...1st Year, Day 3 &4

Today I am going to do a double post, because yesterday I did not make it on:(  I had to have some dental work done that kept me away for the day.  I have to go back tomorrow for the second half of my dental work, so I will probably post the Mommy Deals (I have some good ones for the long weekend) tonight.  I will try to post my 5th item tomorrow afternoon.  Thanks for hanging with me:)

Item number 3 is one of my son's favorite toys...Leapfrog's Scout!!  My mother in law gave it to him when he was first born.  At that point all he could do was stare at it and hug him.  Nowadays he carries him everywhere, and is able to start the songs on his own. Scout is our family's favorite!!!  He has 30 songs to choose from, and you can hook him up to your computer and personalize them.  You enter your child's name, favorite food, favorite color etc...and then they incorporate the information into the songs.  There is nothing better than seeing your child's eyes light up when they hear their favorite stuffed animal say their name:)  One paw plays songs, one plays lullabies, and the other plays interactive games.  He (they make a "girl version" named Violet, however I would have liked Scout as a child)  is definitely one of the best toys on the market, and very affordable at $25.

Pick 4 is an item that I would not have been able to live without, from months 3-7.  It is the Baby Einstein Around the World Play Gym.  I swear my son spent most of his day on this mat.  He learned how to roll over on it, and did his tummy time on it.  We only put it away when he started crawling and lost interest in laying on it.  However it comes with so many interactive toys (they are removable), so we kept all of those out to put on his stroller and carseat...

In the center of the mat is a light up sun which plays music.  It is actually enjoyable to listen to.  You can set it to play non-stop, or only when your child moves.  As I said above, it comes with a bunch of interactive toys, rattles, mirrors, stuffed animals etc...  They are all done in bright colors, and have great reusable hooks that attach them to the mat.  These hooks are great quality, and you can use them again on your carseat, highchair, or stroller.  The mat itself is beautiful, it is covered with different land forms and the animals that live in each area.  It is easy to clean and easy to fold up.  These retail for about $80- $100, which is a big investment toy wise...however this is so much more than a toy. I can't recommend this enough!!  They come in a few other designs, but I read that babies see red the best at first, which is why we went with this design.  It has a lot of red on it.  I wasn't sure if I believed all of those theories about what babies could and couldn't see, until my son reached for the red panda first. This was his favorite item on the mat for the first month.  It was as if the others did not exist:)