I took my first stroll down the toy aisle. I parked my cart near the infant toys and thought to myself, "and so it begins." My objective was to buy him something that could potentially help him become more independent in entertaining himself.
Too often we resort to just holding him while doing dangerous tasks like chopping jalapenos or taking piping hot cornbread out of a 400 degree oven. Even worse, sometimes we resort to turning on the baby channel so that he'll study the colors, sounds, and patterns on the screen. Again, not the best thing to be teaching a baby who you would like to be independent, active, and prone to problem solving for himself.
Which brings me to the point. I very carefully studied the toy options on the aisle. Bells and whistles don't necessarily mean more entertaining. The teacher in me went for something that emphasized problem solving, mathematical thinking, and shape familiarity. The elephant shape toy won the prize. He is a bit premature in being able to assess shape but this is the time to introduce these concepts.
I proudly watched him play with the elephant box and shapes for a solid 20 minutes. In the life of Callum this is huge. I hope his ability to explore and analyze his world only improves from here.