Do one-year-old kids have a "cognitive surge"? I think they must.

I've been incredibly busy the past two weeks, and only seen Jackson in the morning and at night for brief periods. His dad has been holding down the fort, baby-care-wise. But tonight was a fortunate night and I got to spend several hours straight with the little guy, just one-on-one, and he is definitely a changed creature.

He says "yeah" for yes with clarity and intentionality.

He understands commands, although he doesn't understand why he can't, for example, dive headfirst into the access hole to the crawlspace beneath the house. On the other hand, "Can you please put that in the trash can?" is cake.

He knows what an applesauce box looks like, and knows that if it's empty he's been robbed of his entitlement!

I swear when I explained that we were playing in dirt, he said "dir dir dir" over and over again...until we were done playing in the dirt.

Compared to the baby I had two weeks ago, this Jackson is a taller, sturdier and much more communicative person. He's on the verge of letting go without fear while standing unsupported, and I think soon after that his core muscles will be strong enough to allow him to stand from a seated position.

All of which is to say that I'm extremely excited to meet the new person that is "Jackson the toddler," who is obviously going to be a different fellow altogether from Jackson the baby.

P.S. I haven't taken any photos of this kid in weeks. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?!

How to Clean Up Used Children's Books

I shop thrift stores for great children's books the way other women hunt for vintage peacoats. I've been amazed at how many books I'm able to find used; some of which are old favorites and some of which are new to me and thus somehow even more delightful if they're a "hit." The best example of that is Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb, which I'd never heard of before and which is just so musical and fun to read.



That said, many of the books I pick up are in fairly shady condition, but so long as it has all the pages and the crayon scribbles are limited to one or two pages of text and aren't too distracting, I'm interested. I find that most kids limit their drawing in books to the flyleaves, which speaks of a certain delicacy and propriety amongst toddlers who aren't expected to have manners or respect for books. To which I can only say, kids, thank you. I also thank you to whomever is donating pristine, brand-new books to Goodwill. I've gotten brand new copies of Make Way for Ducklings and Stella Luna, and just today found a brand-new hardback copy of The Color Kittens.



All of which leads up to how easy it is to take a used book from grungy to great. Step one is removing the thrift-store price tag and any remaining price tags from the book's first life. This almost always leaves sticky residue, which I remove with an outstanding product called Goo Gone. If you don't have it, get it. I'm just about done with my first small bottle, and when I go back to the hardware store to replace it, I'll be getting the jumbo size. Such useful stuff! Then I just spray a household cleaner (we happen to have a lot of Formula 409 in the house, thanks to an overzealous bulk purchase at Smart & Final years ago) on a rag or paper towel, and you would not believe the gunk that comes off the covers of these books! Just years of accumulated grime and slime; but after a through wipedown, the books really do listen. Very occasionally some of the tint on the color printing (especially yellows for some reason) will rub off, but all in all the operation is usually a success.

I've redeemed dozens of books this way, with just one casualty (a terribly copy of Danny and the Dinosaur that was so gross it seemed like some kid must have puked on it) and I love that I can expand Jackson's home library for cents on the dollar.

Anybody else out there enjoy rescuing and repaired thrift-store finds?

Five Memorably Good Pieces of Advice about Pregnancy and Babies

* OBGYN: Skip WTEWYE and read Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy instead.

All of the What To Expect books annoy the hell out of me; they're too unstructured and highly alarmist, not to mention populist to the point of being useful for no one. Vicki Iovine, on the other hand, has memorably funny advice that relates actual human women and their actual human babies. Also, when she was younger, she was a Berkeley women's studies major or law student or something who infiltrated the Playboy Mansion for thesis research and ended up becoming a centerfold. Used to be married to Jimmy Iovine, but they just got divorced after four kids and 20-plus years. In any case, I love her, and I've heard that she's an amazing person in real life.

* MOM: Put the light in the baby's room on a dimmer switch.

My mom convinced us that the room we wanted to use for the baby was infested with mold, so we had to rip out the windows and remodel the whole thing. There was no mold, but it was probably a good thing to do anyway--Jackson now has the nicest room in the house. In the midst of this remodeling upheaval, mom also suggested that we put the light on a dimmer switch. Oh how I resented this advice at the time, but she was firm that it was a good idea, helpful for soothing babies with soft light and such. Well, the lady was right. It's awesome to be able sneak into Jackson's room at night, skootch the light up just a bit, and be able to see him and make sure he's doing OK.

* JEN P.: Get the hands-free pumping bra.

Typing while pumping! Most liberating thing ever for a breastfeeding mom. Can't recommend it enough.

* THERAPIST: Join a mommy and me class.

Best friends I ever paid for and an absolutely invaluable education in parenting. Pricey, to be sure, but worth every penny.

* LADY AT BABIES 'R' US: Get an activity gym.

Newborns mostly live in a blurry, vague, warm, well-padded world, but it's nice to give them a little stimulation every so often. Jackson loved the lights and music in his gym, and having something cool to look at. If there is a "next time" with babies, I'm getting a matching set of Fisher-Price activity gym, swing, bouncy seat and jumperoo. On one level it's all useless, and on another, it's great to be able to put the baby down and have 15 minutes to yourself.

My Take on the Tiger Mother



I'm about to sell my copy of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, by Amy Chua, on Half.com. (We live on a boat and don't have room to store unnecessary books.) Before I let it go, I thought I'd share some reaction and some informative elements from the book, thus hopefully saving you from having to buy it yourself. Overall it's pretty useless (it is in fact the kind of book she's been defending it as: a sentimental personal memoir ), but if you wanted a how-to manual, here are some of the more explicit exposition about her method:

ACTION ITEMS

1. "Your children must always be two years ahead of their classmates in math." (p. 5)


2. "Always check your test answers three times." (p. 23)


3. "Look up every word you don't know and memorize the exact definition." (p. 23)


4. "To make sure that Sophia and Lulu weren't pampered and decadent like the Romans when their empire fell, I also insisted that they do physical labor...I try to make them carry heavy objects." (p. 23)

5. "Be humble, be simple...The last shall come first." (p. 24)

6. "Never complain or make excuses. If something seems unfair at school, just prove yourself by working twice as hard and being twice as good." (p. 24)

7. "What Chinese parents understand is that nothing is fun until you're good at it. To get good at anything you have to work, and children on their own never want to work, which is why it is crucial to override their preferences. This often requires fortitude on the part of the parents because the child will resist; things are always hardest at the beginning, which is where Western parents tend to give up. But if done properly, the Chinese strategy produces a virtuous circle. Tenacious practice, practice, practice is crucial for excellence; rote repetition is underrated in America. Once a child starts to excel at something--whether it's math, piano, pitching or ballet--he or she gets praise, admiration and satisfaction. This builds confidence and makes the once not-fun activity fun. This in turn makes it easier for the parent to get the child to work even more." (p. 29)

8. "Western parents are concerned about their children's psyches. Chinese parents aren't. They
assume strength, not fragility, and as a result they behave very differently." (p. 52)

9. "Chinese parents demand perfect grades because they believe that their child can get them. If their child doesn't get them, the Chinese parent assumes it's because the child didn't work hard enough." (p. 52)

10. Confident parents know what's best for their children..."and therefore override all of their children's own desires and preferences...While [my husband] Jed was good at saying no to the girls, he didn't have an affirmative plan for them...He wasn't absolutely confident that he could make the right choices for them." (p. 53)

11. "One of the worst things you can do for your child's self-esteem is to let them give up. On the flip side, there's nothing better for building confidence than learning you can do something you thought you couldn't." (p. 62)

12. "The Chinese believe that the best way to protect their children is by preparing them for the future, letting them see what they're capable of, and arming them with the skills, work habits and inner confidence that no one can ever take away." (p. 63)


13. "A fundamental tenet of being Chinese is that you always do all of the extra credit all of the time...Extra credit is one reason that Asian kids get such notoriously good grades in the United States." (pp. 69-70)


14. "Rote drilling is another...practicing more than everyone else is also why Asian kids dominate the top music conservatories." (p. 70)

15. "[My mother-in-law] Florence saw childhood as something fleeting to be enjoyed. I saw childhood as a training period, a time to build character and invest for the future." (p. 97)

16. "I like authority figures. I like experts." (pp. 123) [Me too, and I wonder if the overall success of Amy Chau's approach to parenting is fundamentally determined by deference to authority; Sophia had this, Lulu didn't.]

17. "One of [the] first things Chinese people learn is that you must respect authority. No matter what, you don't talk back to your parents, teachers, elders." (p. 151)

18. This next quote was spoken in the midst of Chau's climactic battle with her rebellious daughter Lulu, with whom her methods had failed, resulting in vicious cycle of rebellion rather than the promised virtuous cycle of achievement. Lulu was declining to some sort of egg dish at a Moscow restaurant they were visiting. Chau excoriated her daughter as things escalated, saying, "And in case you thing you're a big rebel, you are completely ordinary. There is nothing more typical, more predictable, more common and low, than an American teenager who won't try things." Elsewhere in the book she rails against Facebook, Slushees, videogames and obesity, and her point seems to be that the best defense against mediocrity is a strong academic and extracurricular offense. Don't let your kids slip to the lowest common denominator because it's easy, and especially don't let that happen because it's easy for you, the parent.

19. "Just because you love something, I added to myself, doesn't mean you'll ever be great. Not if you don't work. Most people stink at the things they love." (p. 215)


THE DEAL

Early in the book, Chau outlines a basic difference between Chinese and Western parenting, at least in her analysis. Chinese parents think their kids owe them everything; Western parents think they owe their kids everything. In Chau's words. "This strikes me as a terrible deal for the Western parent." Many chapters later, in the midst of explaining her daughter Lulu's wholesale rejection of her parenting methods and her mother in general, she reveals that the Chinese method may not be so rewarding to Chinese parents after all.

As Chau explains her blanket refusal to participate in playdates, she simultaneously bemoans Chinese parenting as being "incredibly lonely--at least when you're trying to do it in the West, where you're on your own...there's no one you can talk to honestly, not even people you like and deeply respect...You have to be hated sometimes by someone you love and who hopefully loves you, and there's just no letting up, no point at which it suddenly becomes easy...[It] is a never-ending uphill battle, requiring a 24-7 time commitment, resilience and guile."

She also explains her own grueling schedule coaching the girls through piano and violin (pp. 182-183 have a good example), while juggling her work office hours and book writing demands. Hmmm...Who's getting the bad deal now? That said, the sheer devotion of a parent making a "24-7 time commitment" to his or her child has to contribute greatly to that child's success, at least relative to other children whose parents are not so intensely devoted to their child's development and education.


THE OVERALL VERDICT

I'm fairly sure Amy Chau is a classic narcissist--she quote her daughters telling her as much at several points in the book--and she's pretty straightforward about wanting and needing complete control. I don't think I'd like to be her friend and I would have gone insane being her daughter.

However, I think the ultimate success of her system, which isn't really a system at all, is a simple function of hyperinvolvement with her kids, not the haranguing or the implicit and explicit criticism that have made headlines.

If your kids are practicing musical instruments four hours a day, they're not watching TV or learning about sex from other junior high kids who like to hang out behind the Kwik-E-Mart.

Plus, practice and hard work are sure-fire character (and success) building schemes.

I may have committed a heteronormative faux pas at the bookstore last night. They were encouraging customers to buy Little Golden Books and donate them to underprivileged kids. I went through the stack of options, reiterated my long-standing disdain for the product tie-in Golden Books (a rant for another time and place), and then selected "The Fire Engine Book" (not least because the book drive was sponsored by the L.A. County Fire Department), and announced, "Let's do this one; fire trucks make boys to read." At that point, the previously pleasant homosexual clerk who had been assisting me gave me a look of fiery death. I'm pretty was sure he was thinking, "*Gay* boys don't like firetrucks, so just so you know. Also, fuck you." My relationship with said clerk was never the same, for the remaining two minutes we were in each others' company, and I have been feeling guilty since last night that I perhaps inflamed bad memories from his childhood of being expected/forced to play with stereotypically masculine toys and books.

My Baby Is Sick

My baby is sick, and it's my fault. We took him to Babies R Us today and put him in the shopping cart seat. Naturally, he chewed on the shopping cart because he's nine months old, and because we've been smug new parents who think bacteria is good for babies--toughens up the constitution!--and because I forgot the shopping cart cover that I got from my mom that we were too cheap to buy him ourselves, and so predictably (although you will note, we did not actually predict it) he's got an awful cold or flu.

When he's just a little congested he snuffles like a baby warthog; tonight he's snuffling like a full-grown warthog with a headcold. Poor little thing. Thank heaven I invested in the NoseFrieda--I did a couple of rounds with it and I think it helped.

Anyway, I feel awful that my baby is miserable, but I loved sitting with him in the rocking chair and just holding him for a long, long time. It felt like it made him feel a little better, and I petted him in sync with his labored breathing, and he feel into a deep heavy sleep. He went down with barely a whimper, and I can only hope that a good night's sleep will heal him.

THE PRESCHOOL CHRONICLES


Lesson (Re-)Learned: Outward Appearances Can Be Deceiving
Plus, Reputation Does Not a Love Match Make


There's a nearby preschool that I had already scratched off the "possible" list because it's unfortunately situated on a treeless, sun-bleached boulevard near our house. The actual school building is reminds me of a trailer (like those "portable classrooms" we suffered through in middle school) and the schoolyard sits behind an ugly chain-link fence set too close to the too-narrow sidewalk. Just yech.

Just the same, my adorably blissfully-unaware husband pointed it out and said, "I assume that's one of those fancy preschools that's impossible to get into?" I scoffed, but took the note and signed up for a tour.

Lo and behold, during this week of preschool tours, I think this outwardly ugly school is one of my favorites so far. Inside, it's pristine and cozy, with lots of creative projects on display from the children, nooks they can settle into, a garden they grew pumpkins in and just an overall energy of being a happy safe space for kids whose families share the same general values as us.

The preschool director was a mensch (is there a female version of the word?), and I immediately felt comfortable with her as a fellow young working mom. (Of course, she has more kids of her own than she can count on one hand, and I have one, but still.) Her kids go to the school, she's obviously offering all of the kids (not just her own) a nurturing, healthy, values-instilling place to spend the day--she talked about how they work to "slow the kids down" which the more I think about the more I like--and it just seemed like a smart, sweet place to send a bunch of babies for their first "educational experience." It rocketed up my list of candidates, and hey, best of all, it's right around the corner in the middle of our non-gentrified neighborhood.

I'm not saying it would be heaven for everyone, but I felt great about it as a future option for our little kiddo.  Even though this little school run, by a modest, non-self-aggrandizing woman, is only three years old now and has therefore barely made a mark on the local education scene, I suspect that given time, this school will grown in reputation and stature, simply by dint of the quality of education offered.

Conversely, today I toured the fanciest, most exclusive preschool in our immediate area (OK, so there's one other one that might even be fancier, but it's so expensive it's not genuinely in the consideration set), and after hearing everyone rave it about it from top to bottom, I was surprised to find that I was less overjoyed with it than I had imagined I would be.

The school was unequivocally lovely, and the children all appeared happy and content, but the director seemed a tad doctrinaire for my taste, and the entire operation was so outrageously pretty and precious that it verged on twee. Especially after hearing the director's statement of principles, my overall impression on the walkthrough, upon observing all of the adult-oriented labeling and the artistic tableaux arranged hither and thither, was that this school was almost a child-development museum more than it was a place for real live children.

That said, the real live children who go there obviously lacked for nothing; it's no doubt a delightful place to spend the preschool years; and I admire the basic principles and philosophy behind it, but I also don't want life to be all downhill from preschool for my future publicly-educated child. That might be a terrible impulse for a mother to have--to expose her child to the honest ugliness of things--but somehow it feels more true to me than the impossibly stylized fairyland of this school.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure we'd be thrilled to get in there, and in the unlikely event we got in we'd probably run off to register so fast we'd leave a dust cloud behind us, but at the moment, I've actually set my reach-school sights on another little school in the area. That school is less storied, although it still has a sterling reputation, it has much the same beauty and substance, but my impression of that school and its director was that it really was about our real live children and not just a dialectic showplace for a director fascinated with her own clarity of purpose.

More Advice for New Moms: Supplies to Lay In for the Newborn Period (aka the Fourth Trimester, Months One through Three)

Boss' boss at work just adopted a little girl; this is the advice I scribbled out for her in the dead of night. 

• Get a swing and an "activity gym" (playmat) when you think of it. Both will give you a break and if you're lucky she'll fall asleep in the swing. The playmats are great for both tummy time and for looking at something more fun than the ceiling. If I had to do it all over again, I would buy the entire Fisher-Price Rainforest suite of gadgets, because my kid positively loves them—the Rainforest monkey teether/rattle is pretty much his go-to toy right now. We loved the playmat and we just got the jumperoo off Craigslist; we missed out on the bouncy chair window, and we had the Little Lamb swing instead. Note: You can remove the toys from the activity gym once they outgrow it and just use them as rattles instead.
• When she's ready to sit up in a few months, get the Prince Lionheart chair instead of the Bumbo. It's a million times better.
• L'Occitane's baby soap is wonderful, California Baby soap smells a little more citrusy but is good too.
• Get Gerber's deluxe cloth diapers, just to use as spit cloths and to keep under her on the changing table for when she pees/poos while you're changing her. And get the thickest baby washcloths you can find—and yes you do need baby washcloths, as ridiculous as it sounds. Regular washcloths are too big and too rough for the little ones. And get one of those pour-buckets in the baby bath aisle at Babies ‘R' Us if you don't have one already—helps tremendously when you're rising them off in the tub.
• Get a bottle of Resolve Spray ‘n' Wash or a Tide Stain Stick and keep it next to her laundry basket for when you don't have time to wash out stains right away.
• SLEEP WHEN SHE SLEEPS. If you're not just sleeping next to her crib on the floor (ha!), consider getting a Moses basket, bassinet or cosleeper that you can drag around the house and keep next to your bed so you can leap up at night as needed. James McKenna's Sleeping With Your Baby is a great read about cosleeping too, not that you have time to read!
• If you don't have a rocking chair/glider, consider getting one—they seem like a luxury, but man, they feel like a necessity when you're heading into hour two of trying to rock the kid to sleep. :)
• When you have time, consider taking some of the “hot topic” classes at the Pump Station. They're seriously awesome and you'll learn more faster what's relevant if you hear it from a human person than from a book or the internet. (Plus, you won't have time to read once the baby comes.) If nothing else, Cynthia Epps' first foods seminar is invaluable, I hear great things about Sleepy Planet, and I know you'll love Preschool Panic.
• The Halo SleepSacks (blanket + swaddle = baby sleeping bag) are AWESOME for newborns.

RELATED POST: Unsolicited Advice for New Moms

My Review of 10 Piece Puzzle Mat Shapes

Originally submitted at One Step Ahead

10 Piece Puzzle Mat Shapes

10 Piece Puzzle Mat Shapes

What a great purchase!

By Los Angeles Mom from California on 11/4/2010

 

5out of 5

Pros: Entertaining, Grows With Baby, Easy to Assemble, Visually Stimulating, Easy to Clean, Promotes Sensory Development, Holds Baby's Attention

Best Uses: Playtime, Crawlers, Tummy Time

Describe Yourself: First Time Parent

I'm feeling pretty smug right now about finding these mats. They are fantastic, and I had to go off the beaten path to find them. I get most baby stuff at that one big online store that has everything, but I was frustrated with the mat options there and after some searching around, I stumbled across onestepahead's fantastic product. What's great about these mats? So much! For one thing, I love that they have shapes, instead of just letters and numbers, and I love that there are three pullout shapes of different colors on every panel. The mats aren't just plain either--each color has a different texture. The shapes included are: star, diamond, circle, starburst, heart, triangle, square, pentagon, hexagon, octogon, and I can't wait to star teaching my son colors and shapes with this mat! I combined it with the 10-piece solid colors and the 5 piece by 4 piece mat fits perfectly in our living room and looks great. We'll definitely get the letters, numbers and music mats when my son is a little older.

(legalese)

Frugal / Retro / Ecologically Correct Cleaning Supplies


Lemon juice
Salt
White vinegar
Baking soda
Ammonia
Bleach
Bon Ami
Barkeeper's Friend
20 Mule Team Borax
Washing soda
Soap flakes
Dr. Bronner's
Dove bar soap
Neutrogena glycerin soap
Fels-Naptha 
Kirk's Original Coco Castile Bar Soap
Rubbing alcohol
Hydrogen peroxide

HABA BUILDING BLOCKS

Which building block sets produced by the German toy company Haba (or Habermaaß) are the best value? I came up with a list of the most popular basic sets of Haba building blocks, and figured out the per unit price. (This list doesn't include any of the specialty architectural sets, just the sets that the average enthusiastic parent would buy for his or her kid.) The conclusion of the price survey is that the smaller sets with the most unique or complicated elements are the most expensive. The simple block sets are the least expensive. Unusually, buying a set with a larger number of blocks does not decrease the per-unit price.

* Haba First Blocks, $32 for 6 blocks = $5.33/block

* Haba Patience Blocks, $15 for 3 blocks = $5/block

* Haba Discovery Blocks, $28 for 6 blocks = $4.67/block

* Haba Pixie Blocks, $20 for 7 blocks = $2.86/block

* Haba Kaleidescope Blocks, $36 for 13 blocks = $2.77/block

* Haba Clown Blocks Large Set, $44 for 41 blocks = 93c/block

* Haba Building Blocks Extra Large Starter Set, $110 for 102 pieces = 92c/block 

* Haba Clown Blocks, $33 for 28 blocks = 85c/block

* Haba Colored Building Blocks, $36 for 30 blocks = 83c/block

* Haba Baby's First Blocks, $15 for 12 blocks = 80c/block

* Haba Building Blocks Large Starter Set, $90 for 60 blocks = 66c/block

* Haba Building Blocks Starter Set $40 for 26 blocks = 65c/block

Total number of blocks: 334, total number of blocks = 499, average price of block = 66c/block

WHY PLASTIC TOYS ARE BETTER FOR BABIES
"Paper Versus Plastic," or Pre-Motherhood Presumptions Versus Motherhood Reality, Infant Toy Edition

Before I had my kid, I was positive that my little darling would only play with wooden toys that had been lovingly whittled by Alpine dwarves.

Then I actually had a kid, and discovered, when they are very young, babies do much better with plastic toys made from petroleum products that club baby seals and contribute to the Great Pacific Trash Patch.

Of course, the paper/wood versus plastic debate is much more complicated than "natural" versus "unnatural," so guilt isn't necessarily required, but in case a rationalization of plastic is necessary, here are my pragmatic reasons for preferring plastic toys in many cases, and why I haven't looked back.

Plastic toys are both lighter and less dangerous. Very small babies can't really hoist any kind of substantial wood rattle, and it's hard to find ones that are even small enough for baby hands. Plus, as my mother so wisely pointed out, when they're young, babies hit themselves in the face with everything. They just don't know any better.

So as much as I love Manhattan Toy's Skwish in theory--it's a beautiful, entertaining, intelligently designed open-ended toy--it wasn't the right purchase for our baby at three months. For a new baby, Manhattan Toy's Winkle is a much better choice!

Another example of where organic wooden toys lose out to good ol' American plastic, at least when it comes to entertaining the littlest patriots, is the plastic Fisher-Price Rock-a-Stack versus the wooden Melissa & Doug's Rainbow Stacker. Back before I actually had a kid, when I was insisting on natural materials only, I ordered the Melissa & Doug Rainbow Stacker, even though I'm not a fan of M&D toys as a rule (I find many of them to be cheaply made).

We got the classic Fisher-Price Rock-a-Stack as a gift when Jackson was born, and I remember scoffing a little. "Plastic! Look at this silly thing with the ridiculous foil shiny thing inside the top ring. They couldn't even make it a real rainbow, they ruined it putting those dumb little balls in the top half of the red ring. And why does it rock?! What kind of ridiculous popcorn-button-on-the-microwave unnecessary extra feature is that?" 

Of course, six months later, the Rock-a-Stack is the undefeated champion of playtime, and the Rainbow Stacker sits unused in the closet. Jackson loves the balls in the red ring, he likes to make it rock, he can actually get the rings off and play with them, and I don't worry one bit when he teethes on the fat, squat, yellow ring-holder-thingy in the middle. The rings on the M&D stacker, on the other hand, are heavy and hard for him to lift and manipulate, the red ball rolls away (and reminds me of a scary clown nose), and I'm always worried he's going to gag himself when he tries to chew on the tall, skinny wooden stick in the middle. The Rainbow Stacker might be a great toy for a three-year-old, but it's not a good fit for my baby at this stage. 

Plastic wins again!

Once I accepted that plastic is not just OK for the baby, but very possibly better in some cases, I found that I was particularly enamored of a lot of pieces from Sassy Toys. They're seemingly well-made, and if nothing else, they're very well marketed to the high-strung mama who wants her kiddo to have the most highly developmental toys. (Not that mama doesn't know perfectly that her kid, and most kids, would have just as much fun playing with an old toilet paper roll.) 

Our favorites items so far from Sassy are the Ring O' Links (I'm also thinking of getting the Bright Starts links, to see how they compare), the so-called Fascination Station, which keeps Jackson busy in his high chair for long stretches, and their penguin-fugu-whale-Nemo-mysterycreature baby bath toys. (On the other hand, Jackson is largely uninterested in the Sassy Ring Rattle and the Sassy Spin Shine Rattle. He's just never liked holding them or inspecting them.)

The links (more on those later, because they are excellent) and the high-chair toy, on the other hand, positively fascinate him.

What are your favorite plastic baby toys? And/or your favorite demolished pre-mother assumptions?