My son, the artist

I hate when people say that. Let your darn kid be whatever he wants to be! A drawing - finger painted, at that - does not an artist make. Let him draw to his little heart's content without you labeling him. Say lovely cow, little baby, I love its purple stripes and it's so great that it's playing the guitar! Leave that pressure pushing attitude for your bum-y husband, who, frankly, could use a little shove in the right direction anyway. 

But I digress.

The point, is, Wynn went to Valencia and brought back Giotto bebé pencils for the critter. He's recently started scribbling away (mostly on paper) and we got super excited. Short of setting up his own atelier, we were happy to find something he can draw with and occasionally suck on. These pencils are safe to suck on, glide on easily for optimal critter drawing and ... they wash off faces, floor and table as well as fabric. There's not a lot more you can ask of a pencil.

Sunny enough. Finally.

Madrid is trying to shake off the winter.  My mom got the critter this bike helmet and Wynn attached a bicycle seat.

The critter loves it. He doesn't love the helmet, but he'll tolerate it once he's seated on the bike. I stopped a few times to check how he was doing, and the only thing that bugged him was my stopping. Pedal, woman!

Not all gyms are created equal

We checked out another baby gym today. Not great. It was more important for the facilitators to stick to their schedule and go through all their planned activities than to give the kiddos time to explore. 

During the "warm up" the parents moved their kids' arms. Moved them! They're 9 months old, they can move their own darn arms. There was free exploration of the gym time, but only for however long it took them to bring out the next activity. We must have gone through 8 different activities in 40 minutes.

These facilitator ladies had that 9AM on a Saturday morning children's TV show vibe, with too much fake energy right up in the kids' faces. The music was too loud. We could have been playing with kittens instead of kids for all they cared. I spent the whole hour trying to fend them off the critter. 

The bonchibón is taking a nap now. I'm blogging - but, I swear, I'm still a bit overstimulated. 

Gymboree

Until recently, it was just a funny word. With a very active 9 month old and a mami in need of activities we set out to see what the world has to offer us. 

The world offered us Gymboree. Gymboree offered us a free trial. Everyone knew our names, it was bright and open, there was crazy good matts and an instructor with a magic bubble wand that blew out millions at once. Best of ALL, they have the most incrdible baby gym, with slides and tubes to crawl through, balls, things to climb. It was critter Shangri-La. Lucas was incredibly and adorably excited. He was crawling at the speed of light, interested in absolutelly everything, trying every single thing. Very sure of himself and very very excited. I loved it! 

The only downside is that it is rather pricey. It's a toss up between Gymboree and groceries. But the minute we feel a teeny bit richer it's Gymboree all the way. Forget college, this is a much better educational prospect for which to save money. Maybe we should take out a loan. We're still paying for our own college loans... will Lucas really care that we tacked on a few years of Gymboree to his?

The secret is...

Playgroups!

It's where the cool kids hang. And where mamas touch base.

Playgroups, Mommy and Me, etc... in my mind, they had become a teasing urban legend. They don't abound here in Madrid. They don't exist. They don't have them. There's daycare and maids and an odd grandma here and there. There's you in the afternoon, at 6, after the 3/4 day of work at the office. And I suppose there's Baby Einstein. 

But the idyllic baby-proofed room, with soft baby music (windchimes, maybe), blankets on the floor and other chatty and equally relaxed mothers in their socks... it exists! Thanks to Kids in Madrid and Mum Abroad I am infiltrating my way into a community of playgroups and activities for little kiddies. I knew I wan't the only one.