Activity Mat

Liam spends some time every day on an "activity mat." This is basically a piece of cloth with two arches crossing above it. From the arches hang various items that might interest a baby like toys and mirrors. In the first picture, we see what Liam looks like on one of the mats from our point of view. In the second, we see Liam's point of view while lying on the same mat and looking up. Of course, he can also look around and see other dangling toys and he always does. We usually put him down on the mat and talk, read and sing to him while he looks around and bats at the toys. After a while, he gets bored and we pull him half-way out so he gets a new view. When he starts getting cranky again, we pick him up and walk or dance around with him as he settles down.

In my last post, I might have given the false impression that Liam is easy to put to sleep. Let me expand on that a little. Sometimes, it takes an hour or more to get Liam to sleep and it might involve a fair amount of crying. However, sometimes (especially after a long period of activity time) it only takes about 30 minutes - 10 minutes of put down, cry, pick up, repeat - 10 minutes of calmly lying there or "dozing" - 10 more minutes of pick up, walk, put down, cry, repeat. After that second round, he tends to really fall asleep for a while (at least 30 minutes). Here's a video of Liam during those middle 10 minutes of calmly lying there.