Ball popper woes

Look at my brave little boy. He is overcoming his fear of the dreaded ball popper! For Christmas, Daniel received the ball popper shown above. We brought it home, added batteries, and turned it on. Daniel immediately started crying and shaking. I had never seen him frightened like that before, so it surprised me. However, the ball popper kind of freaks me out too. When turned on, it emits a vacuum noise that slowly grows louder and louder. Circus music eerily plays in the background too. And then balls suddenly start shooting out of the top. Yep, definitely scary.
Anyway, we immediately turned off the toy and packed it away in his closet. About a week later, I had left the closet door open, and Daniel spied the ball popper. Instead of becoming upset, it was like he was irresistibly drawn to it. At first he just stood at the door of the closet and stared at it. Then, he became braver and touched it. A few minutes later, he had actually pulled it off the shelf and was inspecting it on the floor. I came and sat with him as he gave it a thorough going over. He even tried to turn it on! So, I sat him on my lap and flipped the switch. As the vacuum noise grew, I could feel Daniel tensing up in my arms. At his first cry, I switched the thing off and whisked it away. However, the next day, he was back after it again. So, we have settled into a nice arrangement. We never turn it on, but we give him the balls to put into the top, and he watches them roll down the shoot. It has actually become his favorite pastime.
Oh, my baby boy! He keeps us laughing and exhausted!