Well, it seems that a lot of us are dealing with new babies, finding employment to justify our new doctoral statuses, trekking through New Zealand and having wonderful adventures or just otherwise tired ...

I can't give much input for a lot of the above (OK, or any of the above, except to say Congrats, you Lucky Ducks!), but I did stumble across a cool website for those with the Babies of Newness. Some of the stuff is ridiculously overpriced, overblown, overmodern, etc. but there are a couple cool pieces -- I would direct the reader's attention to the Kipiis and Bilibo as pretty cool concepts. And some Montessori-type toys.