Hello, my name is Daxton and I am an addict.

My 15-month old is totally and completely strung out.

On a toy.

He can't get enough. It is the first thing he thinks about when he gets up in the morning, and the last thing he thinks about before going to bed at night. He is an addict. And I don't even know what the thing is called. Here is a picture of the contraption that has captured the mind and the heart of my baby boy:

He got it for his birthday, but it has only been about the last month or so that he has started to dedicate his whole life to it. The first time I saw it I had no idea what it was or how it worked, so let me explain it to you. When you push down on the ladybug button, the purple monkey pops up out of the tree and the thing starts to play music. There is a fan inside of it which then turns on and makes all the other fun happen. It makes the balls in the middle of the toy spin around in circles. There is also a place on the side (pink) to put another ball and it kind of floats up because more air is blowing out of the hole underneath. And, it has three little circles on the side where you can attach three other pieces. Air blows out of these three holes too, and makes the pieces move. The top of the palm tree spins, the elephant's ears twirl, and the alligator's mouth chomps when they are attached. You can also stack the alligator on top of the palm tree and put them on top of the elephant.

.

It sounds weird, but is it hours of entertainment. Hours and hours. Days. Weeks.

It started gradually at first, but slowly over a week or two Dax started to favor this toy over any other toy. It seemed like he had to hit that ladybug more and more times each day to be happy. As even more days went by, it became an obsession. Now when I bring him downstairs in the morning, he squirms to get free so he can get to the playroom and start hitting that ladybug. I have to drag him screaming away from that toy to meals, naps, even to the park. And at the end of the day, we drag him kicking and screaming away from it so he can go to bed. He takes short breaks to chase Arden around, read books, or help me empty the dishwasher, but if ever I turn around and I can't see him, I just listen for the music.

And even when he is away from the toy, he isn't really away from it. He brings at least one and sometimes two of the detachable pieces with him almost everywhere. "Gay-duh" as he calls it, is his absolute favorite, but the elephant will do in a pinch. Gator is there on his high chair tray at nearly every meal, overseeing the eating. In the bathtub, gator is there too. In the car, Gator is along for the ride. He even takes it to bed, and it is not exactly soft and cuddly.

Today, Dax was happily hitting the ladybug, but something wasn't quite right. The balls weren't moving. The palm tree was barely spinning. The song sounded slower than usual. After about 27 more ladybug hits...it stopped altogether. I happened to be in the room feeding Corbie a bottle as all of this unfolded. He hit the ladybug harder and harder a few times, but still....nothing. The batteries were completely dead. (Seriously, I was amazed they had lasted this long). Dax looked at me and yelled "MUN-NIN!" I didn't know what that word meant, and I still don't, but for the rest of the morning I heard it a lot.

Of course when I checked the cabinet we didn't have the required four D batteries to bring the thing back to life, and Corbie was down for a nap, so we couldn't go to the store. So, for the next couple of hours, Dax would hit the ladybug, and the song would play for about 10 seconds, a big smile would come across his face....and then the music would stop. "MUN-NIN!" a distraught Dax would yell. He would come and find me and drag me to the playroom. "MUN-NIN!" he would wail, standing next to his toy. I would turn it off for a minute or two to give it a break. He would eagerly wait for me to turn it back on and then he would hit the ladybug again and get another 10 seconds of song. Big smile. Music stops. Smile disappears. "MUN-NIN!" Repeat. I tried to explain that the toy was tired and needed to rest. No good. I tried to put the toy on a high shelf and get him interested in some other toys. No good. He just kept on hoping that the next time he hit that ladybug, it would have somehow healed itself. He was hard up. He needed a fix, and he needed it BAD. And by the time Corbie woke up it was lunchtime, and right after lunch Dax goes down for a nap, so we couldn't go to the store. So, poor Dax spent nearly the entire day going through withdrawal. It was rough. (I am not sure who it was rougher on, him or me).

As soon as Preston got home I sent him off to the store in search of the coveted D-batteries that would restore order to Daxton's shattered world. He happily spent the evening doing almost nothing except getting his (ladybug) hits in. Preston had to drag him kicking and screaming away from the toy to put him to bed.

If things continue like this, I may have to stage an intervention.