Anyway, now that the weather is getting colder here I've been having trouble thinking of things to do with the baby to help fill our days. Our default is stay at home and hang out or go to the park and look at the trees, looking at trees is Baby's favorite thing, but soon the leaves will be all gone. It's hard coming up with things to do with an infant; it's not like we can do a craft project or bake something or play a game. He can't even sit up and holding things is a hit or miss proposition. He's mostly in to just looking at stuff. It's extra awesome if that stuff moves, but not too fast for him to see it.
Inside
Pet store to look at fish
Watch people swim at the indoor pool*
Soft playroom**
Botanical Gardens Conservatory (Specifically, the waterfall in the Hawaii room)
Museums
National Gallery's water fountain
Portrait Gallery's atrium with its undulating ceiling and large area to run around
Natural History for dinosaurs
Building Museum** (The playroom will be fun when he's a little older.)
American History (Probably the least interesting for babies, but it has lots of toys on display.)
Visit Chuk at work
Library
Ride the bus or metro**
Book store
Coffee shop** to people watch
Take a bath together***
Outside
Dog park
Spray ground
Playground (For myself, I list out all five playgrounds within walking distance of my apartment.)
Park
Feed ducks at the river
Watch the bigger kids play sports at school, soccer field, or little league field
Arboretum for the koi pond (and the trees, obviously, trees are his favorite)
Walk around the neighborhood
Zoo
Sculpture Garden to watch ice skaters in the winter and fountain in the spring
*Our city's indoor pool has a large window between the lobby and the pool so we don't have to be on the actual pool deck.
**Fee associated with this activity
***Not outside the house, but still different from playing with our same old toys.
Those all sound like fun ideas! I when my daughter was little, I remember starting to get a little stir crazy because we did the same things all the time, especially when it was too cold/too hot to spend too much time outside! Thanks for the ideas for next time around:)
ReplyDeleteWow, this brought back memories! I was so puzzled about what to do with an infant! But that changed SO quickly as she got older. And then, when her brother was born, there was instant entertainment all the time. Siblings are great. I was only stumped when G was an only child and less than a year old. Your list is very practical - I always feel better when I have a plan!
ReplyDeleteWhat's up with the bars over the eyes? It's terribly creepy/confusing to me when folks blur their own identity but feel free to post their kid's faces. Why would one expose their child but not themselves?
ReplyDeleteI've always had an anonymous blog but when I was pregnant I decided to make it "more anonymous" by no longer sharing the faces of adults in pictures. This is simply because a child's face 1) tends to look very similar to other children's faces and is thus less likely to be recognized when out and about and 2) is going to change in appearance significantly in a relatively short period of time, allowing the child to become anonymous, if desired.
DeleteEverybody has their own level of comfort with their blogs and my feelings on privacy in this space are still evolving which is probably why you are noticing what may appear to be inconsistencies in anonymity. I may stop blurring my face or, conversely, I may stop showing pictures of my baby; both are steps I've considered seriously. I may also remove links to Instagram, which has pictures showing my face, and/or go back through all my old blog posts and obscure my face in old pictures. Whatever I decide in the future, this is what I'm comfortable with now.
I really think "creepy" was a poor word choice on your part. I think you do too since you decided to comment anonymously. I'm always happy to answer questions, but I hope that next time you'll ask in a more respectful way.