Visual stimulation

We read that young infants are more engaged by black & white high-contrast objects. Cole seemed to need a little something extra to look at in his crib (not that he's awake very much!), so we found a couple of great products that answer his need for visual stimulation (and my love of line-art style graphics).

Hoping to stimulate Cole's baby blues, we found an awesome mobile for his crib - the award-winning Stim-mobile. It has interchangeable, whimsical cards - you use the black & white ones in the beginning and replace them after the first couple of months with the coloured cards. I had a hard time finding a mobile because none that I found originally really went with our nursery, our aesthetic or fit on our crib. But I really love this one - found it by accident at Crocodile, when I wasn't really looking. Cole isn't too interested in it yet, but soon I think he'll get a kick out of it. I would love to get the Mind Shapes from the same company.

We also found a great set of black & white flashcards by Wee Gallery. Cole seems to really like them - or at least be very entranced by them! We tuck them into the sides of the crib sometimes when he's wide-awake, but we take them away after a short time because they seem to make it hard for him to stop looking! I think as he gets bigger and is being more alert throughout the day we can really see how he likes them. I love the feel of them as well - super thick stock, nice satiny matte finish...

And as part of a really lovely gift from my friend Leah, we now have this awesome book, White on Black. I can't wait to show this one to Cole!