12 Ideas on How to Amuse Your Baby Boy

Have you heard more baby cries than baby laughs? Remember that your baby is experiencing life on another plane than you are. The things we as adults take for granted as common knowledge are new for them. I'm learning that it requires not only constant patience but also constant creativity with infants. I think I've made up more songs and done more dances and ran more laps in the last couple of years than I have in the previous portion of my life.

With that, I've found some things that have worked for my child. I'm sure as you're reading this you can add things or remove things, but I wanted to share what's worked for me. Some of these may apply to your baby girl, but I've seen what works for my son.

1) Peek-a-boo - a timeless classic. This is where your hands are covering your face and then you open them up and say "peek-a-boo!" I'm not sure why that works but it just does.

2) Make loud (but fake) noises - especially farts, growls, yelps, etc. Using extreme voice ranges also helps. Switch it up so that your baby boy doesn't get used to certain sounds. The element of surprise is important here.

3) Run circles around your infant, literally - he'll have fun trying to follow you, or run around with you. Either way it's a great way to get in shape for all involved. If you want to make it interesting, throw a third person in the mix running in an opposite or perpendicular direction and see which one he'll follow.

4) Play chase with them - for some reason baby boys like to be chased. You don't even have to run that fast, just give them the idea that they're being chased and that to some extent they're actually getting away. When you're ready to stop, speed up and catch the baby boy.

5) Make funny faces - Play around with your eyes and mouth more than anything. You can't get too much movement out of the nose or ears unless you have facial flexibility beyond a normal capacity. Use your hands to make the face go in different directions.

6) Say things like "ewwwww" or "whaaaat" or "hubalahubalahubala" - these weird sounds will have your baby boy smiling in no time. The weirder it sounds, the more he'll love it.

7) Play air drums with chopsticks - my son has really gotten into this as of late. He likes to make-believe he's playing the drums, so I'll give him some chopsticks and he can go at it. They're light enough not to make a lot of noise and long enough to make some small impact.

8) Get in his face, literally - nose to nose, eye to eye, cheek to cheek... I don't recommend mouth to mouth, but hey, whatever works. The closer you are to them it's similar to playing chase with them except you're right up on them. Your baby boy's world may get dark for a few seconds until you pull away so be prepared for this to have the reverse effect.

9) Pretend to fall down - if you slowly land on the ground it won't hurt nearly as much as really falling. Add some extra sound effects of acting hurt for a better response. Watch your son come to you and pat your face or side or some part of your body to make sure your ok. After that, if you pop up, you'll get the biggest smile.

10) Tickling - a time-honored tradition. Find the ticklish spots on your child and go for the riches. (I don't like saying "go for broke", so I say "go for the riches".) If it seems that your child isn't the least bit ticklish, then there are at least eleven other methods you can try to amuse your child. If you're desperate enough, he may try and tickle you.

11) Act like you've been attacked - screams, yells, runaways, fallouts, whatever it takes... if it looks like you've been attacked (play-acting of course) your son will think it's the best movie ever. Don't use any objects that could be dangerous for your baby boy to play with as you're aware he likes anything he can put in his mouth at this point.

12) Splash your face with water - it will cause your face to respond which in turn will make your baby boy respond with amusement. I recommend cold water. Hot water on the face isn't amusing for you even if it is for him.