A monster of a toy

When I was pregnant with my first child, I made a very clear-cut registry list of items and didn't include any fancy schmancy toys.

I had been a nanny to a wealthy family and hadn't seen any difference in the children by having them raised on "educational" toys. Children seem to do just fine with some fingerpaints or a sandbox, in my humble opinion.

Nevertheless, I had friends who gave me this exersaucer and, I have to admit, I did like the colors and the little dragon puppet.

The seat was removable (though it took awhile to actually remove) and I could throw it into the washing machine. My daughter was put in this at 4 months and LOVED to be in here, chewing away on the toys. As far as entertainment goes, she loved playing with the electronic piece which said the name of the animal in English, then in Spanish and then played a little "classical" tune. The clarity of the sound was actually quite good and we never had to change the batteries.

As far as durability and size? I am not impressed.

Yes, it was a convenient place to plop her down if I had to run to the bathroom, but she much preferred her walker as it allowed her to zoom around the house. This stationary entertainment center did not keep her captive after 6 months of age and she lost interest in it.

The puppet was difficult to remove when I needed to wash it. In fact, all the soft toys were either difficult or impossible to remove. Let's face it - you're going to have to wash this toy. Little babies tent to spit things. : )

She also managed to suck the dye out of the top fabric triangle toy and broke the plastic arch with the balls. Snapped it right off one of the bases.

She also broke off the spinning globe. Now, I'm not saying I have a child with superhuman strength. She broke 3 pieces total on this toy, and I was also frustrated with the difficult cleaning aspect. There are all sorts of crevices to hide yucky things.

Yes, it teaches you Spanish animal names and plays "classical" tunes. The Spanish isn't annoying, but it will say, "Cat, Gato, (music)."

Seriously, just put your kid on the floor with some measuring cups and spoons and that will be far easier to clean up/navigate around/etc.

It doesn't fold "flat" but the top part can be removed from the stationary base. It also has little prop legs to place underneath the base to keep it from wobbling around like a a saucer on the floor. It is rather heavy and difficult to store.

Don't shell out the bucks for this toy. The novelty wears off very quickly.