Wooden Spoons & Salad Spinners

Some of the best baby toys we have are kitchen utensils.
The kitchen is a gathering place in our house and where we spend a lot of time.  When Sam first learned to pull up, he would go to the kitchen to pull the recipe books off of the card they were stored on and listen to them crash onto the floor (the poor downstairs tenants).  He liked to look at the colorful pictures in the illustrated ones as they fell into a pile at his feet.  When I watched a friend's baby the other day, she went straight to the recipe books and pulled them down.  Sam looked at her curiously as she took over his post.
We try to cook just about every night and Sam seems to like watching us.  He'd be happy if he were in my arms at all times while I made dinner, which obviously is a physical impossibility.  When he was a little guy, I'd wear him in the Baby Bjorn and at first he'd fall asleep on my chest while I cooked.  Then I turned him around and he'd watch the process.  When he started grabbing for utensils and food, those days were over.  Now he plays under us, or sits in the high chair while we cook. 
One of his favorite kitchen toys is the salad spinner.  When I wash lettuce, I put the spinner on the floor, and he pushes the knob down and delights in the cause and effect of the rotating lettuce.  This keeps him busy for a few minutes, at least until he takes off the lid and tries to remove the lettuce.  Lately, when he sees the spinner he gets excited and reaches for it.
He also likes to use wooden spoons to drum on the floor and the cabinets.  Sometimes he will watch me use one and try to mimic the action by rotating it in the air.  I tried to have him mix batter with me once, but it turned out to be a pretty messy endeavor, one better saved for when he is older.  Yesterday I explained to him that I would be "right back" and needed to use the bathroom.  Sam looked at me and crawled towards the bathroom with me, still clutching the wooden spoon.  He knelt in front of the toilet and showed me how he could mix with the spoon, and then headed toward me.  Then he stood and tried to mix the toilet water.
When I picked him up from a friend's the other day, he was stacking her plastic mixing bowls inside of one another and crawling around with her ring of measuring cups.