Hellobee Boards

-Mobiles
-Fans (her friend Mr. Fan was always on, lol)
-Activity mats with toys that hang (I had two and rotated them)
-Mirror in the crib (still popular at 6 months!)
-Aquarium soother in the crib
-Projection animals on the ceiling if it's dark (like a 5am wake up)

At that age I took DS into the kitchen to watch me clean/cook/bake in his bouncy chair and would talk to him while I did it. Like if I was making pancakes I would talk to him like I was teaching him how. We also spent a lot of time outside (in the shade) doing yard work but he was born in May. I also had a mom and me group but it wasn't for me so another friend with a baby and I made a weekly date to take the kiddos out, although sometimes we did just go for a walk and stay in with them. Oh, and I found bathing him during the day was a nice way to spend some time as well as open up some evening time for DH and DS that wasn't scheduled for anything.

This was the hardest time period for me. I would say, get out whenever you can! M being outside even if it's just laying on a blanket is a nice distraction. M was so colicky so we just bounced on a yoga ball all day long. Bleh. I second looking in mirrors and blowing bubbles (so cheap at the grocery store!). I used to sing to her all the time (still do!). I used to just walk her around the house and talk about everything we saw. I really thought I was going crazy! If anyone who you're comfortable with can come over and visit, let them! Most of all, it gets SO much better soon. Once they stay awake a little bit longer and stop crying so much I would definitely try to plan more thing out of the house. Good luck!

Oh yeah, E liked to just lay on a blanket outside! But i know it's getting to be cold in the UK

Even now, we just go outside and she's like, "omg look at all the things!"

In the morning when she gets up I feed her and then we cycle through a bunch of stuff:

-activity mat
- taggie blanket strewn with toys
-we read books
-we practice sitting up
-I try to put her on her tummy and she invariably flips onto her back within about 10 seconds
-we sing songs, culminating with her favourite, Wheels on the Bus
-Jolly Jumper
-we make faces at one another and I blow raspberries on her tummy
-we sit on the front porch and watch the cars go by and I let her pick flowers out of our planters

We don't do all of the above every morning, just a few things!

Then she has a nap and when she wakes up I feed her again. After that I try to get out of the house. Sometimes we go grocery shopping, or to the mall or bookstore. I basically just make up outings. I almost always wear her when we go out, because she sees a lot more that way and it seems to tire her out for her next nap!

Quite often, after her afternoon nap, we go for a walk through the neighbourhood or in the park.

I totally find it challenging to keep coming up with activities. I can see how, over the course of my mat leave (one year), we're going to acquire a lot of toys just to try to keep things interesting!

ETA: I fully admit to occasionally putting her in front of her Baby Beethoven DVD in the evening when DH and I are trying to clean up after dinner

Favouriting this for later! Already getting to the stage where I have to think of things to do/talk about for a few hours each day!!

Oh, for those who say their LOs have no interest in books, have you tried black and white board books? For the longest time those were the only ones DD would pay any attention to....and she couldn't keep her eyes off them, loved them! Just a thought in case you want to add something else to your playtime arsenal

@Cherrybee: from a video on you tube via the ipad! It has a giant red bus and two men in drag. It's hilarious, lol.

I second the cleaning/cooking and explaining/teaching while you do your normal daily stuff.

Also reading novels (classics, children's) aloud. Not just picture books.

Singing and playing music with egg shakers, tambourines, harmonica etc. Something different every day.

Several walks a day. Around the block, running errands, going to get coffee. Baby should stay warm enough if you baby wear.

Sitting on the porch or looking out the window and naming what you see. I do "brown bear brown bear" but name animals that I see... "green lizard green lizard what do you see? I see a yellow butterfly looking at me..." sometimes using objects too.

He loves the fan, his play mat and his swing. We sing songs and I make him "dance" by moving his arms and legs (which he loves). We practice standing, and we have little conversations back and forth. He likes looking at books and magazines with me (as long as there are pictures). We go to the store and to visit people during the day, too. He also likes his toy winkle, Sophie the giraffe, Mortimer the moose and the musical seahorse thing.

LO wants to watch TV SO badly. He cranes his neck to see it when I have him turned away. We FaceTime with daddy when he's at work... I guess that's probably bad "screen time" too but he loves it and so does DH.

@Pepper: I refuse to believe FaceTime is totally bad screen time! Maybe I'm just being willfully ignorant, but the people on the screen are talking to her and responding to her and vice versa! If definitely makes her more interested in the computer/iPad generally, which I'm not a fan of, but it can't be the same as TV/games. Right?!

(We just moved abroad so I do a lot of it with family and friends. Can you tell I'm feeling a leetle anxious?)