Spore

Eastern Red Cedar, originally uploaded by wcm777

I have been a Will Wright fan since 1989, when I first played SimCity on my Commodore 64. That dude makes some seriously good games. As a young kid, I learned a lot from them, and they encouraged curiousity about things like cities and insects and sociology.

His new creation, Spore, is set to be released this fall. It's basically a simulation of everything: encompassing the origin of life, evolution of species, the rise of civilization, planetary ecology, and galactic exploration.

It's kind of a big deal, and I feel obligated to share this genius with my little geeklet at the youngest possible age. Of course, by the time she's in high school they will have moved on from dissecting frogs to prodding embryonic stem cells, but for now this is the closest we can get to playing God.

Baby's first autoclave

Warning: Permanent, originally uploaded by jessiebarber

I think this nursery sanitizer (from Baby Gadget) should be part of a "Little Tattoo Parlor" play set. Just like toddlers learn to chop vegetables in play kitchens, I want to teach our baby about the place where daddy goes to get drawings on his skin.

The other play set accessories would include a pretend tattoo gun, a wall of flash art, and a little leather chair for baby's "clients" to sit in. You could incorporate a color wheel in there somewhere. Plus, of course, there would be a plastic sharps disposal bin for single-use needles. That way, she would learn that while some things can be cleaned and re-used, others should be thrown away.