Mr. & Mrs. Gubbins & Sons

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Busy Boy

We often say Simon is a very busy boy, meaning he's constantly in motion...but he's also becoming rather busy schedule-wise, too (gee, given his parents, I have no idea how that could have happened...). Now that the semester has started for Andy, we are official into our spring semester routine, which for Simon includes:
  • Time with Mom & Dad. About half of the 'work week' alone with Mom, and half alone with Dad--while the other is at work/school. Most evenings we all get to spend together, though Jess teaches Tuesday night and Andy has an evening class Thursday night.

  • Playtime with Zoe. Every Wednesday afternoon we do a babysitting swap with Jen & Adam, so one week Jen watches Simon and Zoe, and the next week Andy watches them. So far it seems to be working really well, and Simon certainly enjoys having a playmate (you know, as much as babies play 'together' anyway). Here he is, waving goodbye to Zoe after one of their first afternoons together (34 seconds long):


  • Fun at the library. On Wednesday mornings, if they get out the door in time, Jess and Simon have started going to a baby storytime at our sort-of-local library (for children 6-23 months old--our neighborhood library doesn't have baby storytime, so we drive just a little ways to a bigger library that does). It is lots of fun, with singing, reading books, and toys to play with. Usually there are about 10 babies/toddlers there. Afterwards we stick around the library for a while to play in the children's section and check out new board books and cds for the next week. They have a little playhouse with a kitchen, food, and dishes--Simon usually makes a beeline right for it. Once he arrives there, he crawls right into the action, regardless of how many other little kids are already there playing--he just crawls right in, takes the food off their plates, out of the oven for them, etc. (Of course if the other children are upset by this I intervene and return what they were playing with and redirect Simon, but surprisingly that rarely happens--usually the other kids look him over for a minute, then go on playing around him, just replacing things as he takes them, or sometimes even handing things to him.)

  • ECFE on Monday afternoons. Simon and Jess go to an ECFE (Early Childhood Family Education) class together. We LOVE it. Granted, I'm a big proponent of ECFE anyways, having done about two-thirds of the parent education certificate program at the U, and learning about it there (ECFE is the main 'market' for parent educators in Minnesota)--but we love it even more now that we're actually participating. We also took a class last semester, and before that when we lived in Northfield. So far we have been able to enroll in age-specific classes (Simon is in a 12-18 month class now)--so the entire classroom is baby and toddler friendly, with all the activities geared right at Simon's developmental level. Being a developmentalist, that's something I appreciate :)

  • Church on Sunday night. We usually go to church Sunday evening at 5:00 pm. This is a little difficult for Simon, as it is right during his usual dinnertime, and he's generally approaching the end of his rope. He's normally in bed by 7:00 pm, so if there is anything after church (and there often is some sort of meal/snack/chatting) we are really pushing it if we try to stay. He often does well if there are enough friendly folks around to entertain him, though--and on nights when Andy and I just need some time to breathe (and actively participate in worship--imagine that!), we have made good use of the nursery, too.

1 Comments:

  • Welcome to the world of children's schedules! Yours and your activities sound terrific. ECFE sounds like something every state should have. I wonder if they've done research on the difference it makes in abuse rates, school success rates, etc. Minnesota really is the most advanced state in the Union!
    Love,
    Mom

    By Anonymous Anonymous, At 10:47 PM  

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