Exercise Time!!

Here's Shloupette in her jump-up-contraption (great teething-toy, heh.) Raff decided that the woolly lamb should have some exercise too ...

Our daily afternoon ritual generally includes a bounce-on-auntie-Praise's-bed-until-you-drop time. I have a great folder full of techno and bounceable music, titled "Floppy's Favorites" as well as softer cool-down tunes (Quacky the Duck, Two Little Kittens, etc), and we rock out. That is, the kids bounce up and down and do their pint-sized gymnastics, and I zoom around the rest of the room reviewing my capoeira, ballet, tae-kwon-do, and tae-bo routines. Here's Floppy doing her stretches, while Raff was busy with the lamb and the baby.

Then, after I've accomplished my aerobics, it's muscle-building time. Here's what we do:

I start with Floppy, balancing and lifting her first on both legs, then on each leg individually. I swing them around, and bounce them on my feet up in the air. I tell them it's good practice for the day when they'll have to ride a camel.
After my legs and stomach have gotten warmed up with light little Floppy, it's Raff's turn. This chunky little fellow is only 2 months younger than Floppy, but he's a great deal heavier, so I get a mighty good workout trying to lift him into the air onto my feet. One day I'll film how I do it and post it here. Once he's securely suspended in the air, I hold onto his feet and make him bounce on my leg. To you girls who take care of toddlers and complain that you don't have enough time to work out, I say there's absolutely no reason why you can't get fit in a jiffy--half an hour a day of hoisting the little monkeys and swinging them around on your shoulders, arms and/or legs and feet, and you'll be tight as a drum and fit as a fiddle. Tried and proven, folks!