Christmas gifts

LOL... I'm afraid not Noddy!

So, with all the great ideas I got from everybody here, I feel like an update is in order.

As per Soz, I bought the ducklet a much coveted princess dressup set. I was too late for the halloween specials, but I found a really nice set at Sam's club for 20 bucks that she absolutely adored. She put it on and danced around saying "I'm a princess!". I started calling her "your highness" so she started calling me "my highness". That was for her birthday (right after Christmas). For Christmas I got her a pair of roller skates, which she also loved.

Duckie got a skateboard and a really nice set of Magnetix (magnetic balls and sticks that you can put together and build stuff with). We got them both new outfits and art sets too.

My new dilemma is what to get duckie for his 5th birthday. I even asked him what he wanted and the only thing he could come up with was a new piece for his wooden train set. So I went to the local Toys-r-us to browse around and see if anything jumped out at me. I found a small guitar, a real one, but one obviously made for little ones. So now I'm thinking really hard about that. I know he'd love it because he loves music and is constantly making guitars from rubber bands and tissue boxes. But I don't know how to play so I wouldn't be able to show him anything. I can get a lesson book online for about $15 and am seriously considering it.

Any thoughts?

It could be the beginning of a lifelong amusement. Or... well you know.

One of sozlet's successful presents from grandparents was a kid-sized accordion. She really likes it, makes stuff up on it while making "isn't this the most beautiful music in the WORLD??" expressions. She also makes me "play" it while she dances. (Quotes 'cause who knows what the heck I'm doing, I just try to put some rhythm in it.)

Sozlet has pretty much reached saturation point for dress-up, it says something when she can outfit a whole birthday party . I think we're done until she grows out of some stuff or demolishes it. The latter is a distinct possibility given how much she plays with it.

I got her -- three 97-cent shirts from Old Navy, and some blank cards. Yep. Thassit. The cards are all she asked for -- I have some that she always wants to play with, and I tell her no 'cause I need them, and everytime I asked her what she wanted for Christmas, she said, "My OWN cards." So I did. At $12 for 20 not so cheap as all that but not that expensive, either, and she was absolutely thrilled. The shirts were a big hit, too.

The rest was giving suggestions to thankfully receptive grandparents, so that was doubly nice -- things I would've gotten her but without having to pay for. More Groovy Girl stuff, mostly, now her favorite doll has some friends. And a cat. And three kittens. And a tent. And a dog. (Being grandparents, they couldn't resist going overboard even when given directions.) The rest was mostly art stuff and books. Good grandparents (pat, pat.) Got scads of pink plastic stuff from acquaintances and more distant family members, but oh well.

Her birthday is about a month before Christmas btw, I noticed a few of us commenting on the double-whammy of having not only Christmas stuff but birthday stuff in short order.

I've seen those Magnetix, very cool.

Cool. Really good gifts, soz. I find myself trying really hard to get them good gifts, that I know they will like, and that fit their personality. And they usually are not the expensive ones. The blank cards you got sozlet are a perfect example. My hope is that, by not getting them used to the idea of receiving mounds of noisy, plastic, battery operated things, they will learn that 1) not be disappointed and 2) learn the value of things. But maybe that's just pie in the sky.

So I've about decided to get him that guitar. I'll just have to learn to play along with him.

FreeDuck--

I understand there are kiddy electronic keyboards at reasonable prices with fair tonal quality.

Thanks, Noddy. There's an idea. It doesn't have to be a guitar.

Guitars come with strings....adjustable strings....

With a keyboard, everything is tucked inside, tidy-like.

Good point.

After all, some musical kids are also highly creative with a yen for independent research--disection is alluring.

If you get a keyboard, get a real keyboard. Doesn't have to be expensive (saw one at WalMart for $20 or so).

The limitations on children's keyboards (one or two simultaneous notes, no ability to play chords) drives me nuts.

Geez Louise. It's that time again.

I've already done my Christmas gift shopping this year. I've bought them both the same thing -- a Leapster with one game each. That's it, I'm done.

What are you getting your kids for Christmas?

I want to get Mo a trampoline but Mr. B is nixing that idea.

I always like to get some kind of physical activity thing so I'm not sure what to do.

I'm thinking maybe a Gamecube so he can play his Nintendo games on TV.

I've picked up a couple of little doohicky toys.

That's about it.

I've finished all of my other shopping -- just waiting for UPS to deliver a couple of things then it will all get wrapped and mailed.

Goog point about the physical activity things. The problem for us is that we are in an apartment now and it's hard for them to ride their bikes. But duckie will be getting a new bike for his birthday anyway since he is too big for the one he has and he already has a skateboard. Not sure what to do about ducklet's birthday. She has a bike and roller skates. No room for anything large. Maybe a pogo stick if she's old enough.

For us the holiday season corresponds with all of our birthdays and one other cultural holiday (with gift-giving) so this is "gift season" for us.

Yeah, same here - there are many December birthdays among my clan with a new one due on the 26th.

Mo already has a skateboard, bike, scooter, blah blah blah but no roller skates! That might be a good idea as Mr. B just thinks trampolines are too dangerous.

They make cool ones with saftey nets now though.

I'm going to continue to investigate.

I don't know what I would do without my yard. I'd be lost.

Mo's little friend brought over this pop up crawl through tube thing the other day that he has been really liking. LF's mom says that there is a whole system of these pop up things. Kind of like a habitrail for kids. They don't take up much room when flattened. I might investigate some of those things too.

Yeah, we have one of those I got at a yard sale. They make little tent type things and you can connect them up to make little play mazes of a sort.

I've seen inline skates with little training wheels on them for kids Mo's and duckie's ages. I might be convinced to get duckie some since he looks funny wearing his sister's barbie skates. Hmmm. Maybe the bike can wait.

I've decided against a trampoline....

They are not recommended for kids under six at all.

Those inline skates are sounding better all the time.

There's always the mini-trampoline soz talked about last year. It's either in this thread or another toy thread. I'll see if I can find it.

Our little trampoline with the grip bar has served us well.

In a year plus sozlet hasn't been injured once, and uses the damn thing all the time. And by "uses" I mean jumps so her feet are well above the grip bar. These aren't demure little hops.

Same here with birthdays! All three of us have birthdays that span the Turkey Day - Christmas stretch (mine's just after Christmas), plus a few more birthdays in the mix.

Meanwhile, we got sozlet a portable CD player as an early Christmas present. Plan was to have it available to use it in car for Chicago trip. (She doesn't listen to enough music, the computer doesn't really work well for that and when it does you have to be basically right there, and we don't currently have a stereo system.) It was cheap (on sale) and well-reviewed on Amazon, so I grabbed it. She absolutely LOVED it, I mean LOVED it, and then within a few hours she'd dropped it on a wood floor. :-? It's been cranky since, not sure if it will recover or just get worse. Sigh.

Other than that she's getting clothes for her two favorite baby dolls (store-bought, I'll probably add some that I sew, if I have time that is) and stocking-stuffer type things. If the CD player is just done for and I can't get a replacement, I'll get her something else.

Oh, missed the previous two posts.

Yeah, mine is recommended for 3-7, or something like that.

Let me find it or its equivalent....