My husband and I had a discussion about why Sophie the Giraffe is so beloved and effective, yet so simple. This rubber giraffe is $18-25, and Erick was just astounded that it is so expensive. I told him that EVERYONE has this giraffe, and he asked why it was so special. This post is dedicated to my dear husband.
Evie LOVES Sophie. So the question is why?
1. Who wouldn't love a toy with its own Wikipedia entry and Facebook page? I knew Sophie was French, but had no idea she was so old.
2. Why not a penguin, a duck, or an elephant? It's the neck. A giraffe has the perfectly sized neck for an infant to grab and practice motor skills. Then why not an ostrich? The neck is too skinny, and no ears for baby to suck on! (You can tell I am sleep deprived, because I am thinking of the ideal animal for a rubber toy.)
3. No batteries required. Since Evie was born, our battery inventory has grown significantly. Someone needs to invent a solar-powered, talking stuffed animal.
4. Contrast. The spots on her body and the perfectly black circles for eyes are fun for infants to look at. The optometrist in me loves this.
5. Touch. The rubber is supposed to feel like mommy's skin. I just felt the giraffe again. I hope I never feel rubbery to the touch.
6. Taste. Completely safe for baby to suck/bite. Evie loves to suck on those little ears. I tried to get her to suck on the butt so I wouldn't have to keep putting the ears back near her mouth, but she prefers ears over the butt.
7. Size. Apparently the 18 cm of cute giraffe-ness is the perfect size for baby to grasp.
8. A squeak that isn't TOO annoying.
9. Oh wait--a toy that address all 5 senses?? That's amazing!
10. The rubber is collected from rubber trees in Malaysia, travels by ship to France, where it is made into latex, molded 10 giraffes at a time, cured for several days, hand-trimmed of excess rubber, and then hand-painted, tested for safety, and hand-packed. Check out this video here to see how they make them. That totally explains to me why this is so expensive.
11. As the video above shows, movie stars buy them, and we should too. Remind me, if I ever invent a toy, to just send some to Beyonce, the Kardashians, and whomever has a baby at the time.
I am now always looking for toys that help my Evie develop her skills, and my conclusion is that Sophie fits the bill! She may be a bit slower in achieving milestones, but this mommy is going to try her best to help her achieve them while having fun! Any suggestions for toys good for development at this age would be appreciated!
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| A rare photo without her oxygen cannula |
Evie LOVES Sophie. So the question is why?
1. Who wouldn't love a toy with its own Wikipedia entry and Facebook page? I knew Sophie was French, but had no idea she was so old.
2. Why not a penguin, a duck, or an elephant? It's the neck. A giraffe has the perfectly sized neck for an infant to grab and practice motor skills. Then why not an ostrich? The neck is too skinny, and no ears for baby to suck on! (You can tell I am sleep deprived, because I am thinking of the ideal animal for a rubber toy.)
3. No batteries required. Since Evie was born, our battery inventory has grown significantly. Someone needs to invent a solar-powered, talking stuffed animal.
4. Contrast. The spots on her body and the perfectly black circles for eyes are fun for infants to look at. The optometrist in me loves this.
5. Touch. The rubber is supposed to feel like mommy's skin. I just felt the giraffe again. I hope I never feel rubbery to the touch.
6. Taste. Completely safe for baby to suck/bite. Evie loves to suck on those little ears. I tried to get her to suck on the butt so I wouldn't have to keep putting the ears back near her mouth, but she prefers ears over the butt.
7. Size. Apparently the 18 cm of cute giraffe-ness is the perfect size for baby to grasp.
8. A squeak that isn't TOO annoying.
9. Oh wait--a toy that address all 5 senses?? That's amazing!
10. The rubber is collected from rubber trees in Malaysia, travels by ship to France, where it is made into latex, molded 10 giraffes at a time, cured for several days, hand-trimmed of excess rubber, and then hand-painted, tested for safety, and hand-packed. Check out this video here to see how they make them. That totally explains to me why this is so expensive.
11. As the video above shows, movie stars buy them, and we should too. Remind me, if I ever invent a toy, to just send some to Beyonce, the Kardashians, and whomever has a baby at the time.
I am now always looking for toys that help my Evie develop her skills, and my conclusion is that Sophie fits the bill! She may be a bit slower in achieving milestones, but this mommy is going to try her best to help her achieve them while having fun! Any suggestions for toys good for development at this age would be appreciated!
12. No annoying tune stuck in mommy's head! ;)
ReplyDeleteIt's so true! Everyone I know who has a baby also has Sophie!
ReplyDelete(Let us hope that E always prefers sucking on ears over the butt.)
Wish this giraffe was around when our girls were babies! (Unless you think I could get Morgan to be interested in this?)
ReplyDeleteI never knew Sophie had so many benefits! Jace has one, I wonder if he would still play with it :)
ReplyDeleteI never knew that Sophie had so many benefits! Jace has one, I 'll see if he still wants to play with it :)
ReplyDeleteI think Evie likes to chew the ear also. Grandma Moy caught a video if Evie chewing on Sophie's ear. Thank you, Amy for the information on Sophie. That's interesting!
ReplyDeleteThis most is amazing because when I saw this on your registry I had to google why it was so expensive and what the benefits for it was. When I saw it helped with teething infants I was sold but all these additional benefits makes me super happy it was a good purchase!
ReplyDelete@Kirsten--thank you so much for Sophie!
ReplyDeletefor batteries: we found costco sometimes has an eneloop rechargeable battery pack: some AA batteries, charger, and D and C spacers. spacers be great, so can use AA batteries instead of buying D. plus.. rechargeable =)
ReplyDelete13. Cause Sophie can do this!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGVlEcLEVDE
(P.S. love the blog!)
Haha! That was riveting and annoying at the same time! :)
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