Toys

I have been thinking about toys a lot lately. Baby B reached a point late this summer where all the sudden he needed something more stimulating to play with than what we had, probably because all we had were things to go in his mouth. Let it be noted that he still loves putting things in his mouth; we haven't outgrown this stage, we're just expanding on it.

But what in the world should we get him next? This early childhood development thing kicked in quick and I was not (am not) prepared. I literally googled "toys that make babies smart" because I don't want to have just stuff lying around, I want it all to be beneficial to him. Armed with some gift money from the great-grandparents, Hubby T and I made a trip to Babies 'r Us a few weeks ago where we were somewhat dismayed to find that about 90% of the toys on the shelf required batteries. Really?! First of all, I don't want to have a house full of electronic-sounding toys going off all day, I think I'd go crazy. Second, Einstein grew up with toys without batteries and look how well he turned out. It just doesn't seem necessary. Needless to say we're still trying to figure out what toys we want to have in the house that will have the most brain-development benefit for Baby B. And now the "pressure" is increasing since I know our loving and generous family members will be asking for his Christmas list soon...if you have any ideas for us, please respond to this post and let me know what worked for your kids!

We are going slow but I think we've done okay so far. We bought a set of rounded cup-blocks that stack but also snap together to become balls. Knocking down this tower is one of Baby B and Baby D's favorite games.



I also invested in this try-angle from Discovery Toys. I like that each side has something different to do and that it can be folded into the triangle shape or unfolded to lay flat on the floor.



We also found this xylophone for $2.50 at Goodwill, what a deal! Baby B and Baby D love putting the mallet in their mouth but they're getting more skilled at banging to make "music" too.



And, of course, I can't discount all of the things we already had lying around the house that have become great points of interest for these boys, like a door stop...



Or a box of baby socks...



Or Mama P's cell phone...actually, make that any cell phone he sets eyes on...



At the end of the day though, after all this agonizing and researching, I'm pretty sure that the most important toy I can give Baby B is me, my love and attention and teaching and talking and reading...so I'm going to go work on that now:)