Oh Boy, New Toys!

As promised: a blog featuring Blake's latest and greatest pastimes. Ryan and I have a feeling that all these new toys are just the tip of the iceberg.

(Special note to grandparents: our house isn't that big. We don't have room for all the things with which you're going to spoil our son. Please know that some of Blake's toys, especially the obnoxious noisy ones, will live at your houses. Thank you.)



BLAKE'S BUMBO
This first "toy" isn't really a toy, but Blake sure likes it. It's call a Bumbo, and it helps babies learn to sit up on their own. Once Blake was able to hold up his neck on his own, we busted out the Bumbo. He much prefers this to the aforeblogged tummy time (both of which help babies strengthen their core muscles). Plus we can take the Bumbo places and let Blake chill in his own seat while we grownups eat dinner. Thanks LMB and Greg for a great baby gift!


BLAKE'S BUTTERFLY MAT
Blake's on the fence about this play mat, which features a prominent butterfly. The butterfly plays music each time it's moved. Blake can lay below the butterfly and kick it or hit it. (I'm not sure this is teaching him such good habits!). Once the butterfly is swatted, it starts to sing music. I'm still not sure if Blake actually understands the sequence of events, but he seems to get mad when the butterfly stops singing. So what does he do? He kicks his legs in a sort of fit. Nine times out of 10, his legs hit the butterfly, and so the singing resumes. Coincidence? Not sure. Either way, the mat usually keeps him preoccupied for a few minutes... but nothing, like this next toy.

THE EXERSAUCER (cue the dramatic music)
This is the newest of all the toys. In other words, we just got it out of the box so Ryan could put it together. As you can see, it's pretty overwhelming. There's so much to look at, I don't think Blake knows where to start! He seems to really like it so far, since he's been in it the whole time I've been writing this blog. There are mirrors, things that spin, dangling doodads, rattles, and LOTS of colors. He can even sorta stand up in it. See his little legs?


So those are Blake's big toys. He also has a few small ones, rattles and such. Who knew kids came with so much stuff??? What about toys for Mom and Dad? Oh yeah, if you look behind Blake in the picture above, you can see evidence of our favorite pastime too.