Although many people sell toys for infants, the best are from Infantino, the toys are often not handy at crucial times like when I am sitting on the couch. So while entertaining Madeline at 7 months old on the sofa I have done some experimentation with things immediately handy. She is quite fond of things like spoons or other cutlery used for eating dinner and is especially interested if the spoon is being used for eating. A white box that had held jewelry at some point was also a good toy until the edges broke off. Yesterday a Murakami paperback, “Dance, Dance, Dance”, fascinated her. Her list of ways to play with a paperback include: Bending and attempting to tear off the shiny front cover, eating the binding, grasping a clump of pages, watching the pages get flipped quickly, and dropping it on the floor. So much for Murakami. The best toy I have found in a long time was discovered after taking a shower. I was wearing my bathrobe and she found the long cloth belt from the robe to be a fascinating toy. Not only did it come from both sides of me, but it also could be looped, skipped, tied, worn as a headband, or just grabbed and pulled at.