This is the story of a baby borned in Italy in September 2022. Shortly after his birth, he and his parents moved
to New York City, and they managed to bring only a few of his toys in their suitcase.
He is now 20 months old, and 50% of his life has been in the US. He can say some words in English, like
boat, car and dog. He also says some words in Italian, like mamma, papa and nonna. His collection of toys has grown and
now fills their family apartment in Manhattan.
Let's take a look and play with some of his favorite toys:
This is a gift from his dad's friend. It's a plush toy of Fuecoco, a Pokemon that no one in the house knows but the baby loves.
He likes to grab and throw it around; Fuecoco is soft but can resist the baby's strength.
There is a reason why this colorful plush toy is so attractive to him, and the Toy Designer Suhasini Paul explains it: "Kids
like the organic shapes and primary colors: red, blue, yellow, and high-contrast black and white attract them."
The best sign that a toy is a favorite is that it is damaged. The wooden hedgehog is holding up, but the plastic ball
is dented after so many tosses in the air.
"He likes the colors, especially the sound of the ball when it moves, so he uses it all day," says his mom.
The baby calls this toy "palla," which means ball in Italian. This palla is giving it all to avoid breaking completely.
When they took the baby out for a ride in his stroller, he would point at the cars on the street—especially the bright yellow cabs.
"We wanted to give him a toy taxi car to get used to his new country.
And he loves seeing his life-size toy on the street."
He's still too young to play with small pieces of Lego, but he can play with a giant tiger.
And it is only one from a more considerable collection of Lego animals.
""I recommend a mix of toys that impart various developmental benefits and give children joy while playing.
Like stacking toys, color & shape sorter," says the expert Suhasini Paul.
His father knows that in a couple of years, his baby won't even look at this toys.
"But for now, they are his New York toys, and they make sense of why we are here."
