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Once your baby sits up, he or she is ready to straddle your knees and bounce away!

Babies have probably been bounced on knees since there were knees to be bounced on! By adding a fun rhyme or song this universal activity, you will delight your baby with both motion and sound. If you don't want to miss your baby's delighted smiles, engage in these bouncing games in front of a full-length mirror.

Step by Step:

1. Sit your baby on your lap facing you, or outward.
   
2. Hold her under the arms.
   
3. Sit on the edge of the chair and lift your heels so your baby gets a good bounce.
   
4. Try this pair of bouncing rhymes to get started:

"Down By the Banks"

Down by the banks of the hanky panky
(bounce baby)
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky,
(move baby from one knee to the other)
They went oops, ops, belly flops!
(open your knees)
One missed the lily pad
And went kerplop!
(while holding your baby securely, touch his or her feet to the ground)

"Duke of York"

The grand old Duke of York,
He had ten thousand men.
(bounce baby)
He marched them up to the top of the hill
(march your legs higher)
And he marched them down again.
(march your legs lower)
And when you're up, you're up,
(raise both legs or lift baby)
And when you're down, you're down.
(drop both legs or sit baby back down)
And when you're only halfway up
(raise legs halfway or lift baby halfway)
You're neither up nor down.
(move legs up and down or lift baby up and down)

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