I need to confess..
There is a probability that almost every post in the near future may have something to do with my newest obsession..
Meet Lil’ Spunky, our very first born..
An active, bubbly, loud, big-eyed, chubby-on-the-cheeks-only, drooling, toothless 7 month old baby..
Now that she’s starting solids and curious about everything, creating a fun learning and playing atmosphere is essential.
Okay.. Next, allow me to tell you about a wee bit of our apato.
It’s small.
We have a tiny bedroom and …
a living/dining/playing/working/studying/family/storage/closet/mud/sun room, the all-in-one room. The cool term is “multi-functional” room. I call it “me-not-being-able-to-make-up-my-mind-for-the-room’s-true-purpose-because-I-have-a-newborn” or “wishy washy” room. However, because now Lil’ Spunky is growing, I ought to acknowledge and support her needs.
The least I can do is setting a dedicated spot up for playing and learning, like this:
To anchor the play area, I arrange 2 sets of spongy thingy mat (I don’t know what people call it because I am too lazy to google it. Remember! I have a baby 😀 ). Using 2 nonidentical sets of mat is unintentionally. I already have them and other things before planning anything. That’s why there is small long gaps between them due to the unmatched “teeth”. Then, I saw Lil’ Spunky playing with this tablecloth (it actually a non slip sheet but I use it as tablecloth 🙂 ). She always grab it when she’s eating. I took it and spread the hot pink rubbery tablecloth out underneath the gap. It actually adds little details and textures to the ground.
Lil’ Spunky loves to poke and stare at it as if thinking mmm where have I seen this thing before…
Anyway, the mat also serve other purposes; to minimize the result of splishing splashing of solids and liquid on the carpet, provide cushy base, and is easy to clean. I choose soft color for the mat because Lil’ Spunky already got colorful toys and books. Therefore, if I lay them on the mat she will not feel too overwhelmed by the busy colors and can focus on the toys only. Besides, soft neutral colors give our eyes a chance to “rest”.
As for furniture, I want to keep it as simple as possible. A lazy boy and a bookcase. Instead of standing the bookcase upright, I lay it on its side. Not only it’s safer, it also provides more surface for soft toys and books.
Notice the potty seat? It hasn’t been used yet. I have it only because it is one of a number of presents we received from the Japanese government. Yup, they really know how to spoil new mamas and babies 🙂 I have heard so many stories about how mamas having dilemma when it’s time to potty train their children. I thought I could slowly introduce the potty to Lil’ Spunky by making it part of her daily activities along with her toys. I want her to get to know it as something fun long before she has to use it. Don’t we, humans, are more welcome to something that we are familiar with?
For toys, I only put a few within Lil’ Spunky’s reach. She does have more toys and books although not that many and I keep them out of her sight. I don’t want to just spread them all every time she plays because I know she’s easily overstimulated and get bored. I plan to rotate them every other day and maybe got her thinking heyy that’s my Anpanman book I couldn’t find last week..It still got my spit up on it. Awesome!! instead of ..this Anpanman book again.. It already got my mark. Gotta find another..
And most important of all, fewer toys means less flying objects to catch, more writing for mama 😀
a chance of eclecticism 