Daddy Dan

The Fisher-Price Sing and Go Choo-Choo is a fantastic gift for kids 1-3.  It’s a three-car train that comes with a giraffe, and elephant, and monkey.  The train moves and plays songs and is very easy for a toddler to start up.  The train plays music when you put the animals in the front car.  You push the smokestack down to get the train moving.  Works on any floor, even on thick carpet.  The animals heads and legs move and make sounds too.  Babito still plays with this on a near-daily basis.

Fisher-Price Bounce & Spin Zebra - For about a year, this was The Babito’s favorite toy.  When the toddler sits on the zebra it makes a bunch of silly sounds and the child can bounce and spin the zebra around.  It cracked Babito up every time he rode it.  There are some great safety features with this toy.  The zebra will not turn unless the child’s weight is on the seat, which helps them get off and on easily.  I highly recommend this one.  It also allows you to lower the sound effect volume to a tolerable level if it starts to drive you a little nutty!

Lincoln Logs Woodland Express - 290 Pieces - The classic Lincoln Logs are always a great gift.  The Babito loves playing with this, especially since it contains a train and train track as part of the set.  I must admit that it is a little difficult for him to build things with the interlocking logs at his age (27 months) and he can get frustrated, but I think this set is a great gift for children 3 and over.  He plays with this simple train as much as he plays with his much more expensive Thomas train set.  The Lincoln Logs are also a lot of fun for the parents.  I’ve been known to get annoyed with The Babito for having fun knocking down my beautifully built log cabins.  =)

Melissa and Doug Cutting Food Box - I can’t really explain the appeal to this one.  All I can tell you is The Babito LOVES to cut up the wooden food in this high-quality set from Melissa and Doug.  The set comes with various wooden fruits, vegetable and breads that come in several pieces each, held together by velcro.  The set also comes with a cutting board and dull (obviously) wooden knife.  It’s fairly easy for toddlers to “cut” the pieces apart.  The Babito seems to get a true sense of accomplishment when he’s completed cutting all of the pieces.  It’s a truly inexpensive gift that will get a lot of use.

Melissa and Doug Band in a Box - The Melissa and Doug Band in a Box is another great gift.  The set comes with ten persussion instruments, including a tambourine, maracas, cymbals, triangle, and other noisemakers, all in a handy wooden storage box.  The Babito loves music (and noise in general - lucky Mommy and Daddy!) and love to play “Marching Band” throughout the house with these instruments (again, lucky Mommy and Daddy).

Come back later in the week where I’ll recommend some great books and DVDs for that special toddler on your Christmas list!

Babito got tons of cool stuff for his birthday, including a full wardrobe of clothes from Old Navy, Nordstrom, and Hurley and a bunch of new books to read before bed.  We’ve been needing to expand his reading materials, as he’s always choosing either an Elmo or Thomas the Train book to read every night.  He knows them both by heart.

He also got a boatload of new toys, which means Mommy and Daddy will either have to (a) clear out some of his new toys;  or (b) add a wing to Babito’s playroom.

Here’s some of the cool toys he received at his party.  I’m grateful for how generous our family and friends are, I’m just dreading Babito getting invitations to the birthdays of the 19 kids we had at his party.  Mommy and Daddy are gonna be broke.

John Deere Farm Set:

Babito loves cars, trucks, and tractors.  It’s a very high quality set.

Disney Digital Picture Frame:

We now own three digital picture frames, and I haven’t loaded pictures on any of them.  Guess I need to get busy.  I’ll definitely do Babito’s first.  Very nice gift.

Wooden Food:

At first glance I thought ‘Hey, that’s a GIRL’S gift, but Babito loves these things.  It comes with a cutting board and a wooden knife.  The various pieces of the food are attached with velcro, which can be cut by Babito with the knife.

Waterwheel Play Table:

A few weeks ago we were at my cousin’s house and Babito played with this thing for an hour, so they decided to get him one of his own.  It’s fun for him to pour water into the tower until it tips over and spills into the table.  He did it over and over and over again and laughed every time.  You can also use this table as a sand table.

Black & Decker Workbenches:

Papa and Nana gave him these workbenches last week and he loves them.  The table on the left has both a table saw and a drill press that both make realistic sounds and move like tools.

Golf Clubs!!!:

Babito’s godfather/uncle is an avid golfer and couldn’t wait to get him his first set of golf clubs.  The clubs are high quality and the set includes two woods, an iron, and a putter.  He plans to take Babito to a driving range soon to start teaching him the game of golf.  Then maybe Babito can give his Daddy some lessons too.

Elefun Game:

Babito’s 3-year old cousin has this game and apparently loves it.

Batman Big Wheel:

Babito’s been riding this cool big wheel throughout the house.  It has working lights and makes several sounds.  Babito’s favorite, which he now likes to repeat, is “To the batcave!”

Thomas the Train Table and Set:

Mommy and Daddy got him this Thomas table and set a few months ago and gave it to him early.  He loves this thing and runs to it every morning and every day when we get home.  He got several new trains and buildings for it for his birthday too.  I hope he plays with it for several years so we can recoup some of our investment!  These things cost a small fortune.