If you are looking for a great present for your toddler, look no further than giant wall maps. Megan picked up a 3-pack at Costco which contained a US state map, a map of North America, and a map of the world. Each is just a bit taller than Caleb and visually stimulating enough to keep him entertained.

We tacked all three up on the walls of his room and have been teaching him the names of each state off and on. He has a pretty good grasp of locations that have a personal twist (e.g. where he was born, where he lives and has lived, the places we have traveled together, etc.) so we’ve been building off of that dynamic. The film below was take-1,000 in my attempt to get him to prove that he can correctly point out San Luis Obispo (where he was born) and Boston (where we live now) in one sitting. It is pretty fun watching him try to focus on the map when all he really wants to do is put his finger in the camera lens and rip all of my ties off of the door.

(And why, you ask, are my ties hanging on the door of his room? One part space-limitation and one part Daddy/Son bonding. Caleb’s play room used to be Megan and my room — we moved into the other bedroom as soon as Spring descended on Boston — and I opted to leave my ties in place as they were on the only tie rack in the apartment. In addition, Caleb and I share a closet and drawers. No, we are not complete saps — he and I don’t have many clothes so it works from a practical standpoint — but we have always kept our clothes in the same place and saw no reason to break the trend. It’s the little things I suppose…)