We’re spending the Christmas season with the Boy and his family in France. It has been such a relief to be able to put my feet up a bit while the grandparents amuse the Little Buddy. We even managed to finally have a romantic date and fine food, for the first time since Baby Ao’s birth last night, at L’Amphitryon, 5 years after our first meal there.

The grandparents and extended family members are amazed at how active the Little Man is. He’s curious and alert, constantly trying to grab or swipe at things, often gesticulates excitedly, and is very athletic for his age – he doesn’t like sitting down and keeps pushing off his feet to stand up (supported of course), he likes ‘jumping’ (i.e. bending his knees as if to jump), and can almost stand with minimal support, albeit very briefly.

The Boy and I often wonder if this is the impact of all the activities I’ve been getting myself and Baby Ao involved in. Baby Ao has always been the youngest baby – sometimes by far – at the free activities I’ve brought him to, for paid activities, there are occasionally younger babies, simply because I only enrol him in those activities once I think he’s developmentally ready to benefit from them, given the cost.

Some people think I’m behaving like an over-ambitious “Tiger Mom”, pushing my kid to do activities even as a baby. While I don’t know what my attitude will be like in future, I don’t think my current hyperactivity is attributable to a “Tiger Mom” attitude.

On one hand, it’s true that I prefer to expose our Tadpole to as much as possible, as early as possible, since a baby’s brain size doubles in the first year, and apparently many of the rain connections are made after birth – so if there’s any chance at all that exposure to new experiences can help him be permanently more intelligent, courageous, outgoing etc., I might as well keep letting him experience as much as possible. The way I see it, the early investment could potentially have life-long impact, and so it’s worth making the effort. I’m not expecting him to achieve anything in particular, as would be the case with a Tiger Mom, but I’m setting him up to maximise his achievement (given his existing genetic blueprint) in the future.

On the other hand, I’m personally pretty “all over the place” (in The Boy’s words) anyway – constantly keen on pursuing new and varied interests / activities, and I get cabin fever easily. So it’s only natural that my natural hyperactivity expresses itself in my “mummy” role as well. My activities get me out of the flat, helps me entertain our Little Bug, and enables me to meet other new mothers. And I don’t think I’m overloading Baby Ao, because I’m protective of his naps (rest and sleep are also very important for his brain development and for maintaining his generally sunny disposition) and his routine.

Below are the activities I’ve done with him in his first 4 months:

Free activities:
1) “Story and singing time” at the local library – once a week since he was 5 weeks, the next youngest baby was 6 months (although I stopped it at some point)

2) Baby massage course at St Mary’s – since he was almost 6 weeks for 4 weeks, the next youngest baby was 8 weeks I think, but possibly 7 weeks

3) “Story and singing time” at the local community nursery – usually 4 times a week since he was 7 weeks, the next youngest baby was about 10 months

4) “Stay and play” at the local community nursery – 2-4 times a week since he was 16 weeks, the next youngest baby was my friend’s baby at 18 weeks

Paid-for activities:
1) Mums & Babies’ Yoga – Monday mornings (I’ve only been twice)

2) ‘School of Rock-a-Bye Babies’- Wednesdays noon

2) ‘Baby Sensory’ – Friday afternoons

3) ‘Monkey Music’ – Tuesday afternoons

4) ‘Aquababies’ (baby swimming) – Sunday afternoons

5) ‘Buggy Bootcamp’ (fitness for mums with babies in tow) – occasional (days vary)

4) ‘Bach to Baby’ concert – once

In the new year, I might cut back on some of the paid-for activities (or rebalance them) as Baby Ao will probably be more mobile and hence can benefit more from the “Stay and play” at the local community nursery. He should be able to explore the treasure baskets by himself and play with the toys there, instead of being more of an ‘audience’ member as he has been in the past several months.