> Last weekend, I attended a birthday party for our friend's daughter's first birthday. Our friends loved us because we got the child a toy that didn't make noise. The godparents gave the birthday girl an electronic keyboard.

The thing is, children seem to *prefer* the toys that make noise. If I put a stuffed Elmo that made no noise and a noisy electronic keyboard in front of Jonathan, he would spend more time playing with the noisy toy.

Jonathan has a "Sleep 'n Snore Ernie" doll. It doesn't make a lot of noise, unless you press the button in his hand; then he goes into his whole "I'msosleepyIneedanap..." schpiel. If Jonathan's playing with something else and you press that button, he'll usually drop what he's doing and come over and tackle that Ernie doll. But once Ernie quiets down, he quickly loses interest.

Also, Jonathan likes to make noise with toys that are *meant* to be quiet.

Gri"parents just have to adjust to an increased noise level in their lives"shny