I'm having trouble getting back into the swing of things. I'm sure I'm not alone in this. To have holidays and vacations and so many things outside of the normal routine--sometimes it's hard to remember the normal routines. And really hard to get back into work!
To help ease the transition, let's talk about great gifts you or your kids got this year. That way it won't quite feel like we are completely leaving the holidays behind.
Question of the week:
What was the best gift you or your kids (or spouse) got this holiday season? If you say a kid's gift, please also say the kid's age.
I have to say that the Pumpkin's best gift was accessories for her play kitchen. You see, we got this small play kitchen as a free hand-me-down months and months ago, but she really never did anything with it because it had almost nothing to go with it. One pot, one pan, one spatula and a chicken leg. So as part of the Pumpkin's Christmas wish list, I put kitchen accessories (and let everyone know what a sad state our current play kitchen was in). The Pumpkin got a set of dishes, cups, utensils, pots and pans from the nanny, and she got a set of nice metal pots and pans plus a set of food items from my mom.
Now, she LOVES the play kitchen is and constantly playing with it. Being almost 2, I think this is a great age for this kind of toy. When she was younger, it was like she didn't really know what to do with it anyway. Now she tells use she's cooking and brings us plates, utensils and cups. She does this all day long. I don't even mind the mess it makes with the eleventy billion pieces because it keeps her so happy and occupied.
How about you? Any real winners this year?
10 comments:
Sasha's favorite presents this year are the Little People Farm and his wagon. He's 18 mo. So his imagination play is just really starting and, while I don't understand what he's doing at all...he seems to be enjoying them
Hubby got an arc welder (and gloves, jacket, mask...) as his surprise gift from me. He hasn't had a chance to use it yet, but he has been drawing out plans for about a bazillion things he wants to make. With him, the gift of tools is the gift of possibilities.
I think babySaid's favorite right now, is a little 'music box' it plays a few songs, big buttons you can add instruments and it lights up.
At nearly 18 months he is still very interested in music and also got 2 musical sets... we make a mean band.
On the idea of the play kitchen we also got a hand me down of a tool bench with a window on the other side and ways to use the tools. But this was not a christmas gift, but a post christmas cleaning out the house gift. This makes him very happy, and he's been helping us with his tools ever since.
I got a Dirt Devil sweeper. . . great for a parent of a beginning self-feeder. How much does it suck to be an adult and get excited about getting a vacuum?
The little guy (14 months) got a toddler electric guitar. He runs around the house pushing the buttons and rocking out to Smoke on the Water and Bad to the Bone.
And I'm with you on having trouble getting back into a routine. I'm having trouble forcing myself to do anything that doesn't require my wife and kid on the couch watching the kid's shows on PBS.
Hmmm- we went light on gifts this year since the whole family went to Hawaii. My favorite of Pumpkin's gifts is a book called Knuffle Bunny, by Mo Willems. It is a really cute story. Her current favorite is a new DVD. It is a Noodlebug DVD from the Cricket magazine folks. I find it a bit, um, boring. But she loves it and brings us the DVD case asking for "Doodlebug".
My parents were really generous this year and gave us a gift card to pick out 2 fans for bedroom 3 & 4...AND the supplies to install them since there isn't currently a light box in the ceiling...AND they will come over and help install them! It will really make a difference during the summer, especially with a new baby in one of those rooms and the other will probably be occupied by visiting family. I'm excited.
Aria got really cute wood play-food that is "cuttable." It has velcrow between the pieces and a wood knife to "cut" the food. She loves it. I put the food together behind her and she goes through cutting them all again. haha
Dana - The Pumpkin also got wood play-food like that. It's a birthday cake with decorations and candles. It's so cute!
Boog (2) is all about the play food, I wish we had the room for a play kitchen. He got a wooden food cutting set by Melissa and Doug that he likes. It has a cutting board and wooden knife and all the wooden pieces stick together with velcro so you can cut them up and stick them back together. He also got a place grill for his birthday and he's been making us hot dogs and hamburgers.
I think the hands down winner though was the pound and roll toy. Wooden balls that you pound through a hole with a wooden mallet and they roll down a tower. He loves it. That's right my 2 year old got toys that included both a wooden knife AND mallet this year.
Mouse (4 1/2) got a play tent that can be a castle, puppet theater, store...etc. She loves it, and it's great for crummy winter weather.
I got earrings that Mouse picked out herself, with a little help from dad at the cash register. Awwwww. :)
Seems like the play-food/child's kitchen was popular this year. We got the same for our kids (2 yesterday and 4 in two weeks)and they have been playing with them non stop for the last 2 weeks. The only problem is that we have 260 plus pieces of plastic and wood, floating all round the house. Drives me crazy. Also, they don't play with it properly. I find bits of play food in Zoe's new pusher going for a ride with Thomas (tTE)or stuffed under the seat of Noah's car. That really bugs me ( yeah, I know I'm so anal thinking the kids should 'play' like how us adults think they should.)
Zoe got a pusher yesterday for her 2nd birthday, which Noah will not let her play with (sigh). When she does get a go, she plays with it in such a different way to her brother. She puts her dollies in, feeds them, puts them to bed. He races around the kitchen knocking into everything at full speed. Urgh!!
My fav. gift this year, hands down, was the Ghirardelli intense dark chocolates Justin put in my stocking. It saved my life this week. :)
Gavin's (age 4-1/2) was another large set of Legos (about 500-odd pieces) for making City Rescue buildings and vehicles (police car, fire truck, abulance,and the related buildings). Added to the set he got several months ago and he asked every day we were at home since Christmas morning when Cooper was taking his nap so that he could play with his "teeny Legos" (not to be confused with Cooper's big duplo Legos).
Cooper's best gift (age almost 18 months) is a toss-up between an R2-Potatoo Mr. Potato Head (he spent probably 15 solid minutes playing with it, and our other potato heads/spuds), and a Fisher Price "Know your number" play phone. Since that phone "talks" to him, he'll sit there for quite some time hitting the buttons talking back to the voices of the fireman, the pizza man, and the operator.
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