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Lyla played with her first toy today, quite a milestone. Soon she'll be building Lego towers, mastering the Speak & Spell, and drawing spirograph masterpieces. But today she reached out and touched the toucan thing on her jungle chair. If you'll excuse me, I have a press conference to get to.

Babies are not famous for eye-hand coordination, so the simple act of reaching out for a toy is something you look for during the third month. I'm glad because we have all these toys from baby showers or from our own impulsive shopping, but no one except Julie and me to play with them.

And they're pretty boring, honestly. I mean, how many times can you press the octopus's different-colored legs and hear the robot woman say what color it is? It's like electronic octopus color flashcards, and it's not challenging at all.

But I suppose a short way down the road after learning to play with toys is learning to make demands at the store. The ability to look at an object and anticipate the fun that could be had with it is a milestone that can take its time. "Dat! Dat! DAAAAAAAT!" Lyla will scream as we pass those dolls that look like prostitutes.

Which I guess is when we'll practice the word "No."