Parent Extremis

Links are, in my opinions the BEST baby item out there. Of course everyone has a favorite item but I found these to be endlessly useful for a long period of time. They are a safe toy, a simple toy, with many uses.

You can link a few of these together and they are perfect little textured-multi-colored easy-to-hold “toys” perfect for newborns, babies and toddlers.  I love these multi-purpose, all-age toys.

They are made from molded plastic which is not known to have lead, a common concern these days. You can clean them with a disinfectant-wipe or just toss them in the dishwasher or a pot of boiling water for a few minutes.

I keep a few links hooked together in the car as a toy while we drive. I also keep a few in the diaper bag, a great distraction when we’re in line at the grocery and the baby just needs a distraction NOW! And they also are excellent when you are in the teething stage because the plastic is easy for little hands to hold onto and “chew”.

Links are also good for LINKING other toys to an object for entertainment purposes. You can use a few links to hold a stuffed animal toy to the edge of a stroller. And since you can “link” them toys won’t drop on the floor.

There are a bunch of different brands that make a variation of the link: Fisher Price, Kids II, and Sassy’s links are BPA-free.

They retail for between $3.99 and $5.99 a package.

I have always been a big time swimmer. I love the water. My mother had me in a swimming pool when I was about five months old and I honestly believe that the earlier exposure helped me become a strong and confident swimmer. I love swimming as a sport. It is great exercise and because it is an individual sport — even when you are in a relay — it is an individual sport the feeling of moving through the water so sleek-like and strong is extremely transcendental for me. It clears my head and keeps me healthy like no other exercise ever has. Because of my love of the water I want Noah to have the same early exposure. We’re planning on getting him into the pool as soon as the weather and the water are warm enough.

Noah is about four and a half months old right now so by the time pool open and get warm enough for a baby to swim in, as in, NOT 70 degrees, I plan to have Noah in the water as much as possible. He’ll be six months in June so he should fit most of the baby-pool toys in terms of age recommendations.

I’m looking for suggestions about baby swim toys and baby-holders for the pool. I keep seeing a lot of little funky shaped blow-up things with little awnings for the baby under a year of age. We have a pool close by and will be spending a lot of the hot July and August hours in a pool this summer. I would love to get some suggestions or recommendations about what has worked for you in the past. I’m looking for something safe, comfortable and easy to use.

It’s no secret that most parents remove the batteries from those horrific god-awful muzakal baby toys at some point on their way out the door to the looney bin. You can imagine the look of thanks-but-you-shouldn’t-have that crosses my face when we get a new baby toy that makes any sort of sound. But! We just got a toy that I LIKE. A LOT.

Leap Frog’s Baby Counting Pal PLUSH is really cool. I like the songs it plays. They are cute and catchy and I’m totally walking around singing one little birdie flying through the air, one little birdie goes tweet tweet tweet. This right here is true evidence of what parenthood does to your brain. My brain used to entertain me by recalling and singing to itself Springsteen and Maroon 5, but now? Now?! Five little lady bugs meet for lunch, five little lady bugs, crunch crunch crunch.

But seriously folks, this toy is non-offensive. I would even call it pleasant. Enjoyable! It has four different settings, it will count, sing songs, and sing about colors and numbers. It also has a classical music memory game that I have yet to master.

This toy also has velcro straps so that it can attach to the front of a carseat or stroller. It’s amazingly versatile. The songs are pleasant. READ: NOT ANNOYING. Noah loves it and it’s small and compact for easy transport from the car to the playroom.

The age recommendation is three to twenty-four months.
FINAL ANALYSIS: Highly recommend.