Bye-Bye Swing....

You served us well.

It wasn't that long ago that I posted a blog about our favorite baby things. The items we couldn't live without.

I came home from work yesterday and found the bulk of them in a pile by the back door -- Jim's staging area for eventual removal to the storage shed. It's quickly becoming full of all of Scott's outgrown "baby stuff."

Among the pile of soon-to-be-shelved gear was the Fisher Price Ocean Wonders Swing.

Such a sad end for so many great pieces of baby equipment.

Scott virtually lived in it until about three weeks ago. He napped there, played there...for a couple of months it was literally the only tool we had that was guaranteed to stop his fussing and crying.

But as he's grown, he's become more destructive. One by one, we were forced to remove the toy fish that circled over his head on a mobile. He kept grabbing them, thereby stopping the whole thing from turning and prompting the entire contraption to make an ugly, grinding sound.

Dead fish

A couple of weeks ago, he figured out how to pull himself up on the housing mechanism himself. And then finally, I came into the nursery, to find him flailing, half in, half out of the swing, trying to reach a toy or a security blanket he had dropped on the ground.

I am not quite sure how Tank managed that last feat - he was strapped in, but had somehow scooted down, loosened the belt and flipped himself over on his stomach. Then he got stuck.

So the swing (along with the bouncy chair, floor mat, and various other items) are being retired for safety reasons. Our big boy is just too mobile.

I honestly wasn't sure I'd ever see the day. Ocean Wonders Swing: thank you for your many months of hard service. We salute you.

Mommy, I am on the move...and way too big for some silly baby swing.