[SofiasMom]

At my dd's first birthday party, she loved the boxes, wrapping paper and tissue paper so much more than all of the toys!

[chinagirl2006]

If I see a cute toy or outfit...I buy it...who cares that I don't know how old she'll be...I know an approx range.
Some of us 1st time parents need advice on everything...serious & fun. Our house only has cat & dog toys, no children stuff at all.
So what's with the not so nice comment about this topic? Please don't stop giving us toy recommendations!

[chinagirl2006]

Where are you guys finding the stacking cups? Toys R Us is pretty much gone in our area now - they all changed to Babies R Us. But I can't find those cups at BRU or Target. Not even on their websites.

[ggman]

Originally Posted by cungar

I don't see how you can buy toys for a child who's age you don't even know and who you won't be getting for a year.

Have a child at home who is now almost three, I CAN say that they are expensive! Looking on the bright side, one of the great things about a long wait is the ability to spread out the expense!

When I was pregnant with DD, I started buying diapers at the grocery store just about every week with my regular groceries-- that way I had a big stash of them saved up by the time our baby arrived, knowing that other expenses would stack up at that time too. It was kind of like a savings account. I loved not ever wondering how many diapers I had left and whether or not I had to go to the store right away, because I knew I didnt'. (I bought various sizes then, mostly 1's and 2's and used every last one of them!)

I commend you for thinking ahead-- spreading out the purchases can be a wise way to avoid debt, keep yourself excited about the baby that IS coming (whether or not it's next week or next year), and have something productive to do during this wait.

All that being said, my daughter loved board books-- specifically "Moo, Baa, La La La" by Sandra Boynton. It goes through all the animal sounds in a rythmic way and before too long she was chiming in with the sounds! And also, "Chicka chicka boom boom." That's a letter book that is also very rythmic. She used to dance and groove to it when we would read it.

The other thing that mezmorized her was the Baby Mozart video. I know kids shouldn't watch TV until age two... blah, blah, blah... mine did. She LOVED Baby Mozart and would laugh OUTLOUD at it. She STILL will sit still and watch it for a half an hour-- well, not really sit still, she will dance to it now.

Great thread.

[aunlanpo]

"Moo, Baa, La La La"

An absolute favorite here too!

I get stack up cups at Walmart, or the dollar store. I think First Years makes them.

[An Song Tao]

My two girls love Sandra Boynton. If you want to expand to music, Boynton has two great offerings that are offshoots from her books. The girls like Philadelphia Chickens and Dog Train. The nice thing is that they are not your typical kids' music, adults can find them entertaining as well. I particularly like the "Dog Train" song by Blues Traveler!

[cooperbabe]

I've not been able to find stacking cups at a number of Wal-Marts or Targets but finally found them at Babies R Us (a stand alone BRU - not the ones inside Toys R Us)

I've also heard of people who have found them at their nearby dollar stores

[prechrswife]

I found stacking cups at a BRU inside a Toys R Us store. I also saw some at Target.

We are first-time parents, but both of us have a background in early childhood education. For toys, we are looking at the basics--stacking cups and rings, shape sorters, and other things along those lines. We also have A LOT of books (I guess we want the nursery to look like the rest of our house). We have got a good number of board books. Brown Bear, Brown Bear is a good book for little ones. I also love the Eric Carle books. We haven't looked at too many electronic toys, although we have a few that have been inherited from our niece and nephew. Of course, we also have the prerequisite collection of Asian dolls.

[SuzanneS]

And I must say I crack up everytime I look at it (and that's been more than 5 or 6 times!)

I've been buying books (one size fits all) and shoes (6-12 month and 9-12 month range) since that is fairly wide open.

Chuck, the ability to buy things for our children to be makes them real in our eyes, even if we are far away from referral. It's the one thing that brings me joy right now, so don't knock it. Chinagirl is not the only one out there doing this!!

We had dog toys but our dog died in November when we were paperchasing. Lots of sadness at our house, so if a few toys/clothes/books bring joy, what's the harm in that?

[chinagirl2006]

Aundrea & Cooperbabe - I'll keep looking for those stackable cups. I'll have to hit some Walmarts & Dollar Stores in my area I guess. My sister (who's 10 years younger than me) loved her cups - she would play forever with them - our dad would always knock them down on her & she would laugh like crazy.

Suzanne - Thanks for your toy & shopping support Sorry about your dog Our puppy will be 2 in June, so she'll be around for awhile. In 2000 the sheltie I grew up with passed away & that was extremely hard. They're our babies! I'm afraid to buy any stuffed animals for our daughter...our puppy tears them apart. When you tell her to "sick it" she shakes them until they fall apart & the stuffing is everywhere. She knows not to touch kitty's stuffed toy, otherwise they're all hers!

[happynifer]

this was mentioned in an above post, and also in our agencies list of suggested toys....
just never heard of it
another first time parent...

[journeytograce]

Originally Posted by happynifer

this was mentioned in an above post, and also in our agencies list of suggested toys....
just never heard of it
another first time parent...

Jenna,
Magnadoodles are awesome! Both of my boys have loved them. They are a drawing toy with a white screen and a "pen" that draws in black on the screen. Very cool because not much pressure needed to make lines, no mess, and there is a lever that when you swipe back and forth it erases it! There is also a smaller travel size one that is great on trips. We have used it on plane rides, and plan on carrying it to China. Very fun toy! (And inexpensive! The small travel one is around $5)

[tripleamom]

Jenna, a magnadoodle is really cool! Its a plastic type "doodle" board that has a plastic screen on the top of it and there are some kind of magnetics underneath the plastic sheet that make the image when you draw on it or make shapes etc. It has a plastic "Pencil" hooked to a string. There is then a "slide eraser" (I think, hard to remember back that far) that erases everything and you start with a clean board. Some of the more advance ones have little plastic shapes (flowers, stars, etc) that you can make pictures by using them instead of the "pencil". Probably a lot more than you wanted to know. If anyone can explain it better, please do. Oh, there are small travel sized ones that my kids used to love in the car. My 9 & 11 probably still would, but all of ours are trashed by now.

[tripleamom]

Sorry Jenna and Stephenie, I must have been posting about the magnadoodle at the same time. LOL. Oh well, everyone now knows what a magnadoodle is, I guess. Also, another book by Sandra Boyton called Barnyard Dance is really great for toddlers. It comes in hardbook and the kids really get into the beat while reading it. Kim

[journeytograce]

Originally Posted by tripleamom

Sorry Jenna and Stephenie, I must have been posting about the magnadoodle at the same time. LOL. Oh well, everyone now knows what a magnadoodle is, I guess. Also, another book by Sandra Boyton called Barnyard Dance is really great for toddlers. It comes in hardbook and the kids really get into the beat while reading it. Kim

Kim,
NP! Your detailed description was way better than mine! Ours didn't have the shapes, but I have seen those in the stores and they look really cool. Although more pieces to misplace, and in our house toy parts/pieces have a tendency to go MIA.