When I was pregnant I was pretty adamant that my house would not become a giant nursery. Baby M's room would of course, have baby stuff, but I saw no reason for my living room to turn into Romper Room. And up until a few weeks ago we had kept the number of toys, especially those of the giant plastic variety, to a minimum. We really only had 1 offender-- the Fisher Price Kickin Bobbin Gym, a monstrosity I had fully intend to return, but lost the gift receipt and ended up putting it together in a desperate attempt to get out of singing yet another chorus of "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes." And, I have to admit, Baby M does seem to enjoy kicking at it.
But a few weeks ago I broke down and bought the giant plastic toy of all giant plastic toys, the Exersaucer. Technically, I bought the Graco Baby Einstein Discover and Play Activity Center, but it's the same idea; a seat for the baby surrounded by different toys. I took Baby M to Babies R Us and had him try out all of the exersaucers, jumperoos, etc and this is the one he liked best. He is especially fond of the push buttons that say the name of animals in English and Spanish. He pushes them with his head instead of his hands, but I'm sure he is just trying to absorb more vocabulary via osmosis. So now I have this giant plaything sitting next to my dining room table, but it is worth it. For the first time in 4 months I can eat dinner without a baby in my lap.
We have also accumulated a variety of rattles, boards books and stuffed animals but Baby M's favorite thing to play with is a gallon sized ziploc bag full of bagel chips. Of course he only gets to hold this bag under careful supervision but it is still the highlight of his day. Now I finally understand why toy companies always label those plastic bags that hold toy parts with the message "Not a Toy. Keep out of reach of children.", it's for parent's like me!
