a little sesame street for an afternoon wind-down before the nap.

In a few weeks we will begin the next phase!

Okay, I recognize a lot of these things will depend on the babies' developmental abilities, but this is what I have planned:

Sign Language Lessons

I'm going to start teaching the babies sign language.  They need some more manual dexterity before they'll be able to do some of the more complicated signs, but I want to teach them things like "finished" "more" "food" etc.  I'll be doing this in two ways: I want to get a baby sign language DVD to play to them in the morning instead of baby einstein (they seem to be getting bored of it) while I have my breakfast.  And then I plan to incorporate the signs to things I am doing during the day.  I might also plan some parts of other activities specifically to include signs - like if I can find a song that has the words in it I'm trying to teach them.

Solids

I've been reading about baby led weaning and it is totally exciting to me.  Especially the part where you don't make those freaking purees.  I really don't have a lot of time and the thought of making the purees was really exhausting.  And jars are prohibitively expensive.

The concept is that babies can feed themselves from the beginning and there's no need for spoon feeding.  You approach solid feeding as another play time activity - bring them to the table and give them some tasty toys, big enough to hold, hard enough to not be able to be broken off and choked on.  And then you kind of just give these food toys to the babies to play with, and supposedly they will bring them into their mouths for a taste, and eventually learn that it's food.

There are a few reasons why I like this in theory: 1) I don't have to force feed the babies, and I feel like I end up doing that sometimes with the bottle, so it doesn't sound exciting to continue to force food into their mouths; 2) I don't have to be an active participant in this, and the babies will end up eating when they are actually developmentally ready to do it; and 3) because I don't have to actively shovel food into their mouths, I can eat my lunch / snacks while they do this!  Which is actually the point - you're supposed to have them play with their food toys while you are having your meal, which supposedly creates this atmosphere of "meal time is fun and trying new foods is fun" instead of "meal time is where mommy shoves mushy stuff in my face".

Baby-Centered Activities

Until now, most of my outings were for myself, and I tried to keep the babies asleep while I was out.  The babies are learning how to sit up on their own and can almost do it.  I am hoping that in the next few weeks, at least one of them will be able to reliably sit up on his/her own.  Once that is achieved, I can start taking them to fun baby-centered activities.

Within two blocks of my apartment are at least 3 cafes that have daily sing-along and sensory stimulation events for babies.  The singalong I tried before was too chaotic because it was too crowded, but also because neither baby could sit up and I had to do a lot of work in order for them to participate.  There are also some play groups I am involved in that I am going to try to time differently so that the babies can actually be awake and participate in them.  This part is hard and is going to take some doing but I think it will be possible.  Not every day, though, at least not until they start cutting out some of their naps...

More Sibling Play

I've spent a lot of time entertaining the babies but now they are really starting to interact.  I am going to try to give them more time to be together on the floor without me even being within sight.  They actually last a good amount of time just alone together (especially if they are in a good mood, like soon after eating).

It's hard for me to let go and let them do their own thing, even though I have wished for that moment for so long.  But I have to let them learn to play together without me.  I think the time is coming soon when they will be able to actually play together, so I have to give them the space to do it!

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All of this, of course, in addition to the tummy time, singing time, story time, dancing time, etc.  I think you can tell I used to do after school activities and camp stuff for kids.  I know babies have very short attention spans, so this sounds like a LOT but each "activity" is really 10 minutes or less.  We do a lot during the day - each day feels like a marathon by the end.  But the days when we don't do anything are the crabbiest, so I like to keep things moving.  We play each game / activity until it's clear the babies are sick of it and then we move on, so I am not "scheduling" things in.  But since the babies are awake for 4 segments during the day, I have an idea of the things I want to do during those segments, and then see what actually happens.