soporific toys

Angel our nextdoor neighbor is a mother of 3, runs a daycare, and is training to become a doula. She is one of the reasons we're moving back to Charlottesville.

(Another reason is MJH just down the road, where we are now signed up for 6 weeks of childbirth classes, a breastfeeding class, and a basic baby care class. It's also where the pumpkin will, if things go according to plan, first see the world.)

One of Angel's charges is a 6-month-old girl who sleeps cuddling a "Sleep Sheep" -- a fluffy companion that plays the sound of "Mother's Heartbeat" (or, if you prefer, "Spring Showers", "Ocean Surf", or "Whale Songs").

Angel also points us to The Original Slumber Bear -- which, according to the website, "contains the ONLY actual intra-uterine, recorded womb sound to help lull your Baby to sleep in minutes! Sound and motion sensors re-activate recording when Baby cries or jostles bear."

When we were up in the Catskill Mountains, we visited my favorite boyhood store and bought the pumpkin a teddybear, so I'm more inclined toward the Sleep Sheep. I suspect we'll get one or the other. But I find myself wondering when someone's going to come out with a soporific crib toy that lets me upload and download MP3 files. We're already planning to put my old powerbook in the nursery so we can have access to the full music library in there. Maybe I should just look for a CD of sleepy sounds, or a place to download them.

I'll end this audiocentric pondering with a guessing game. What are these 3 sounds?

1. Aye


2. Bee


3. See

No peeking!

I'll just say for now that it's not maman's heartbeat, not the pumpkin's heartbeat, not the Sleep Sheep, and not the Slumber Bear. No, it's not my heartbeat either.

- papa