So since Caspian’s arrival, well probably from even before he was born, we’ve been given many different toys from friends and family. Grateful for both new and pre-loved handed down from those who’ve entered into parenthood before us. We’ve also been amazed at what we ourselves have found at our local charity shop often in mint condition.
We now own most toys imaginable. Soft ones. Cuddly ones. Puppet ones. Bright ones. Colourful ones. Stimulating ones. Wooden ones. Ones that play a tune. Toys with batteries. Toys we wish didn’t have a battery. Toys that talk. Toys that light up. Toys for touching. Toys for biting. Toys for hammering. Toys for bath time. Yes, any kind of toy you can think of that a baby would love and enjoy. Bliss!
So here is a list of our son’s top ten current favourites:
- The TV remote – especially if the TV is on so that there is a great chance that you’ll hit a combination of buttons leading to a complete freeze and the menu now only operating in Mandarin.
- A hairbrush – preferably full of hair that can then be pulled off! Pretending to be a bird creating a nice fluffy nest seems to be the objective of this game.
- Mobile phones – I think there is a slight preference to mine over Daddy Long Legs’, though mine is an iphone 6 while DLL is stuck with an old 4S so I can’t say that I blame Caspian.
- The hoover! Any part of our old orange Vax is wildly fascinating and naturally needs exploring every time you can get your chubby little baby hands on it. Pretending to be a cowboy with a lasso is where I’m guessing we’re going with this one.
- The business section of The Daily Telegraph – he literally gobbles this one up!
- A blue plastic cup – for anything but drinking.
- The cat’s food bowl if he can get to it. Oh the joys of spreading those dried up little pieces all over the floor. And if you can tip the water bowl over in the process you really have yourself a party.
- A packet of Water Wipes. Once you get the plastic cover opened there is no end to the fun!
- A roll of packaging tape. Hours of amusement in chasing it across the floor, as it keeps slipping out of your hands. Where is this slippery bugger going? Must chase!
- And fire… yes, the hot burning kind. If I didn’t know any better I would say we have a pyromaniac in the making as he goes absolutely wild when the fire is lit. And no, we are not letting him near it!
Since anything that is designed to engage, educate and stimulate our baby boy is obviously wildly inferior to any ordinary household object I have decided that for Christmas we’re getting him the following:
A mop, a washing up brush, a collection of plastic combs and kitchen roll. This should keep him occupied for hours (and he might even clean the house in the process).
But being the ignorant first time mum that I am I naturally thought my boy was unique in this aspect of love for everyday objects. No, this seems to be a common phenomenon. As every parent in my NCT group have their baby currently going through the remote control phase, too. One even brought theirs with them to our lunch, and two had invested in toy ones, but I’m not sure Caspian would fall for that one! Now I understand why all the toys in the charity shop are in such good condition… And something tells me this ‘remote control phase’ might return again later on or possibly never go away!
What is the strangest thing your child’s wanted to play with?
Loved this, my kids still love everyday objects, they were fighting over umbrellas today! Such cute photos.
Haha, yes I guess it never stops… Hope it’s not raining where you are 🙂 Thank you for coming by and hosting a fab linky!
Nadia – ScandiMummy x
We never bothered buying a fake remote. We had 2 fake phones and my girlie always wanted my phone over them. They are soooo not dumb. My girlie loves money, lip balm and when she was little any pots and pans. Can make Christmas easy! Thanks for sharing with #bestandworst – good to see you xx
They are so not, and think they’ve figured out that we’re not playing with their toys, so they can’t be that interesting. Thank you for hosting a great linky, I’ll be back next week!
Nadia – ScandiMummy x
You are right!! I totally agree with you!! The same thing happens here too. Sienna (14 months) is obsessed with all the items you have in your list!! She is always watching daddy and mummy using our iphones, or laptops or home telephone, etc that she of course wants to have one too!! I don’t think this phase goes away as there will always be a new gadget for her to explore or suck! LOL Thanks so much for joining me again at #KCACOLS. I really love to have you here!! I hope you join me again this weekend!! 🙂 xx
Haha, so very true! Marianna has piles of toys, all specially created to stimulate her mind, co-ordination, etc, etc. Her favourite thing to play with is a piece of leather belt. She literally just waves this cut off bit of belt around (a middle bit even, so it’s not like it has any interesting bits) like it’s the greatest toy ever invented!
I love this, Jessica! I actually think it will stimulate her just as much, clearly she’s already showing very creative skills if she can get that much entertainment out of a piece of leather belt, brilliant! Thank you for reading!
Nadia – ScandiMummy x
Yes, I think everyday stuff is totally underrated for its entertainment capacity, and enabling creativity to flourish. When they were little ours loved pegs, saucepans & wooden spoons and of course the cat litter tray (and now I have them trained to avoid, its top of the list for any other visiting small people)!
#brilliantblogposts
Yes, could imagine that cat litter is very attractive to these guys, haha… everything is a balancing act! Thank you for popping over.
Nadia – ScandiMummy x
Lovely post! Always so funny, how they ignore the gazillion toys they own and go for everything else, including random objects! My daughter Elsie is three now, but when she was little she was obsessed with a plastic shark (From a bath play set) and my necklaces! Just goes to show that kids don’t really need ‘toys’ as such, just things they can play with and be creative with. x
#BrilliantBlogPosts
Exactly! And they want to be like us, and since we’re not playing with their toys, then “our” toys naturally become more interesting. Caspian’s been chewing a plastic pelican intensely funnily enough also from a bath play set…went everywhere with him for a while. Thank you for reading!
Nadia – ScandiMummy x
Great post and very true. My little one escapes from the living room at any given opportunity to go and get a piece of the hoover to play with. I host a linky on fridays (Friday Frolics) for funny posts if you fancy joining. #BrilliantBlogPosts
Thank you, Claire! And I’d be honoured to. Will link up tomorrow then.
Nadia – ScandiMummy x
Haha! Yes, they all do this, don’t they? The little oddities! No idea when the remote phase ends! Mine will play with literally anything they find. #brilliantblogposts
I don’t think it ever ends…my husband is still in it 😉 Thank you for stopping by!
Nadia – ScandiMummy x
Hi, I have a 9.5 month old he is exactly the same, his favourite things are remotes, phones, loo roll, paper, sweet/choc wrappers, anything he’s not meant to have basically! Oh and wires… #brilliantblogposts
Yes, wires!! What is up with that…? Caspian gets weirdly excited and heads straight for any wire around, too. Thank you for stopping by 🙂
Nadia – ScandiMummy x
My daughter used to love playing with nappies, she´d sit for hours just taking them out of the bag and throwing them into a pile, over and over again. Oh and the clean laudry, same strategy, out of the basket into a heap on the floor. One by one! Makes me smile just thinking of it. Time flies! Enjoy it 🙂 #bestandworst
Yes, even these first 8 months have flown by! It’s all about enjoying every single moment. And the most ordinary ones are often the most special. Thank you for popping over 🙂
Nadia – ScandiMummy x
Oh yes, we have the remote control stage. My daughter did it too! We also bought a toy remote control, but it’s like they know it’s not the real thing!! They still want the actual remote control…
See, they are too smart! Smarter than us probably, because they are not overthinking things 🙂 Thank you for coming by and leaving a comment.
Nadia – ScandiMummy x
Haha this is so spot on! My ten month old is the same with the hair brush and loves a good hair ball – she actually rakes the dog hair out of the rug to eat – ew! I did buy her a toy mobile phone but she’s not interested in it at all – definitely not falling for that one! In fact, I’ve pretty much given up on toys now. One of her favourites (my favourites as it keeps her occupied for more than 20 seconds) is a piece of string and she loves a good ribbon. I also find an old handbag for her to play with every day as she loves chewing on the straps! 🙂 x
Ha ha ha… yes, Caspian’s had a good chew on my Michael Kors (not intentionally I might add, but anything leather attracts him). See I knew they wouldn’t fall for the whole “here’s a mobile in seventeen colours with a cute puppy and lights on!” “No thanks, Mummy, I’ll just have your “boring old” iphone, thank you very much!”
Thanks for popping over – will definitely join in more linkies!
Nadia – ScandiMummy x
Oh they are smart cookies these little ones! (And cute too!)
My son has his very own remote. It broke several months ago, so now resides in his toy box. Every now and then I let him play with it and adjust the volume or flick through channels with the real remote. He thinks he’s magical!
Great post! Thank you! #thelist
We were thinking of giving him an old remote… I love that you let him think he’s in control, brilliant 😀
Thank you for popping over!
Nadia – ScandiMummy x
Haha this is just like Arthur – especially remotes and hoovers! I fill his sensory toy box up with (safe) household items and he loves it #KCACOLS
Good tip about the ‘safe’ household items… will think of some for Caspian 🙂 Thank you for reading x
Nadia – ScandiMummy x
Yes the remote control and iPhone are definite favourites in our house along with IPads, telephones etc, anything that isn’t a ‘toy’ basically. Oh and all the knobs on the cooker too. #KCACOLS
Luckily he can’t reach the cooker yet, but I’m sure Caspian will find that fascinating, too. Thank you for stopping by!
Nadia – ScandiMummy x