Playing safe

It hasn't just been Braeden keeping me up at night. I worry a lot about all sorts of things - the water race (drowning hazard), the Wobble getting more senile & snappy, and of course the continuing renovation hazards that this house abounds in. While it would be lovely if Wayne could find the time to finish the major renovations that were started before we found out we were having a baby, it's very unlikely. Even though he protests that he will still get the exterior office built by spring, my intimate experience of his workload makes me doubt that very much.

Poor guy really should clone himself, then at least one of the clones could catch up on sleep and urgent jobbies around the home.

Despite never having been considered a domestic Goddess, I find myself getting incredibly anal about nasties being walked inside. I just can't seem to train my father in law (for example) to take his bloody shoes off when inside, and when I do remind him, he's a bugger to walk right over the baby's playmat. Euchh.. has he never seen that Braeden can pick up the smallest piece of debris and shove it in his mouth in a nanosecond? Probably not. He's not a neurotic ubermother. But I am, and I worry.

Our doctor's office has this wonderful playpen that takes up a whole corner of the waiting room. The walls are made of MDF (particle board), it has a hinged gate with a safety latch, and I have dreamed of this set up with a fondness previously aimed at sports cars, island holidays and chocolate gateaux.

Because I married the most wonderful bloke in the world, Braeden now has one of his own.

Wayne set to yesterday, and while I was clearing out the second lounge (other half of my office and that which shall become the master bedroom one distant day), he built the enclosure in an afternoon.

Then the large carpet square (pure wool) was given the cleaning of its life (twice), and put down as the safety surface inside the new arena.

Apart from the obvious benefit of being able to visit the powder room without worrying that the baby will find a dog/electrica lead/handbag, it means all Braeden's toys can be kept in one place, thus making the house instantly 1000% tidier! One part of the house now looks like a kindergarten, and the rest looks .. well.. better. No one's going to step on his toys, he's got a clean surface to go nuts in, and it's right beside my office so I can see him and he can see me. Plus he's got a large window for one wall, which means he gets a view and indirect sunlight.

There's a couch in there for reading stories, cuddles, and all sorts of Mum & Baby activities. You could even snooze on it, at a pinch.

To make matters even more fun, I tootled down to our local toy library on Saturday, and came home with two excellent (and otherwise very expensive) toys. An "Exersaucer" (think "walker" but make it immobile, with loads of activity toys/buttons situated around the baby), and a battery operated thingummy (see pic) which literally has all the bells and whistles. Ideal short-term toys, but not things you expect a baby to love unconditionally forever.

At $1 per item for two weeks, this makes excellent fiscal and baby sense.

So all in all, baby's got a new groove and just in a nick of time, given his sporadic determination to get moving.

Btw, he had his Plunket weigh-in this morning. 9.06kg (19lbs15oz), 68.5cm long. Full marks all round, and the Plunket nurse was heard to say he was exactly right for a nine month old baby. Of course I had to ruin it by grinning "Yeah, and he's not quite six months old yet", which earned me a "don't be a smartass" look, and a re-qualification of his age.

...Pictures will have to come later. Blogger's server is being verrrrrrrrrry slowwwwww and my baby is due to wake up any second. I'll keep trying right up til I have to run away, but I don't expect much more luck than I've had for the last half hour.