Since I may become a full-time blogger (ahem, ahem!), I have been re-organizing my photos and came across this old one of my 7 month old son playing with the Fisher-Price Kick-and-Whirl Carnival 
What’s the funny story behind this FIRST toy?
My parents were taking care of him and their house is FULL of stuff, which will entertain and stimulate babies and toddlers for hours. In comparison, our clean and organised apartment was boring to him.
I remember the first night we brought him back – he looked around at the white walls, the plain beige furniture and plain coloured bedsheets. Then, he started to cry and cling to me like a koala bear!
Of course, he cried because he was in an unfamiliar place but after I’d pacified him, I didn’t know what to do with him LOL
I don’t have many knick-knacks either because I like a clean, uncluttered home – I need all the space available for my books and papers. Hubby’s gadgets and tools are all safely tucked away in drawers and cupboards.
Since I only cooked on weekends then, I had only a few pots and pans, very little dried and practically no plastic containers. Talk about a dead end!
I think we turned on the TV for a bit but he got bored after a while – PANIC!!! How was I going to get anything done with a clingy koala?
That evening, I announced to Hubby: “We need toys! We need stuff to entertain HIM!”
Hubby totally agreed that our apartment was boring. And he said, “Oh my God, I’m married to a boring nerd!” -_-
After dinner, we headed to Tesco and I snooped around in search of SOMETHING.
Finally, I found the Fisher-Price Baby Playzone Kick and Whirl Carnival
Oh well, the toy promised to entertain babies, toddlers and preschoolers so we decided that it’s an investment for at least 5 years, which comes up to RM36/year.
True enough, he loved the toy. Check out the 7 month old’s gummy grin:
The Fisher-Price toy had multi functions:
- A baby lying down on its back could kick toys suspended above – my boy was always kicking, kicking, kicking so he really loved that function,
- Another variation is that an annoying techno music (we personally hate the music but kids LOVE it!!!) sounded and lights came on when he kicked some parts of the toy,
- When he’s in a sitting position, he could grab and pull at the suspended toys or grab the balls that revolved in a blinking, noisy circle,
- When he became a toddler, Hubby set up the slide where he could grab the balls from the revolver and slide them down and
- He could also insert balls into 2 holes set at the bottom of the “carnival”
All in all, we got our money’s worth from this Fisher-Price toy because our son played with it a lot when he was a baby and a toddler. Let me see if I can find the video of him playing and laughing with it 
During his first birthday party, I’d set it out in the hall for our friends’ kids to play – whaddaya know? Even kids aged 6-7 had fun with it
When our baby girl was born, we set up the toy for her too. However, she freaked out at the music! I guess she’s a bit more timid compared to her gregarious brother. We’ll have to try it again now that she’s bigger and equally as gung-ho as her big bro…
Anyways, if you’re looking for a toy to stimulate your baby or toddler with lights, music and action, get this toy:
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Marvel got similar thing from his grandpa’s friend, but not really play with it much. He didn’t even tried a bouncer, I didn’t think it’s needed and gave it away to a colleague :p. Maybe with a nanny, excited grandparents and all the small baby toys were enough for him. Oh and I like to play baby music too. They make him sleep well, especially at new year’s eve, where all the fire crackers and fire works loudly annoy us.
Lilis – Yeah, I think if he’s got company, he doesn’t really need toys. Our place is so empty and lonely, which is why this Fisher-Price toy was such a hit with our boy