Our Friday Fun

This morning I woke up feeling particularly gung-ho to get out of the house and do something. And by "something", I mean something fun! There are three reasons I don't get out more with Audrey:
1.) I'm a homebody by nature. I like staying inside in my pj's, watching TV, and playing with Audrey.
2.) I usually try to make Monday-Friday my "work week". I give myself a list of things to do (clean the house, grocery shop, etc). When you've got to work around a baby's schedule, that list of things takes 10 times longer to accomplish. Plus, I try to make sure I'm doing activities with her that she likes so she doesn't get bored.
3.) It's a LOT of work going out with her! Pack the diaper bag, make sure we have plenty of formula (and I hate having to stop and feed her while we're out. She gets soooo distracted by all the sights and sounds), so I really try and work our errands out to where we'll be home before her next feeding time. Now that she's on a 4-hour feeding schedule, it's a lot easier.

So, as I was feeding her this morning, I had already decided it would be a perfect day to go to Hobby Lobby and buy some stickers to bling out her helmet! I also wanted to go to Mardel to get myself a Bible Study book to go along with my February goal. However, those were errands that would get us out of the house, and I always talk to her as we shop to keep her entertained, but I really wanted something for her. So I looked on the Wylie library homepage (I knew they offered read-alouds for all ages), and that happened to be this morning! We suddenly had something to do! I finished feeding her, got us both dressed and somewhat put together, and we left.

First stop = Hobby Lobby for helmet bling!

Second stop = Mardel (just a short walk away). Here's my study I'll be doing in February:

 There was a nice man helping us in Mardel. He had a very clean-cut beard and mustache. He was talking to Audrey, again, very sweet, about mid 50s or so, and she started crying...crocodile tears-crying!! Facial hair scares her :( She has to get used to my dad every time she sees him which is 1-2 times per month because his facial hair scares her. It's sad, but kind of funny/cute at the same time. I have a feeling next Christmas she'll cry in her Santa pictures!

 Finally, off to the library. Story time is divided into 4 different brackets: Babies & Books (ages 0-12 months),  Toddler Time (1-2 years), Big Kids (3-5 years), and then an All Ages time. Their story times state that each time is very age-appropriate in what books are read, and how they're presented, so I knew this would be something that Audrey would enjoy because it would be geared towards her age level.

Waiting for the library to open!

Audrey looks happier here...selfies are hard with a 4 month old

Each baby got their own copies of the books

We started out following the book Baby Beluga while the song played (which is now permanently stuck in my head). Audrey enjoys helping me turn pages. Then we did a lot of finger plays and rhymes where lots of body movements were included. The lady presenting the story time carefully explained why we were doing what we were doing, how important it is to expose your kids to print and phonological awareness at a young age, so the teacher in me loved hearing that!

Side note: last year when I was teaching preschool, I had 4 out of 7 of my kids who had no idea HOW to look at a book. They didn't know how to hold a book, which way the pages turned, they didn't even care about the pictures, and they had NOTHING else wrong with them aside from being deaf. Parents are the most important part of a baby's development, and I make sure to read to Audrey and point out pictures and help her point to pictures every day. OK, I'm off my soapbox. :) But teaching has probably made me overly sensitive to making sure I expose Audrey to the right things!

I didn't take pictures while we were in story time, but Audrey LOVED it! While we were doing hand motions, I did hers hand-over-hand, and she had a huge grin on her face the entire time. Eventually, she got bored and started eating the book, but the librarian had told us from the get-go if that's what they wanted to do, it was fine, so I let her chew on the book, and it kept her entertained. The librarians also included basic signs of animals that were in the book, and explained how signs help a baby communicate before they have the ability to talk. I can't say enough wonderful things about story time! Once we got home it was time for Audrey to eat, and then she needed a nice, long nap because she had not had one all day due to our day of fun. I ate my lunch and then worked out. Whenever I work out inside, I usually have a "helper" with me. Today was no different :)

That piece of paper he's laying on had my workout written down on it. Do you notice how the rest of the table is empty?? There was plenty of other room to lay down, but noooo...he needed to lay on my paper. He's a stinker sometimes pretty much always.

We had such a fun Friday, and will definitely go back to story time more often! If anybody else knows of fun, free, child-centered things in the Wylie area please let me know :)