Keeping a baby entertained

Last Wednesday night my son laughed for 15 minutes at the spinning Lazy Susan on our kitchen table. He belly laughed as he watched our napkins spin round and round and round. It was delightful.

Babies are just delightful, aren't they.

Babies are many things.

They are fun (most of the time).

They are charming.

They are delightful.

But keeping an infant (or toddler) entertained is not always fun, delightful or charming. And while puffs can buy you a good 20 minutes before the screaming starts, food is not always the answer. (I know, even I gasp as I write that.)

So how can you keep a baby entertained on a weekend, or how do you fill the day if you're a stay-at-home mom (or dad)? Or how do you keep that kiddo happy on a long car ride? And how do you keep all of this entertainment stimulating and engaging?

Here are five tips from the experts. (Notice I am not an expert.) Best of all- these ideas are either free or can be made from things you already have around your house!

Photo credit

1. Water Sensory Bottles Sarah Eleanor over at Spoonfed Baby shared this idea on her Facebook page. It's brilliant and Little Bits and I will be trying it this week. She combined oil and water with food coloring and all sorts of shiny things in a water bottle for endless infant fun.

2. Baby Core exercise. Okay, the first time I saw this I thought, "this woman is crazy." But when I tried it with baby boy, he loved it. I mean LOVED it.

3. Edible Sensory babies love two things, putting everything in their mouths and then trying to eat whatever it is they just put in said mouth. Why not try a little Edible Sensory Activity?

4. It keeps going and going! Let's add a third thing babies love- pulling on things. Hair, jewelry, food bowls. Why not engage them in some pulling that won't hurt your head or leave your floors a mess. I Can Teach My Child (my sister's favorite blog -other than this one of course) had this great pin worthy idea of putting scraps of fabric in an old wipe container for hours and hours and hours of fun.

5. Touch book. If you love to craft this one is up your alley. I found this idea on Pinterest. It's a sensory book you can make yourself. Out of scrap materials. Think: soft, smooth, rough etc. etc.

Do you have any ideas to share? I want to know how you keep your baby engaged.

We're Booking Through Thursday

Photo by Tricia Dillard

This is the first time I have participated in Booking Through Thursday. Why haven't I done this before???

I love reading. It is my favorite past time. I loved books as a kid but lost my spark for reading only to pick it up again after college. It came back to me in a time in my life when I needed control. That is what books give us, control.

We get the chance to escape for a few minutes and when we are done with the adventure, we close the pages, turn off the Kindle or put the iPad to sleep. That's my point, there are so many options for reading now.

My favorite, and most frugal, is the library. How many free things are left in this world? The library remains one of them. My baby and I have been making weekly trips to the library since he was 6 weeks old. It's important to me that he value books as much as I do.

“Peeing is like a good book in that it is very, very hard to stop once you start." - John Green, Paper Towns. 

Okay, now onto BTT:

Are there any fictional characters whom you have emulated (or tried to)? Who and why? I have to say no. Not outright anyway. I may quote them or use them for inspiration, but I don't think I have ever tried to emulate a fictional character. But if I was going to borrow some characteristics I would want to be more like Liesel in "The Book Thief." She is so brave and I am not.

What literary character do you feel is most like you personality-wise (explain)? Laurel in "The Girl Who Stopped Swimming." At the beginning her voice is muted by all the other characters. But by the end she has found her strength. I can't really say I have ever been muted, but I have come into my self in the last three years.

What about you? Do you have a character whose character you admire?