Exer-what??

I think that we have crossed the threshold into a new territory of Baby World. Welcome to the Province of Pimped-out Toys. For those of you in my mother's generation I don't literally mean "pimp". The toys I'm talking about have nothing to do with sleezy men who use and abuse women. I'm using the word in the hip-hop sense, meaning "having excessive embellishments or adornments," all the bells and whistles.

This is Jonas' Exer-saucer. It's really a stationary walker--yes, I realize that is an oxymoron--with a 360 degree swiveling seat and toys and gadget that go all the way around the tray. We have several names for it: 'Ground control'. 'The Command Center'. 'Frustration Station' is our favorite. Whatever one may call this device, it is a fabulous arrow in our quiver of things to keep our son moving, exploring, and happy.

When we introduced Jonas to it, he was mesmerized. All those colors, sounds, textures.

Now I'll be the first to admit that I was a bit skeptical when we put the exer-saucer on our baby registry. I am not a fan of having lot of toys, and, I certainly don't want our house over-run by them. In general I tend to favor the simple, time-tested toy over the tricked out toy monstrosity ablaze with blinking lights and chirping noises. But I have to say, it's a terrific toy.










Joe putting together the exer-saucer. Liz's famous last words, "Joe, why don't you assemble the saucer? It'll only take you 10 minutes." Ok, someone here is naive, and it's not Joe. He dumps out the contents of an enormous cardboard box and among the 45 large pieces of plastic is a clear bag with 100 tiny metal nuts, bolts, sheaths, you name it.



Hurray! An hour later we have an assembled toy.

As soon as we put him down in the seat, Jonas gets right down to business. It's hilarious because the minute he gets his little chubby digits on all the "controls" a very serious expression always takes over his face.

Jonas' favorite toy on it is a barrel-like thing that has fish and beads in it. He spins it around like there's no tomorrow, his little chubby hand crashing down on it. He gets frustrated that he can't lift it off the platform and put it in his mouth. Then, he starts screaming.

Every now and again Jonas relaxes a bit and takes a break from pounding the buttons.

It's so fun now that Jonas is becoming much more interactive.