Crinkle Lion

A few weeks ago I witnessed one of the most beautiful things in all the world.

As I saw it unfold, I squeezed my eyes shut and willed myself to remember it forever and ever.

I was drying my hair in our bathroom and heard the sound of giggling coming from our room. I peeked out the door and saw 2 bald heads bobbing up and down, giggling away. I heard a crinkle-crinkle and a lot of foolish jibber-jabber noises. More crinkle-crinkle. More giggle-giggle. More jibber-jabber.

Chris was playing with Cooper and his most favorite toy in all the world--"Crinkle Lion". Crinkle Lion was jumping on Super Coop's tummy and creating all sorts of silliness. Chris was happy. Cooper was happy. And all was right with the world. I could have stopped time right then and there.

Crinkle Lion goes EVERYWHERE with us. He is a jack of all trades. He entertains Coop as he cruises around town in his big boy car seat. He makes appearances at every restaurant. Highchairs across Atlanta have been introduced to Mr. Crinkle Lion. He goes for strolls in the park and marathon shopping trips at the mall. He has saved the day on more than one occasion.

You can imagine my excitement when I was invited to the Kids II/Bright Starts Product Launch Party last week. A room filled with oober-cute and oober-fun toys? What!? Pink cupcakes sprinkled with darling confetti sprinkles? Innovative ideas and cutting edge technology? Precious patterns and plush baby accouterments?! And Tony Gonzalez to boot?!

I rejoiced in a morning spent sans scrubs and headed off to the Kids II Corporate Center to check things out.

Let me just say: It. was. fabulous.

I had oh-so-much fun browsing all of Kids II new product lines and learning about the philosophy and values that stand behind items like "Mr. Crinkle Lion".

My most favorite product was the SELF propelled baby bouncer seat. Seriously. It bounces itself. No acrobatics or yoga moves necessary (please don't tell me you haven't caught yourself standing on one leg in the kitchen with one leg stretched across the family room tap.tap.tapping the baby bouncer just to get dinner cooked...or my personal favorite, go-go-gadgetting a leg or two out of the shower to keep the little one a-bouncing so you can rinse the shampoo out of your mommy hair). It takes talent folks.

Well no more. The geniuses over at Kids II have solved mommy-woes near and far.

A personal favorite; the sensory-based nature of most Kids II products. Being a pediatric speech-language pathologist comes with all sorts of perks. Namely, I get to play all day long. Although finding sensory-based toys is not always the easiest feat, it's crucial to our success as therapists. Bright Starts has a fabulous line of sensory toys and guess what?! They are AFFORDABLE! Better believe I will be spreading the word about these little beauties!

And the best part? The part that yanked at my heartstrings and still has me thinking? Their philanthropic nature. They are involved in mucho wonderful charities and community oriented events. From their recognition of Pink Power Moms each year (inspirational mamas who have/are battling breast cancer) to the generosity that unfolds as they provide the homeless children of Atlanta with toys at Christmas...it was so refreshing and inspiring to meet a selfless corporation with outstanding morales and values.

And did you know that they have partnered up with my company, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta!? Who knew! Two of my favorite organizations partnered up to do good!? LOVE IT.

Thank you, thank you, thank you dear friends over at Kids II and Leader Enterprises! What a honor to attend such a wonderful event. I would write more, but a) I wrote WAY too much already b) the clothes dryer has honked at me approximately 15 times since I embarked upon writing this post and c) I'm sprinting out to Target to pick up one last Christmas gift for Coopie:

Hold on to your jingle bells, cause Super Coop's going to be beside himself when he meets Crinkle Lion's best buddie, ElliePhant. Could life get any sweeter??