Hi,
I recall my DS's whole first year as being difficult during all waking moments. A list of things my DS liked roughly at that age in case you haven't got some of these: lift the flap books (especially Peek-A-Moo, Peek-A-Zoo, and I wrote to the Zoo). At some point I can't recall exactly when, he began doing the flaps, at first with the parent getting it slightly up, this gave him a new sense of participation. Musical toys such as a plastic set of flowers where pressing the flower produced a tone, and a electronic keyboard (with lots of notes, not the ones for babies with 3 keys) meant for older kids, some are very cheap at the big walmart/target type stores so if it ends up destroyed no big deal. The real telephone with the line unplugged (so as not to call 911). Interactive songs such as The Noble Duke of York (lift kid up and down etc), many more can be found on line by googling "camp songs" or "children's songs", singing was key for us as we could be a few feet away if singing and that allowed quick showering, cooking, etc. Once a song was well known I could sometimes play it on a CD instead and that freed me for a moment or two. To occupy him a few minutes I could set him up with a shallow tray of water (on a towel) and some floating plastic objects, toys in the water were somehow novel. A free standing bouncer was also a favorite. My DS from birth did not like the high chair or the carseat, I sympathize... I always looked enviously at babies peacefully sitting in strollers or on blankets at the park.
I've also heard parents recommend recording a parent reading the favorite books using a video camera or voice recorder and then play that to entertain them 5-10 minutes. We never seemed to get the time to do the recording...
Polly
