Spiky, bumpy ball

We were just doing a little toy shop touring - an activity we sometimes indulge in when out shopping. We look, try, enjoy a few surprises and laughs, and say our farewells 'until we meet again', maybe next shopping trip....

(So far, we've managed to enjoy 23 months of this routine without any tantrums or tragedies for leaving behind certain 'objects of desire'!)

However, when he was attracted to a little $3 purple, spiky, bumpy ball - I decided we needed to invest in one to take home.

What I didn't expect, was for little B. to completely freak out once home - panicking and crying, when we started rolling the very same ball about the ground! So, in an effort to avoid our baby becoming 'that kid' who is afraid of balloons and balls etc at other kids' houses and parties, we began a kind of 'desensitisation' program!!! - We started by leaving the ball amongst his favourite toys, occasionally picked it up, passed it to someone else, rolled it slowly - clapping with excitement when each person caught the ball... bit ridiculous really, but it worked! Yahoooo! Hahaha!

And once he realised it was not some kind of weird living animated scary creature, he started to really enjoy playing with it! 

Photos taken: 12/12/11 - nearly 9 mths old

For little ones, they are great for sensory exploration, bilateral hand coordination, attention/ visual tracking, hand - eye coordination, turn taking, 'tummy time', cause and effect practise, and good old fashioned fun :-) 

I'd love to hear if anyone else has experienced this kind of phobia, and what you did to overcome it!