Change is good

In the zoo world, we do something called "enrichment". What this means is that we try to vary an animal's day using toys, scents, changing food presentation, offering novel foods, etc. In other words, we don't want them to get used to doing the same thing the same way everyday. It's good for the brain to have new stimulation, and it improves the overall well-being of the animal.

I don't know why I thought this wouldn't apply to my child. Or maybe I just didn't think about it. In some ways, Gabriel needs a schedule -- take a nap sometime during the day, bedtime around 9:00pm, and mealtimes are pretty fixed, but in others, he needs the variety. 

He plays quite well in his playpen, but lately, whenever you put him in his area he cries for awhile and won't get distracted by any toys. I had put a plethora of toys in there and never changed them out, so I took all but a few out and put some new ones in, and he's much more likely to immediately play with them now, or at least only cry for a few minutes before being distracted by toys. So, I'm changing them out daily. Just 4-5 toys and a new book each day. It seems to be going well.

Change also seems to be a good thing in the food department, too. Papaya was awesome. We got so excited about it, we offered nothing but papaya (because it was working).......and he started rejecting it. Too much of a good thing, I guess. So, we gave him a break, and offered another novel food - pear/raspberry. That went over very well yesterday with the buzzy pacifier, and when I offered papaya again this morning, he was at least willing to play with it again. Now, we just have to remember that variety is the spice of life and change up his day everyday, at least with the small things.