the search for a playpen

and so.. with just a few days short of hitting the 6 months mark, my son has become incredibly mobile, moving across the room, half crawling, half hopping, half rolling or whatever means possible. put a toy he is interested in from across the room and he’ll scamper across in the ways he knows how.

which pretty much means.. NIGHTMARE.

today, he rolled himself off the play mat onto the hard marble floor under the coffee table in a matter of seconds and gently knocked his head against the floor. i was aghast. one second he was beside me in the center of the play mat, the next second, he’s gone.

i screamed! and while i thought he would burst into tears… he just blinked his eyes in shock for a few seconds and seemed to forget whatever just happened. i think i just might die of heart attack one of these days but it seems that jerry is a lot hardy that i think he is.

over the weekend, i started searching for a playpen. mainly because i don’t think my frail heart can take that many attacks, and mostly for his safety since marble flooring isn’t exactly baby safe.

i spotted a whole range of them in toy r us and also in isetan (where they had sale for starhub customers or in my case, a starhubber) and whatsapp my brother (the baby toys guru because he used to work in toy r us for many many many years) and didn’t get his approval.

i was mainly looking for stuff like these…

the brother whatsapp me and tell me to look for the fence-up type so its easier to keep/put away and expand when the baby grows bigger and needs more space.

i spotted one wooden playpen in toy r us but it was $300 bucks!

i didn’t manage to find anything remotely similar, and i think there isnt a big market for it here since the cot-like type seemed more common in the stores. i must admit, i didn’t search the whole of singapore for it. i am that lazy. i got home, on my computer and my fingers typed the websites of walmart, costco, sam’s club, amazon.com etc. within 30 minutes and some discussion with the hubby, we got this!

north state superyard portable playpen + extension kit

mainly because it was cheap – $49.99 (before tax) for the playpen and $23 for extensions. I got a bundle deal that is only $70 (before tax), so it was a real steal! I loved this other design that has vertical bars instead of the small diamond holes but der thinks its a potential hazard because small limbs may get stuck and twisted in it.

technically, i didnt get it immediately, because walmart doesnt accept singapore credit cards, so i drop my dear aunt a email and it’s now being delivered to her. my uncle is popping in a week and my aunt, another 3 weeks.. so depending on their luggage’s limit, one of them will bring it back for me. i can’t wait. am so thankful for nice family members who stays in the US. i saved tons on baby stuff! its so much cheaper/affordable there.

meanwhile, i also very blessed to have friends like jennifer fretting over a playpen for me, badgering her sisters to find a play pen for me. she found me one after i bought it, so i feel bad that she put in much effort. thanks jen!

ok. time to lights out. good night.