It may not be a box, but...

It is a well known fact that if you give a kid a special gift he will find the box it came in more fun.  Well, we bypassed this issue by removing the big gifts from their boxes before giving them, like the Learning Home and the Grooving Table (cool names, huh?).  We were outsmarted, though.  Clearly it's not the box that is so appealing, but the box's simplicity.  We learned this because even though Calvin clearly loves the door and the table, and pretty much all of his new toys, his absolute favorite new item seems to be the rolling cylinder that his uncle Steve and aunt Rachel gave him.  Yes, it's just a beach ball like inflatable cylinder, and it is possibly the most fun he has had yet!  It encourages and allows him to be much more physically active and mobile - and he just loves going crazy on the thing.