Sundays are free admission days at Kidzu, the childrens’ museum in Chapel Hill, so we took a drive over there this afternoon to check it out. There’s a “Tot Spot” area in the back just for ages 0-24 months, with a padded-wall play zone with a sort of crawler obstacle course, surrounded by a carpeted area with a bunch of toys and a little reading area with books and a glider.

Griff was actually much more interested in watching the adults and other kids than playing, but he did find some toys that he enjoyed.

The vinyl fruit and veggie collection was of particular interest.

Griff is so outgoing, mobile and curious at home, it’s always weird to see how reserved and cautious he becomes in an unfamiliar environment. It really does take him a while to get comfortable in a new situation and start exploring. He seemed to adjust faster to crawling around the big field at the park yesterday than to this busier indoor area. Also, he’s so huge, usually bigger than the much older kids who are playing around him, I keep mentally comparing him to the more mature babies and forgetting that he’s only seven. months. old.

We spent about 45 minutes hanging out in the baby area. The rest of the facility had some fun-looking activities for preschoolers and elementary-age kids, including a really cute play garden adjoining a play kitchen where the produce could be prepared and served to customers at a “cafe”. There was also some cool stuff to do with oversized building blocks and a “Gravitron” that releases balls into configurable ball tracks along one wall. It’s all more or less educational, but I think it’s a bit of a stretch to call Kidzu a museum (which is not meant as a criticism).

Speaking of free stuff, here’s Griff’s latest toy. We finished off a box of oatmeal this morning, so Jag poured in some dried beans and taped up the lid with masking tape. Et voilà! Noisy rolly toy! It was a big hit.

Here Griff appears to be trying to levitate it using the POWER of his MIND.