Still practicing my new greeting. It sounds a little weird, but I kinda dig it.
Anyhoo...let's jump right in.
It's Christmastime! That means shopping. Personally, I love it. Target snafu aside, I've had so much fun picking toys this year for Baby Namastè. He's not quite a baby now, but he'll always be mine. He's gotten so big since last year. He does so much now--he can talk, he no longer walks like a drunken baby man, and toys are more than just things to chew on now.
As such, I wanted to break down my favorite gifts this year for my little guy.
Keep in mind, my little bear is 21 months old, so the gift setup I'm dishing on is stuff I love that would be best for that age set, from 20 months to about 26 months.(He performs cognitively a few months ahead--but to balance it, he is still a shrimp physically.)
I'm a huge fan of learning toys (both traditional educational toys and those that encourage free play and idea expansion) and books. What's a playroom without a cozy reading corner? Sad. A playroom without a cozy reading corner is sad.
Baboochi Plush and Book
The Baboochi is my absolute favorite toy of 2017, period. If you remember, I got to do an interview with the creator of this adorable furry blue fuzzy-wuzzy. Laura C. Byrne instantly became my favorite children's author. Look at it. Just look! (Photo used with permission and is the sole property of Laura C. Byrne.)
See, the Baboochi doesn't talk or light up or any of that stuff.
No.
What the Baboochi does is far more magical.
In addition to making stroller time cool... (Pic taken in August, shortly after we arrived in Albany.)
The Baboochi is designed to be a kid's (or adult's!) best furry blue friend. (I won't disclose the story, but the premise of this adorable little guy is to teach our kids some positive lessons, as well as help reinforce those in a fun, relatable way.) Baboochi encourages sharing, using good manners, exercising good stewardship, and being a good friend. This little guy is all about positivity, and I am all about this little guy for my little guy. Currently Baboochi is helping my little guy learn all about keeping his room neat, and about remembering to brush his teeth.
Sure, hubby and I are no slouches and we can easily impart these lessons--it's just more fun when we include our Baboochi. It makes what would be a power struggle, a non-struggle.
Imagination plus positive behavior modeling plus adorable? Sign me up immediately. I can't say enough about it without saying too much an spoiling the story, so I'll stop gushing here and give you the websites so you can find out on your own.
Here. - Here.
Pros: Because the Baboochi is a free-play toy, kids can really get into it. For example, my older daughter likes creating adventures for her little brother, featuring Baboochi as his sidekick. The story allows the Baboochi to have its own personality of sots, but where they truly shine is that this toy can be a major comfort to a child during a life transition. When we first got ours, we were making a 3-hour move. AN unfamiliar place, plus the absence of all our son's familiar faces and places? Eek! But we made each day into a sort of adventure with his Baboochi. We also included Baboochi in his potty training, and now Baboochi is a part of the Operation: Big Brother endeavor. True, the positivity comes mostly from parents at first--but that's how life works. We imprint our ideas and beliefs into our children! Baboochi helps out by being a tiny blue reminder.
Cons: NOT having this toy and story in your life. Seriously, get it. Get it soon. I would venture to say don't even wait for Christmas, because they are likely to sell out.
Rating: 5 of 5 stars.
Would we purchase again? Is the sky blue! Without a doubt. I mean, how often does there exist a toy that embodies everything you want to teach your child?! I know it's still us doing the legwork, but between the adorable, inspiring message in the story and the adorable fuzzy wuzzy blue guy, I have no doubt we'll grab two or three more. Our ;little guy is a brand rep, and you can see photos of him playing and having cool adventures with his Baboochi here.
Eric Carle Book and Plush Set
DO I even have to expound on this one?! Ok, ok, I don't mind. I am a huge fan of Eric Carle. Almost as much as I love Dr. Seuss, is exactly how big I love Eric Carle. I have fond memories of reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar as a wee Taye, and it does my heart many goods to share that iconic story with my kids now. This year I was beyond huffed to find a book and plush set on Jet.com, and the price was lovely. (I paid about 5.99 for ours, but I caught the Cyberweek goodies. At 14.89 it is still a steal, because this book is an early-childhood treasure. I also got an Eric Carle t-shirt for him from Wal-Mart.com, because the book and plush are only somewhat enough. *chuckle*
Pros: Besides being a classic, this book really is one of the best early readers. Children learn about the little caterpillar and all the foods he tries, and then they learn about what food he really needed! This is a classic.
Cons: Not opening it 'til Christmas. Seriously...I'm glad we have an older copy but this one is soooo cute and that plush caterpillar is singing the song of my people.
Would we purchase again? Is rain wet? Any and all future Karunanithy children will have this book.
The V-Tech GoGo SmartWheels Toys
I love, love, love these little chuggers! The GoGo SmartWheels playsets are a series of inter-connectable train sets with little smart points in the tracks. The smart points elicit specific phrases from the little cars and animals.You can get one set or several, and because the provide structured and free play, you'd be golden.
Pros: Each car sings and talks about subjects ranging from colors, numbers, and letters to concepts like taking turns, cleaning up one's mess, and being polite. (We are especially fond of the train on the treasure mountain set, because he sings about working hard--if that isn't us, I don't know what is!) You can turn the motor off for free play, and the volume is adjustable. The set provides endless combinations--we keep ours assembled in a short-track configuration, just big enough for him to watch the train go round and round, but not so big that he loses interest. The toy itself is quite durable, with a shape sorter, turnstiles to change the train's course, and a crane.
Cons: The assembly is a real blickey, y'all. The instructions are a bit unclear, and there's a lot of possible track configurations. Also, V-Tech really sucks for not at least putting the stickers on the parts. It took us nearly an hour and a half just to get all those little stickers placed, with little help besides basic deductive reasoning, and an additional hour to fully assemble the train set. Thankfully our little bear had fallen back asleep, and we had it ready for him to play with when he got up again.
Caveat: The tracks don't snap together tightly, so an overzealous little conductor will likely pop them apart easily. Again, I wouldn't recommend this for a toddler under 15 months.
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Would we purchase again? Indeed we did. We are expanding the little city and so far have the treasure mountain, the fire station (pictured), and will be adding one or two more. I wouldn't recommend this toy for a child under 15 months, though, and I speak from experience. We got our initial set when our little bear was 9 months old, and at first all he would ever do was bat at the tracks and chew on the train.
Update: We got the amusement park set! Actually, it's called the GoGo SmartWheels Race and Play Adventure Park. I'm mentally prepared to fuss about the stickers and such, but this one has a Ferris wheel, y'all. I got ours at Target and it's only 25.49 as of December 6, 2017. In fact, they have a good assortment of these playsets and expansions at really good prices right now! *tucks credit and debit cards away*
Along with the learning toys and books, we like to include a few things that our little bear just wants.
His interests right now are Mickey and Cars 3. With that in mind, a lot of his "fun" items are just little things bearing either Mickey or toy cars. He doesn't just love the movie--he loves cars period.
Our Christmas this year will be a little less than traditional, as we aren't sure where we will be spending it OR if we'll even be celebrating on the 25th! Such is the K life, I suppose.
Our little guy (and our big girl--I'll dish on my favorite gifts for her next!) is sure to enjoy his presents, so I am letting things bend as they blow.
Namastè!
-- Tayé K. ❤
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