Last winter Kien was such a tiny wee thing and therefore staying indoors (in the apartment) wasn't such a big deal. He would scoot around on the floor and roll around while bopping the dangly things we hung on the tripod for him. This year however is different. Since he started climbing, running around everywhere and exploring his environment staying inside the apartment means that lots of things will be banged on the floor and the place is a trail of destruction.
I've been thinking a lot about indoor playgrounds for the winter time, and I cannot bare the thought of McDonald's playgrounds or those awful Lollipop places that are soulless (in my humble opinion).
Over the weekend one of our neighbours downstairs had a birthday party and tied balloons around the place. She hasn't taken them down yet. We played in the stairwell for a while; Kien loves balloons!
He presses his face against the balloon and makes sounds - he is just like his Dad.Now that the sun graces the other side of the world for a longer stretch we haven't been able to enjoy the park facilities down the road after dinner. Good thing Kien loves bath time - you only have to mention the words "bath time" and and he's saying and signing it, and is happy for you to take off his clothes so he can scamper into the bathroom and clamber into the bath.
Unless he is in some sort of discomfort (in which case he is irritable regardless) bath time is a long and drawn out affair, complete with assembling and disassembling megablocks numerous times, squeezing and throwing bath toys, transferring water from different objects, drinking bath water, splashing and laughing at Mama when she gets wet, and lying in the bath to blow bubbles.
Yes, that's him blowing bubbles while lying in amongst all his bath toys.We spend about 30-40 minutes in there every night, sometimes longer. He also points at the shampoo bottle and yabbers to me, and I'll wash his hair and rub the suds all over him. He also points at the tube of Pinetarsel soap substitute, and giggles when I rub the green gel all over his body. Bath times are lots of fun, and I am glad.
What else is fun as we discovered on Sunday afternoon was the Auckland Museum.
Who needs a playground when there is a whole space on the first floor dedicated for kids. It's a tactile area, and we had a blast. He enjoyed running back and forth on the giant jigsaw puzzles.
I love how Jef enjoys teaching and showing Kien how to do things, and Kien does pay attention.
I've come to realise that a playground is what you make it - anywhere is fun if Kien is having fun!
