Chronicles of Baby Gear

Like most new parents, we have an arsenal of baby toys at our house.   These toys, some small but most quite large and cumbersome, are beginning to take over every room in our home.  Part of me would like to prune down and get rid of some of them.  But, the thing that stops me from doing this is that we use them all from the smallest block to the Cadillac of all exersaucers!  Amazingly, each and every one of the items we purchased at a garage sale or received as a gift have come in handy at one point or another in Emily's life so far.  Here's a recap.   When Emily first came home from the hospital, the only place I could put her when she was awake (besides someone's arms) was the bouncy seat.  Almost every picture I took of her when it was just the two of us at home has a blue backdrop with stars.

Eventually, our baby swing also became invaluable, as this became the only place that Emily would nap.  This caused me so small amount of consternation, but she eventually learned to sleep quite peacefully in her crib as well (thank goodness).

As she got older, around two months or so, she came to really enjoy her play mat.  She would lay under the animals and eventually began batting them.  This was her favorite thing to do for a couple of months until recently, when she's suddenly gotten much more mobile.  Now she rolls and twists and turns right off the mat, and then gets frustrated quickly because she's managed to get away from all the fun.  Instead, she now often favors her exercauser (and the many toys that are at arms reach) quite a bit.  I mean, take a look at this contraption - even I would not be easily bored.

But through it all, the one item that I would pay ten times its cost to keep has been the baby bjorn.  When she was younger, we'd dance around the kitchen in the bjorn with bright lights and loud music to keep her awake until bedtime (it didn't always work).

And now, the one thing that will - without fail - cure her evening crankiness is a walk outside in the bjorn.  In my estimation, it's been the most wonderful purchase we've made by far.  I hope she starts to enjoy the stroller more soon though, as the little tyke is not getting any lighter!