Playskool Explore and Grow Busy Ball Popper

For his first Christmas our son received, among other things, the Playskool Explore and Grow Busy Ball Popper. It's a pretty fun toy, but younger toddlers might not take an immediate liking to it. At least our boy didn't. He was a bit shy about it at first, but within a month or so he was pressing the button himself.

One thing you should know about this toy: it's one of the louder musical toys and there's no volume control I've been able to find. I suspect that's intentional to drown out the sound of the blower which might otherwise alarm small children, but the loud music itself might have a similar if lesser effect. At one point we had a play yard set up in the den, and when he woke up early when it was my turn to get up with him I would put him in there after feeding him and take a catnap on the floor outside it. That was difficult on the mornings when he would decide to play with the popper.

At first the balls tended to get thrown forcefully enough to often end up bouncing away from the toy (we still can't find the purple one) but in time the batteries lost some of their charge and that happened less. For an older kid that might be dissapointing; we're told his preschool- and school-age cousins were really enjoying chasing the balls from the one that a same-age cousin received. In our son's case, though, he was perfectly content when the charge got even so low as to just lift one ball up to hover at the opening where he could grab it or shove it aside for the next one to come up. As a result, we only just recently had to change the batteries: 4 D-cells.

He likes to grab the balls and put them directly into the intake by the button. He also occasionally slips in a Mega-Blok. A week or so ago he managed to get five of them in. The fresh batteries blew them all out when I tilted it over.

Recently he received another toy: the V Tech Count with Me Hippo. As it turns out, the balls are about the same size and weight, so as to be compatible with the ball popper. It came with three balls, so now he has the popper loaded with seven balls. (Yes, it was his idea.) The balls for the hippo are made of a harder plastic, though, so there's a bit more clatter. He loves it, though, so we can put up with it.

Curious George 15" Plush Doll

One toy our son has had for some time is his 15" Curious George plush doll. For the first year of his life we took his picture with it every month, except once at six months when he was sick with a cold.

I remember him crying the first time we laid it down next to him in the crib. But now, at 16 months, it's a different story. He's in his lovey-huggy stage, and the most frequent recipient of his hugs and kisses is his monkey. (Yes, I know it's a chimp, but "monkey" just sounds more fun. I'll make sure he learns the difference later.) He hugs and kisses it a few times a day. He also likes when I make it dance and move its hands to do things like pick up balls or clap patty-cake.

He gets into the act too sometimes. He likes to press the keys on our computer keyboards, so I took an old keyboard and removed the cable so he can have it to play with. Sometimes I position George so it looks like he's typing, sometimes moving his hands to press the keys. Then my son takes over and moves its hands himself.