the explorer

a few questions have come to mind regarding the answers my post about
activities for the 15mth old. careful - this will be a long post!

DS (15 mths) seems to be a real explorer & extremely busy and different to
most of the other kids i see and also different from alot of the responses i
received to the post. we go to playgroup, swimming, mother's group & aust
breastfeeding assoc meetings where i see alot of other kids DS's age.

where other kids will happily play with/examine a toy or sit down for a
while, DS is constantly on the move. he loves to find out how something
works or what something does but as soon as he has worked it out, he's onto
the next thing.

he also has "ants in his pants". he loves reading books and if he wants us
to read one we have trained him to sit on his kid's sofa for it which he
does, but when DS sits he bounces up & down & you can just see the energy
wanting to be used. this is the same in the high chair, or if we stick him
in the stroller. if he watches a video, he likes to stand/walk around/dance.
when we are at other people's places, the other children sit & play with the
toys with the occasional walk around. DS likes to examine the electrical
equipment (pushing buttons, turning dials), rearrange all their furniture no
matter how large, try to reach everything they have put up high (he is tall
so they usually haven't put it high enough) and play with anything he can
find that he shouldn't.

at home he is constantly on the move and even running around all rooms in
the house gets boring for him before long. things like the idea of a
cupboard full of plasticware & kitchen utensils just for him whilst i'm
cooking just doesn't keep him interested for long at all. he ends up running
around the breakfast bar or trying to work out how to open the fridge or the
locked cupboards. it seems the only time he focuses on one thing for an
extended time is he loves to sit in his room & read books (he'll sit still
when he's reading them himself). he does like to play with his toys in his r
oom, just each one doesn't hold his attention for very long.

i know there are great positives to all this - he is wonderfully active &
won't be overweight, he has a sharp mind & loves to work stuff out & lots of
other things. he's very social, he's very cuddly with me and he is a huge
flirt.

but i'm wondering if other people have suggestions from their own experience
of an "explorer"? we try to go out as much as possible but i work from home
so it's not possible all the time. also my mother has dementia & DS & i have
to attend alot of long appointments with her (currently weekly) and she
lives 1.5hrs away. it is a real struggle keeping DS entertained at these
times!

i'd love to hear what other people have done with their active toddler to
keep them interested.

thanks for reading the whole thing!!!
--
elizabeth (in australia)
DS - born 20-aug-02