We have finally hit somewhat of a routine in our home. At 7 in the morning, my 7-month-old baby wakes us with a boisterous, if not menacing, cry. I shuffle into his room and take him downstairs to watch his Baby Bach video, his version of the morning paper. We watch the meditative, eye candy images move across the screen while I sip my coffee and try to wake up for a day of play. But once the video ends, my work really begins.

As a new mother, I am still struggling with what that work means. How do I play with my precious, mute, immobile son? I try what one friend calls "baby circuit training," which is basically the bouncy seat, activity center, swing and floor.

I plop Gabriel into his activity center and he has a blast, looking up at me ever so often with a sly smile, pauses, then thrashes his body into the frame of the saucer so the whole thing shakes and squeaks in a satisfyingly punk rock-ish manner. But the circuit runs its course after a time and I am faced with the hours of the day.

In search of something more exciting, I try other toys – toys that crinkle, toys with lights, toys that spin, stack, rattle and hum. They each have their 15 minutes of fame then become tedious to Gabriel's world.

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