The Entertainer

Weekly Recap:

YAYS

* Still haven't gone into labour

* Still no stretch marks

* Lips are puffing out like Angelina Jolie

* My son has successfully given up his morning bottle! (YES!!!!!!!!!!!!)

* Official last day of work is June 29th (with a work from home day during the week of the G20!)

* Planted the beans and peas in the garden. Vegetable planting officially complete!

* My son has slept through the night 2 weeks in a row! (I know I've jinxed myself...I should've just kept my mouth shut!)

BOOS

* Can't seem to sleep beyond 4am

* Can't seem to walk more than 2 minutes without keeling over in pain and being completely out of breath

* Unfortunately the resemblance to Angelina has gone out the window as face is also slowly puffing out (more like Jerry Lewis)

* Gained 2 pounds in one week (ARGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!! - Zia! You know it's your stinkin' delicious cookies!)

* I'm too scared to try to take away my child's evening bottle (BOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!)

GOALS (this list seems to grow week by week)

* Gain only one pound at this week's OB visit (doubtful since I've already eaten 5 soft-mini chocolate chip cookies and it's 5:08am...I'm so disgusting.)

* Buy (and plant) remaining perennials to fill in my empty garden spots

* Keep the baby in my belly for another week

* Finish buying baby supplies

* Pack hospital bag

* Buy a new car

* Make it through another week of work unscathed

~

Yesterday I spent a little bit of my morning watching a baby. My son and I went to the park with a friend, and with only three weeks left until delivery, I've suddenly turned into a complete and utter invalid. Thankfully my friend pitied me, laid out a blanket and allowed me to watch her little guy while she ran around with the toddlers.

Being so far removed from babydom, I totally forgot how different entertaining a baby was versus entertaining a toddler. Toddlers, though WAAAAAAAAAAAY more active, seem to be, for the most part, a little easier to entertain. You can take them to the park and watch as they climb, push them on the swing and play in the sandbox. You can read them a book, or in a pinch, you can sit them in front of the TV to watch a show...A baby, on the other hand, definitely needs a different level of attention.

And I quickly went from this:

To this:

Don't get me wrong. This baby is so laid back, he just rolled with the punches, but after about 20 minutes of zerbert blowing, bouncing and singing, I felt like my bag of tricks was falling short. I mean, we played pick up the empty goldfish container and drop it. Open that container and close it, chew on the container and drop it. We also played a round of "Can you make this sound?" Ba ba ba, Ma ma ma. Geebs! (If this isn't an advertisement for why I should NOT babysit your child, I'm not sure what is!) Now, I do admit that I was a bit limited to the things we could do, as I had a controlled amount of supplies in which to work with and my movements are obviously ...um...restricted (?) but I'm sure the little dude was probably thinking to himself, "Lady, back off. You're trying WAY too hard. I just wanted to enjoy my park day, and watch the big kids and you're in my face!" I just felt like it was my responsibility to keep him "entertained".

Initially, I thought that having a new baby at home would be a piece of cake. You feed them, they sleep, you give them a bit of tummy time, you feed them, they sleep, so on and so forth. How quickly we forget!!!! I seem to have drawn a blank on the numerous times I shuffled off to the local library to take out book after book on "how to play with your baby". Even trying to think of activities right now, my tank is empty. And I seem to remember that there was a fine line between boredom and overstimulating...which can result in the same dismal reaction from baby.

I'm going to have to revisit my baby repertoire over the next few weeks and brush up on my ability to stimulate one who is less than 18 months old. EEEEK! (If you have any tips or games, please feel free to pass them along!) I'm hoping that it's like riding a bike, but I think my saving grace may be that I have a toddler at home as well, who can relieve me of some of the clowning pressure.