Wednesday, August 26, 2015

15 Things You Must Do During Your Baby's First Summer ♥

* This is a guest post written by the very lovely and very talented Amber from Goblin Child, who is mum to two gorgeous and adorable twin boys, Balthazar and Lysander - how amazing and unique are those names, I'm in love! When Amber revealed that she'd like to guest post on this little blog of mine I was both amazed and delighted as not only is her blog absolutely wonderful but her photography skills have me in absolute awe every time I see her pictures! Please do pop by her beautiful blog and share the love. Amber's post below had me welling up remembering my very first summer with Tyler Lee and hoping that I get to experience all the summer firsts one day again with another new and precious babe. Every parent MUST do these things during their baby's first summer, they are just the sweetest and are sure to make treasured memories for years to come.*

1. Learn to babywear.  Summer, when you can almost safely venture out
of the house without an umbrella, is the very best time to master
babywearing and take your little one on adventurous walks about the
neighbourhood and beyond.

2. Dip his toes in wild water!  I'm not necessarily advocating for the
beach if you're miles away but do find a lake or stream or even a
puddle if you're desperate, pop a waterproof nappy on him and get
those toes wet!

3. Experiment with ice.  Give it to him to hold and explore, make ice
lollies for him to taste (blend vegetables in with fruit, or mix fruit
juice with water to reduce the high sugar content).

4. Take him camping.  Ok - I'm mostly only advocating this one because
I don't want to be the ONLY nutter who took their baby camping -
although even if you do try this I'm already more of a loony than you;
I took twins - but actually, if you make sure to wrap up warm and camp
somewhere with an accessible loo, it's super fun to get back to nature
a bit.

5. Cultivate a baby sunhat collection and then despair because you
cannot convince your child to keep one on for longer than five
minutes.  Scratch that - two.

6. Take advantage of the brilliant golden light at sunset and take
some unofficial family portraits.  You'll treasure them in later years.

7. Invest in a paddling pool and try to make a little time for
splashing fun every day.

8. Take your baby to his first festival.  Trust me on this - it's
easier to wrangle a baby at a festival than a toddler.  The younger
the better, and bonus points if he can't yet crawl.

9. Let them eat grass.  Babies LOVE eating grass.  Try to find
somewhere that can't have been sprayed with chemicals or weed on by
dogs, and then plop baby down to amuse himself for half an hour whilst
you enjoy your book.

10. Blow bubbles.  I have yet to meet a baby that isn't fascinated by bubbles.

11. Draw chalk scenes on the pavement and put baby in the centre of
the action for instant adventure shots.  If baby is old enough to sit
and wave a piece of chalk let him 'draw' too but watch for nibbling!

12. Enjoy outdoor picnics.  Spread a blanket, put a selection of foods
on paper plates and let your little one go to town.  Baby-led weaning
at its finest!

13. Spend as much time skin-to-skin with them as you can cram in to
the day.  Yes, really.  Embrace the chance to go topless.

14. A summer barbeque with all of your friends and family so that they
can meet and/or spend a day with the baby properly.  This is super for
winter-born babies where you've only been able to cope with guests for
an hour or so at a time.

15. If you have friends with babies of the same age and they're all
mobile, host a Baby Sports Day.  Trust me, as the mother of twins,
there is little more entertaining than baby races.  Add an obstacle
course if you're feeling wild.

*A big thank you to Amber for guest posting. Did you or do you plan to do any of these sweet activities with your baby during their first summer?
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1 comment

  1. Thank you SO much for featuring my post on your beautiful blog - what an honour! x

    ReplyDelete

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