Christmas Hits and Misses

Not surprisingly, Jane was spoiled rotten by the Jolly One this year... and also by her friends and family.

Here are the toys that, so far, have been the biggest successes:

(1) Fisher Price Laugh, Learn & Sing Teddy: She LOVES this bear. He sings all sorts of songs about numbers, letters, shapes and colours. His little belly lights up and she thinks it's hilarious.

(2) Fisher Price Stack n Action Choo Choo: She doesn't do much stacking yet but every time you move the train it lights up and plays music or makes a chugga-chugga train sound. She also loves "eating" the little blocks.


(3) Little Tikes DiscoverSounds Boom Box: My sister gave her this one and she loves it. Once, again, it plays music and lights up. The best part, for me, is that it plays songs I know - "ABC" by the Jacksons, etc. So I can sing along which makes it more fun for the both of us!

(4) Dunk'n Cheer Basketball: This isn't the exact one we got - ours is Playskool, but basically the same thing. It lights up, counts and plays sports music when the ball goes through the hoop. Jane basically just grabs the net and throws it on the floor to make the noise (Shaq-style). Daddy is the one who's always playing with it properly... seeing how far back he can still make the shot. I've been hit in the head a few times with the ball from his "misses".

(5) Parents Kitty Keyboard: This toys is technically for ages 2+ but my bro and sis-in-law had it for my niece and thought Jane would like it... SURPRISE, it plays music and she loves it. I love it too because it has a microphone and it records so I can practice my Celine Dion impersonation and play it back to Dan again and again.

Those 5 are the biggest hits. However, she absolutely loves her Fisher-Price Rock-A-Stack (once again not so much stacking as eating the pieces) and the Fisher-Price Brilliant Basics Baby's First Blocks - I basically play with the blocks while she bangs around with the container and, consistently, knocks over my block tower! :p

Oh yeah! Sophie the Giraffe Teether. This wasn't a Christmas gift but I got it in December - finally giving into all the hype about Sophie. At first, I was like, I can't believe I spent $25 on this stupid thing and Jane wasn't even really into it. Now, we don't go anywhere without Sophie. Jane loves chewing on her and I don't blame her, that Sophie is made out of some fun stuff! Plus, she fits perfectly into a medium sized purse! :p FYI, be forewarned, that because of her texture and squeaky nature, dogs loves "Soph" and we've rescued her, unscathed, from several pooches mouths so far - for $25 she better be pooch-proof! :)

Here are a few misses:

(1) Fisher-Price Amazing Animals Rollin' Around Jungle Playground: Maybe this will be a hit eventually but Jane's too young to understand that putting the animals down the "slide" makes the noise and it doesn't do much else than that. Also, when you put the hippo down the slide it gets stuck unless you put him down backwards which just pisses me off - did they not test the toy before putting it on the shelves? Grrrr.

(2) Bruin Busy Wheeler Highchair Toy: We got this at Babies-R-Us and Jane loves it. Problem is, I bought it for what it was designed for - to suction onto her high chair so she could play with it during mealtime. But the suction SUCKS! She easily rips it off the highchair even after cleaning and wetting it, etc. It'll stick for a minute and then comes right off so it always just ends up getting thrown in the floor. Save your money and try a different brand.

So, that's it. If you aren't at this age yet or waited until after Christmas to do a little shopping, I hope this helps you find some toys that give you what you really want - a little free time (oh yeah, and make baby happy too :p)! The key seems to be lights and sounds.

I hate to say this but I gotta... because of a few other "projects" I'm working on, relating to going back to work eventually, I may not get to write the blog everyday. I will, at least, try to write 3-4 times a week and maybe even get around to everyday but not the weekends (which are usually filled with nonsense anyways). With that said, I'm going to keep writing because I love it and its fun and talking to "you guys" (out there in internet-land) is like my daily dose of adult conversation which is much needed! I've got a few giveaways coming up too so stick with me!