S loves to be in the kitchen. When he's not rummaging through the cupboards or cooking up a storm with his basket of utensils, he wants to be up where the action is. He loves measuring, counting, pouring, stirring. He's still too unstable to be standing on a stool or a chair and he's too confined in his highchair. I don't mind carrying him with one arm and stirring with the other but sometimes I need both hands.

So I've dug out S's sling. We used it a lot when he was an infant but we haven't used it at all since he's been toddling. At first he fidgeted while getting into the sling but once he saw that he was front and centre while I made cookie dough and he got to be part of the action, he was content. And all the while I was able to focus on cooking without having to worry about S running around the house and getting into trouble.