Its been rough. I’ve never seen gums so purple and swollen.
Earlier this week I got together with fellow Dads Team pal Justin (see: his blog + beautiful family) and he was telling me how he made a mini ball-pit for his son, Keller — so smart! Justin inspired me to create our own.
Here’s what you’ll need …
- Sunset Glow Baby Pool @ Target ($4.99)
- 100 (or 250) Count Ball Pit Kit @ Toys R Us ($13 - $24)
- Inflate pool
- Dump balls into pool (pit)
- Dump child into “Pit o’ Fun”
What it boils down to is, for under $20 (or $30) you can create a really fun multipurpose play-thing for your infant/toddler.
For the past week and a half, the kid’s favorite thing has been to walk holding someone’s hands — all day long…
To get some relief, we tried encouraging him to use the walker his grandma bought him. What a friggin struggle! He hated it, until yesterday when he dediced he tolerated it. He still adheres to Danny’s rule of three:
- Hates all new things the first time
- Tolerates them the second
- Loves them the third
Enjoy Little Flash Elliott. I know walking for real isn’t too far off, and I am scared. He crazy!
Elliott is teething like mad. He’s already has 8 teeth with 1 (maybe 2!) more coming in — the kid will eat anything and everything.
Here’s the Eric Carle board-book that’s been munched to pieces by our Lil Chomper!
In the car, around the house, at the park — Elliott loves the jams. If he had an iPod, this is a sampling of what would be on it …
Elliott’s Spring/Summer 2009 Playlist
Whilst scouring the children’s book section at a new thrift shop last week, Liz and I hit the mother-load! “Simon’s Song” Written by Barbara Emberley & Illustrated by Ed Emberley is the first of a handful of great finds that we’ll be sharing with the Internets.
Albeit sans dust jacket, this $0.89 gem is a spectacular 32 page book filled with gorgeous woodcut illustrations! I really love this style of artwork, which is slightly reminiscent of the great Jim Flora.
There’s even the song in the back that you can sing/play along to. Elliott loves music, so this will surely be a hit when he gets a little older.
More “Gems” to follow …
We picked up a used copy of Daddy Sleeps by Alain Le Saux ($0.59) — the American Edition of the popular early nineties French children’s books for boys/girls and their Daddy’s. Daddy Sleep is very cool and also very weird.
“daddy sulks” — Liz’s fav!
“daddy smokes” — My personal fav! Mostly for the oddness and slight inappropriateness of a huge smoking man illustration in a children’s book.
I love the son’s expression! He’s so mad/disgusted!
I just realized we have a bunch of Boon products — everything you see in the image above! I really like their approach to design. Their toys, cups, spoons, etc. are super-functional, durable, modern and very well-thought-out.
If you’re looking to buy someone a baby shower gift or are into some different but smartly designed baby products, give Boon a shot. Their price points are also very reasonable!
One minor caveat: Our bathroom tiles don’t like the adhesive/suction cups on the back of the Frog Pod. Be advised that while your wife assured you it was secured correctly with the aforementioned apparatus, it might come crashing down into your bathtub at 3AM making the loudest noise ever — you might then think that someone is breaking into your house and reach for the nearest heavy object to arm/protect your family with.
Your baby will miraculously not wake up during this process. Oh Frog Pod!
“A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.”
- George Moore
