Gift ideas if you need them
Just in case you have some shower or baby gifts to get, I thought I would share a little about some of Myles enduringly favorite toys.
Discover and Play Activity Gym
Myles got this from Randy's friend and co-worker Tom Parker (not to be confused with Colonel Tom Parker). Ever since we got it, he played in it every day, until the day we left to come up to Pennsylvania for our 3 week visit a year ago. It was our afternoon ritual. He would finish lunch and lay or sit in this thing and I would make my iced mocha and we would play until he was ready for afternoon nap time. This is a fantastic shower/new baby gift. There are many brands of these things out there, but this was the one we really wanted and were so fortunate to get from Tom.
Sing and Spin Bugs
Last spring when we first came up to Pennsylvania for the 3 week visit Crispian and Kate got Myles a welcome to Pittsburgh present. Crispian picked it out himself. He knew instictually what Myles would like. Now I must warn you that this toy can be irritatingly cute, so if you don't like a toy that plays the same song over and over again that you may hear for hours at a sitting (in this case Ring Around the Rosie), don't get it. I was not annoyed by it, so take that for what it is worth. Myles was able to play with this from the time he got it last June and he keeps playing with it. You can give it as a first birthday present, but because they can play with it with you before that, you might want to make it a shower or new baby.
Block Wagon
Holgate Toys makes this fantastic wagon of wooden blocks. There are many imitators out there, but only one Kane-manufactured Holgate. Myles got these for his first birthday from my aunts Sue and Sis. He is a little younger than recommended for the toy, but he loves them so. Right now we keep them at my aunts' house, until we have a home to go to again, and everytime we are there, immdiately he pulls them out of their storage location under the old ottoman. These are something he will play with for a great long time, so it is worth the extra $$ to buy something durable and U.S. made. My only complaint is that the wagon is a little flimsier than the set I inherited from my cousins. That wagon I could pull Kate around in when she was 2 and I was 3. The blocks alone in Myles' set causes the bottom to warp a little. And if you specifically want the Holgate, you have to order it from them directly.
Ball Party Tower
I just bought this for Myles the other day. We have been visiting the Children's Museum in Pittsburgh a few times over the past few months. Who was the genius who invented those places? Now there is someone worthy of some sort of Presidential Medal. Anyway. there's this thing in the Nursery Section that is comprised of a column of zig-zagging wooden planks. You drop a ball onto one plank and it rolls to the end, hits some sort of a bell as it drops to the next one down and so on until the end. Myles has logged more than an hour of time on this thing in 2 visits. Anyway I found a toy at SW Randall Toyes something similar to this installed thing at the Children's Museum. Since assembling this Ball Party after dinner last night, Myles has easily sepnt 4 hours playing with it. All you do is drop the ball into the top and watch it go down. He was so excited over this toy last night I couldn't get him to stay in bed. He insisted he needed to get up to watch Elmo (I let him watch TV when I am too tired to fight him and it is midnight), crying "Downstairs, Elmo...." with big tears and a boogied up nose. Once we got downstairs, though, it was all about the Ball Party. He tricked me! Anyway, this would be a very good 1st birthday toy.
I don't recommend for everyone, but darn it all if Myles cannot get enough of these Monster Trucks. Completely age-inappropriate, maybe a little Redneck (he can already say "Get 'er done," by the way), and just outside of anything that resembles my normal comfort zone (which is pretty inclusive already).
Discover and Play Activity Gym
Myles got this from Randy's friend and co-worker Tom Parker (not to be confused with Colonel Tom Parker). Ever since we got it, he played in it every day, until the day we left to come up to Pennsylvania for our 3 week visit a year ago. It was our afternoon ritual. He would finish lunch and lay or sit in this thing and I would make my iced mocha and we would play until he was ready for afternoon nap time. This is a fantastic shower/new baby gift. There are many brands of these things out there, but this was the one we really wanted and were so fortunate to get from Tom.
Sing and Spin Bugs
Last spring when we first came up to Pennsylvania for the 3 week visit Crispian and Kate got Myles a welcome to Pittsburgh present. Crispian picked it out himself. He knew instictually what Myles would like. Now I must warn you that this toy can be irritatingly cute, so if you don't like a toy that plays the same song over and over again that you may hear for hours at a sitting (in this case Ring Around the Rosie), don't get it. I was not annoyed by it, so take that for what it is worth. Myles was able to play with this from the time he got it last June and he keeps playing with it. You can give it as a first birthday present, but because they can play with it with you before that, you might want to make it a shower or new baby.Block Wagon
Holgate Toys makes this fantastic wagon of wooden blocks. There are many imitators out there, but only one Kane-manufactured Holgate. Myles got these for his first birthday from my aunts Sue and Sis. He is a little younger than recommended for the toy, but he loves them so. Right now we keep them at my aunts' house, until we have a home to go to again, and everytime we are there, immdiately he pulls them out of their storage location under the old ottoman. These are something he will play with for a great long time, so it is worth the extra $$ to buy something durable and U.S. made. My only complaint is that the wagon is a little flimsier than the set I inherited from my cousins. That wagon I could pull Kate around in when she was 2 and I was 3. The blocks alone in Myles' set causes the bottom to warp a little. And if you specifically want the Holgate, you have to order it from them directly.
Ball Party Tower
I just bought this for Myles the other day. We have been visiting the Children's Museum in Pittsburgh a few times over the past few months. Who was the genius who invented those places? Now there is someone worthy of some sort of Presidential Medal. Anyway. there's this thing in the Nursery Section that is comprised of a column of zig-zagging wooden planks. You drop a ball onto one plank and it rolls to the end, hits some sort of a bell as it drops to the next one down and so on until the end. Myles has logged more than an hour of time on this thing in 2 visits. Anyway I found a toy at SW Randall Toyes something similar to this installed thing at the Children's Museum. Since assembling this Ball Party after dinner last night, Myles has easily sepnt 4 hours playing with it. All you do is drop the ball into the top and watch it go down. He was so excited over this toy last night I couldn't get him to stay in bed. He insisted he needed to get up to watch Elmo (I let him watch TV when I am too tired to fight him and it is midnight), crying "Downstairs, Elmo...." with big tears and a boogied up nose. Once we got downstairs, though, it was all about the Ball Party. He tricked me! Anyway, this would be a very good 1st birthday toy.
I don't recommend for everyone, but darn it all if Myles cannot get enough of these Monster Trucks. Completely age-inappropriate, maybe a little Redneck (he can already say "Get 'er done," by the way), and just outside of anything that resembles my normal comfort zone (which is pretty inclusive already).
Comments
(ducks)