Babynastics

by Amy My eight-month-old baby girl started kicking in the womb and she’s never really stopped moving. When she was really little we could keep her entertained on her playmat, and then with her Exersaucer and Jolly Jumper, but it didn’t take long for me to start looking for activities for her. She needs to burn a little energy.   She enjoyed her swimming lessons over the summer but since the only class I could have enrolled her this term would have been the same, I decided to look elsewhere. I started asking my Twitter friends about gymnastics classes. I took gymnastics when I was a kid and I enjoyed it and I thought she would like it too.   It was a Twitter mom that told me about the Ottawa Gymnastics Centre in Westboro. I had never heard of it before but a peek at their website gave me the information I needed. They had a program called Babynastics, specifically for the 8-15 month age group. The program promises rolling, swinging, bouncing and balancing – all things my daughter loves to do – in a completely padded environment.   The gymnastics centre is large, colourful and full of things to climb, roll around in, swing and bounce on. My daughter isn’t walking yet but she more than likely will be by the time the class ends in December and I’m happy that she will be able to take something different away from the class every week as her skills develop.   After one class I am already amazed by what she can do and I loved watching her face light up as we went around the gym. The other parents even commented on how much she seemed to be enjoying herself as the teacher swung her on the rings and when I bounced with her on the trampoline.   I would highly recommend the Ottawa Gymnastic Centre for other parents looking to burn a little energy in their kids. They’ve got programs for infants from 8 months to adults who want a little exercise. I do have to say that by the end of the baby girl’s half-hour class, I was sweating myself.

Amy is mom to 8-month-old Maggie and a 4 year old schnauzer named Henry. You can read her blog at amyboughner.ca where she writes about motherhood and anything else that's on her mind. She loves getting active with her family, including husband Joe who blogs about his dad experiences at Grover's Cape.