Toys

Stanley has a lot of toys and possessions so far.  However, being so small he can really only appreciate a few of them.  His two favorites right now are his "lounge chair" and what we like to call the "space station".

The lounge chair is basically what it sounds like, but with a few key differences from the adult version.  First, it is only about 2 inches raised above the ground.  Second, because of the precipitous height mentioned previously, it has a five-point safety harness to keep him safely seated in a nice reclining position.

Stanley lounging and looking out into the back yard on a rainy morning.

The space station is a different beast entirely.  This thing consists of a round pad of the craziest color combinations you have ever seen with squeaky and crinkly parts built in.  Coming up from this pad there are two semi-circular hoops (both padded and appropriately crazy colored) that hook together at the top.  From these two hoops hang a myriad of padded, colorful toys, all themed around a monkey-astronaut's adventures among smiling space objects (stars, rockets, etc.).  Now, instead of a simple connection at the top where the two hoops meet (which is what I expected from the picture) there is a small motor that moves the two hoops back and forth a little while playing two musical selections.  There is the lullaby tune (boring) and another more upbeat video game meets game show meets children's programming tune (currently Stanley's favorite).  This latter tune is fine, but is quite the earworm.  I find myself walking around inadvertently whistling this tune several times a day.  At least it doesn't play the "Small World" theme.

Lying in the space station among all the toys and colors.