Google’s search app for the iPhone now lets one capture an image, turn it to text, and translate it on the fly. I took a few snaps around Brussels to see how well it fared in French and Dutch. Quite well in French, not so well in Dutch.

Google Street View has launched in Belgium, which means that one can now take a virtual walk through the streets of Brussels. Mostly taken during the summer of 2010, I think that these images capture the character of the city as well as a few candid moments.

Following on the success of the Rainforest Bouncer, I ordered the Rainforest Gym from amazon.de. At first, Hayden wasn’t terribly impressed, mostly beacause he had to lie flat on his back, not sitting up like in the bouncer. However, as he has developed, he seems to be enjoying this a lot more. Now that he can rock from side to side, he slowly wiggles his way around the mat, play with the various hanging toys. He likes to hit the rattle with his feet to make a noise, and hold the spinning paddle with two hands and slowly rotate it. He will often look quite serious when interacting with the hanging toys, almost as if he is conducting neurosurgery rather than shaking a toucan rattle. He also gets very chatty, singing along with the rainforest song. We try tummy time here and I hold the mirror up to his face, but he’s not very impressed and much happier on his back. He will entertain himself for up to an hour now, which would give me time to do other things, if I didn’t just love sitting beside him and watching him play.

One of our best baby buys has been the Fisher Price Rainforest Bouncer that I picked up second-hand from the BCT Nearly New Sale at the beginning of this year. Since he was about a month old, Hayden has loved playing in this bouncer. I can put him down in this chair and he is usually happy to play in it from ten minutes to up to maybe up to an hour until he gets overstimulated from too many monkeys.

The chair vibrates and bounces with his movement, and the animals twirl, light up, and play music whenever he moves the toucan or the monkey. The “baby-activated” setting has been great for him to learn that he can control his environment with his hands, and he seems so delighted when he can manage to get the waterfall going and sees the animals swinging back at forth. One can also switch off the music and just have rainforest sounds, if two dozen renditions of “pop goes the weasel” is getting a bit much.