Cavan's new favorite toy

Cavan loves to turn "real" tools into toys. She would much rather talk on the real phone rather than her pretend phone. And she would rather wash real dishes in the sink with the real dish brush rather than pretend to wash her play dishes in her play kitchen (though that play kitchen has probably been the best investment as far as Cavan's continued interest, imagination, and time spent playing on a daily basis!)

So when Daddy was building shelves for the new baby's nursery and the stud finder came out, well, we might as well buy Daddy a new one, because he is never getting his back!

Cavan calls it the "checker" because it is a tool to check things. And when she checks things, she pushes the button and it beeps with a little red light. Anything can be checked. Pillows. Food. The cat. Pieces of paper. And if the stud finder beeps, the item in question is "okay." If it doesn't beep, then it is "bad" and needs to be thrown away or hidden. This has kept her occupied for long stretches of time.

But since the baby has been born, the checker has also doubled as a thermometer. I wouldn't let Cavan use the real thermometer with her baby dolls, so the next best subsitute—the stud finder. It is hysterical watching her flip over her baby dolls and put the stud finder on their butts to take their temperature.

Another job of the checker? To be the grocery store scanner. Cavan loads up her grocery cart with food from the fridge and brings it to me. I proceed to scan each item with the stud finder and then Cavan delivers the ingredients to Daddy to make dinner.

Babies-R-Us take note: start carrying a line of stud finders. Way more useful than those toddler-safe toys you sell!