A few things my wife and I recently discussed as really being
the best gifts/things we ever received/purchased for our Catherine (outside of her car seat and
miniature kitchen which both count as necessities in my book).
- The Learning Tower-http://www.sensationalbeginnings.com/Item--i-F-3-699X I thought this thing was just
a super safe step-stool at first but it has quickly become a real learning tool
and way for me to include my daughter in everything that goes down in the
kitchen. The tower enables
me to happily oblige her when she says “I want to help!” I include her in everything
from meal preparation (she mostly just mixes ingredients I’m not really using
and pours liquids from one container to another) to “washing” plastic
containers and metal bowls we refer to as “dishes”.
- Swing Chair- http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=2384&e=product&pid=45667 Would never have been able
to take a shower without one.
- Dog (Newfoundland)- http://www.ncanewfs.org/ Our Dog Lulu is Catherine's absolute best
friend in the world (next to our neighbor’s daughter Sophie)…also read somewhere
that pet dander helps children develop a healthy immunity and resistance to
allergies...not to mention the fact that our dog is much more efficient under
the kitchen table than a Roomba.
- Badger Basket Stackable Toy Bins- http://www.target.com/p/badger-basket-three-bin-storage-cubby-white/-/A-13849987#prodSlot=large_3_25 A place for everything….and
now she is responsible to sort all her toys and put them back in their
appropriate place. Really a gift for everyone.
- iPad- http://www.apple.com/ipad/ From Face Time with grandparents to
math and language games…this also keeps her entertained in the car, on the
potty, at a restaurant…and we, surprisingly, have not had any difficulty limiting her exposure to TV/iPad time to under 2 hrs./day.
- Bouncy Balls- http://www.alibaba.com/productgs/528105899/Plastic_Balls_for_Playgrounds.html You know those 8.5” bounce balls you see stored in wire cages at the supermarket and Toys R Us? Well, I
could remember being a kid and always thinking it would be cool to have a whole
room full of them (perhaps a result of watching Richard Pryor in “The Toy” more
times than I could count). I was grocery shopping one day and randomly decided
to buy a whole shopping cart full of them. When I realized that the balls were
on sale for 79 cents and that the whole cart only cost about $8, I decided to
fill another cart and bring home 20 of those balls…which looks like a lot more
when they’re all over the foyer. We had so much fun bouncing, kicking and
tossing those balls all over the place the night I brought them home! We ended
up putting them in Catherine’s playroom along with about 60 helium balloons for
her birthday party… which was immediately dubbed “Balloons Room”.
- Seaside Sidekicks’ Sand Cupcakes Set- http://www.melissaanddoug.com/seaside-sidekicks-sand-cupcake-set Colored
Plastic Cupcake Sand Molds that we first saw these at the Westin in Grand Cayman.
Catherine showed interest in playing
with another child (for the first time) who was playing with these plastic
cupcakes at the pool one day so we picked up our own set at the gift shop the
following day. They not only serve as our go-to beach or pool toy, but also as the
perfect icebreaker at playgrounds with sandboxes.
- Simply Hero Boys Superhero Cape and Mask Set- http://www.sears.com/search=simply+hero+boys+superhero+cape+mask+red+super+hero+cape+costume+toddlercatalogId=12605&autoRedirect=false&storeId=10153&yikes_prod=true The best five bucks
we’ve ever spent! Picked it up as an impulse buy at Wal-Mart and turned into Catherine’s
costume our (almost) daily game Catherine invented called: “Super Bunny Saves
The Day!” …and a more productive game that Daddy invented called: “Rescue the
mail from the mailbox!”.
