Daniel's activities

I thought I would do a post of Daniel's weekly activities as some people think it's odd that he isn't at nursery yet. Our days are very busy time with loads of organised activities so I am not worried in the least. We both love our routine - after dropping Nicholas at school we head off to an activity, sometimes we go to a second activity, then home for a little play and lunch followed by a nap - then we go and pick Nicholas up from school. It's all about to change when he starts nursery in September but that is a whole different story. In the mean time I'm making the most of the time we have together and cherishing every moment I have with my precious little boy. We really have a lot of fun together!

I came across Surestart Children's Centre through Forest School which Claire introduced me to ages ago. It turns out that they run all sorts of other activities which we've been frequenting for quite a while now too. OnTuesday we go to Play School, on Wednesday we go to Forest School and on Thursday we go to Cooking Club. The nice thing is that it is all totally free so if we miss a session it's not the end of the world. As you can imagine Danny has become used to all the friendly staff and is rather fond of some of them. They also run some courses for the mothers. In March I did their 'Bringing out the best in boys' course (4 sessions) and in May I started their 'Positive Parenting' course (12 sessions). A lot of the content is obvious but it does make me think of things from a different perspective. The nice thing is that Daniel goes to the on-site creche while I am busy with the course. I see it as a way for him to get used to being without me in an environment that he is used to and with people that he knows well. So this is what we do every Friday now!

Play School

Forest School

Cooking Club

The Little Gym needs no introduction. Daniel started going to classes there when he was just 1 year old. He always takes part wholeheartedly. It hasn't only taught him core strength, balance and other physical skills but it has also to take risks safely, listen to instructions, wait his turn and other social skills. It even reinforces other more academic things like colours, counting and the abc. I definitely rate The Little Gym as one of the most beneficial activities we do!

Playball is another one of our favourite activities. It teaches the kids the basics of all sorts of different ball sports. Given Daniel's enthusiasm, and dare I say talent, for balls it is the perfect activity for him. He has been doing Playball since September last year - the children all started together and are roughly the same age - it's a lovely little group. This is the only activity that Danny does on his own. From September most activities will be without me (sniff sniff)!

Daniel loves the water and is already showing signs that he is going to be a good swimmer. I think he is a natural but I believe that it has a lot to do with the Waterbabies classes that we did from when he was 6 months old until he was 2 years old. Since then we've been doing the regular lessons at the Putney Leisure Centre once per week. Virginia said he is ready to start the starfish level without me but I am going to hang on a bit longer because he is much younger than the other kids in that class and I enjoy the time with him in the pool so much. On a Wednesday afternoon, before and during Nicholas' group lesson, Daniel and I have a lovely play session together in the pool. I think this also plays a very important role in his water confidence!

In addition to sport, I feel that music is vital for little kids, and they do enjoy it so much. We used to go to Rhyme Time until January, when we had time table clashes, so I had to find an alternative. I am delighted that I stumbled across Bea's Baby Music. It's a fun and refreshing music class for toddlers. Bea and her assistant musicians are eccentric and full of good ideas and fun. There's a different theme every week and it offers just a bit more than the regular music classes!