Tools of the Trade (part 2)

I could probably talk at length about every toy and product that Thumper's interacted with, but I'm trying to stick to real favorites.

So I feel like for the first month or so there's no real playing.  I did tummy time, I put up high-contrast stuff that he could see from his sleep area, and we, the parents, played with him and interacted, but for the most part it was eat, sleep, diaper, in some order, over and over.  No real toys.  Which is fine, because you more than make up for it later.  I look like I run a daycare now.

Post-Newborn Infant (and beyond)

Muffin the Moose - This is technically the girl version of Mortimer the Moose.  When I bought it during a Black Friday sale, Mortimer was sold out, and I don't think my kid is going to be tainted by a shot of pink or purple (in fact, the latest pacifier from the multi-pack is pink.  I have noticed strangers using the word "precious" a lot more, come to think of it).  

These Lamaze toys are amazing.  Another popular one is Captain Calamari, which I got for my sister's baby but never got around to getting for us.  They're your standard activity gym/stroller toy, but somehow they're just that extra smidgen more appealing to infants.  In Thumper's case, he was glued to Muffin when I attached her to his activity gym (maybe because his primary view was the black-and-white bottoms of her feet), and since she's slightly bigger than the other toys, she dangled lower and was the first one he could reach.  When he got older, she became a go-to stroller toy.  Even now I chuck her in there, and he'll idly play with the different textures or munch on those antlers.  

Seriously, probably any of the Lamaze baby toys are a good bet.  It's tempting to buy them all, but you'd be surprised how far just one can go.

Sophie the Giraffe teether - I bought one for a friend's baby shower long before I got pregnant myself, due to the rave reviews.  Still, when it came time to get one for Thumper, I was a bit skeptical - mostly because when I took her out of the packaging, she smelled just like a brand-new basketball.  I couldn't imagine that he'd be that much more into her.  

I was so wrong.  Thumper has seven teeth now; he started his "pre-teething" or whatever you want to call it - the stage that's just tons of drool - at three or four months.  That's a lot of teething and drool, and this will continue for the foreseeable future.  And while we've tried many teethers, made of various substances, Sophie is far and away the favorite and has been since the beginning.  At first he could barely manage the toy, and only fit one foot at a time in his mouth; now even her head gets gnawed on.  Just last night I heard the familiar slight squeak of teeth on rubber and sure enough, there he was, sitting in the middle of the living room floor, munching away. 

Fisher-Price Rainforest Jumperoo - We knew at around three months that we needed a jumper for Thumper, because he was already jumping in place when we'd hold him on our laps.  We purchased this at four months, but had to wait to actually use it because he was too short; even the lowest setting left his little legs dangling in midair.  

He was finally big enough to use it somewhere between 5 and 6 months.  It took him a few days to get the hang of it, and it's been a hit ever since.  We'd try not to leave him in it for too long, but suddenly the Yeti and I could both eat dinner at the same time.  In fact, Thumper's just now growing out of the highest setting and the jumper's days are numbered, and we don't really have a backup plan for that dinner thing. 

Regarding this specific jumper, it's well-made and withstands the most vigorous jumping.  The little activity toys are great - I've seen Thumper actually push his activity table over, use it to stand and balance and play with the jumper toys when he's not sitting in it.  It has a "storage" mode that basically allows it to shrink down enough to fit through doorways, but it's still pretty unwieldy so it stays in one place.  

Next time I'll cover some from the late-infant/early-toddler stage - so now, in other words.  But for now, I'm breathing a little sigh of nostalgia for the tiny-baby days: