Dear Santa… (Part 2)
I shared a few weeks ago about toys the kids have had throughout the past few years that are still huge hits around our house. I thought today I’d give you a sneak peak as to what Santa will be bringing them THIS year. Just don’t tell the kiddos that Santa has a big mouth…
Bean’s big gift this year is going to be a bike. He saw this cool one at Toys R Us, and has been talking about it ever since. We’re getting him the bike and a matching helmet and pads.
Bean has also been asking for Rescue Heroes. He first started playing with these at our church’s nursery, and when he moved up into his new classroom at the beginning of the year at school, he was thrilled to find that there were Rescue Heroes there, too! He likes the fireman and the army guy.
But then I found this awesome firetruck AND fireman Rescue Hero play set. It cost a lot more than just the single fireman, but I think Santa might spring for it since Bean’s been asking for Rescue Heroes since his birthday.
One of Bean’s smaller gifts is going to be this Jake and the Neverland Pirates action figures set. You might think it’s a dinky gift, but to Bean this will be GOLD. There’s nothing he likes more than carrying around all his “guys.” He loves figurines! He has all the Disney movie collections, but doesn’t have any Jake ones yet. He’s going to love this one.
Gracie’s big gift this year is a toddler bed… (gulp). I wasn’t sure about this present for her yet, but she has been doing really great on his nap mat in her classroom during the day. We figured if she has a couple months practicing that during naps at school, then she might be ready for Christmas for a big girl bed. Plus, we are moving her into her new bedroom about that time and we think that’s a great time to transition her, too. Now I just have to find bedding…
Gracie is also getting a little kitchen for her new room. I haven’t quite decided which one we are going to get her, so suggestions are welcome! I’m looking at this Elmo one, though, because she LOVES Elmo and Cookie Monster. I’m debating between this one and a light pink girly one that would match her room better, but I think we’ll probably end up with Elmo just because she likes him so much!
Gracie will also be getting the pink girl version of Bean’s turtle nightlight. This has been such a great nighttime aid for him. We love it because it is super kid-friendly. He has beat it up and tried to take it apart so many times, but it stays in really great shape. Plus, Bean likes it because it lights up his room with stars. Gracie is starting to cry now when she goes to bed at night, and we think this toy might be just the trick. It’s how we got Bean through this rough sleeping patch around 18 months – 2 years.
We are still flushing out our Christmas ideas and talking things over with Santa (…and his accountant). But for now, this looks like how things will shape up around our house on Christmas morning. What about you guys? Have any great gift suggestions for the 18 months – 3 year range that we shouldn’t miss?
13 Comments
Chanon
Does Santa wrap their gifts or just leave them under the tree?
And it might be above the price range that your looking at for a kitchen, but I LOVE this one from Fisher Price – http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=900004&e=storeProduct&pid=66847 but it doubles as a table so it might be worth the extra cost. 🙂
Nate's Mom at Nate is Great
Nate is obsessed with the Imaginext Castle. There’s a whole series iPod Imaginext toys – from the castle line to Batman to Toy Story. Its basically a line of pretend play toys geared toward boys. They have accessories that interact with the electronic components of the main toy. For instance, we bought the boulder chucking accessory and, when it launches, the castle hollers out, “Guard the castle!” There are different phases for each character and each accessory and so very many nooks and crannies to hide treasure and create adventures. We got it for Nate in August and it was just rated as one of the top toys for Christmas. We want to get more of their stuff!
Kristin
Monster has the Fisher Price Grow with Me kitchen in pink — she LOVES it. It has several doors that she can open and put things in. It’s really sturdy, too, and comes with a bonus high chair for her babies. Check it out!
Jessica
I have this kitchen for my boys in red. LOVE it. We also bought the pots and utensils sets from Ikea for cheap.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B008E9JZ3W
Cindy
I agree with Nate’s mom post above about the Imaginext Castle, Dragon, car set, airplanes, etc. We went to a “Fisher Price House Party” and my daughter got to play with all of these toys and they looked very fun– I would especially consider getting them for a little man like Bean.
I would recommend to Gracie the Laugh and Learn purse by Fisher Price- my daughter got it for her 1st birthday and still plays with it. Also the Fisher Price tea set is very fun and the Leap Frog My Pal Scout. The Leap Frog Tag system is very good for Bean’s age also.
Nicole (piper_E)
Personally I would go with the pink kitchen. She can grow with it. Kendall wanted either the pink one or the Dora one (really she wanted the Dora one the most) but who knew if a year from now she would even like Dora! I think play kitchens should last awhile and Kendall tends to like different characters every other day. You could get her the pink one and then get her some Elmo stickers or something that can be changed out from time to time!
Alaina
I love the kitchen set! Too cute!
Sarah@Crazy Love Gamble-Style
We have this picnic basket & both kids LOVE to play with it, they even will do it together, pretty cute!!
http://www.target.com/p/leapfrog-shapes-sharing-picnic-basket/-/A-13058783?ref=tgt_adv_XSG10001&AFID=Google_PLA_df&LNM=|13058783&CPNG=Toys&kpid=13058783&ci_gpa=pla&ci_sku=13058783
Abby @ I Used To Have A Brain
Great stuff! This http://www.walmart.com/ip/Step2-Lifestyle-Custom-Kitchen/5903083 is the kitchen set we bought our daughter for her 2nd birthday and it is super fun and has been played with for years! It is life-like-looking which makes it more fun, and the burner makes a water boiling noise or bacon frying noise depending on what pan/pot you put on it, other than that it is annoying-noise free! It’s not cheap, but kids love anything that looks more like the stuff their parents use right?
Sarah@Crazy Love Gamble-Style
Just came across this on Pinterest, thought you might like it:
http://www.giventolove.com/2011/11/four-gift-rule.html
Casey @ The Baker Bee
Ditto on the Imaginext stuff. Eli has all of the dinosaurs and loves them… he, like Bean, loves his “guys” and these are among his favorite (after Woody & Buzz, of course). I think we might get him the castle set for Christmas.
Andrea
Check out the kids kitchen from Ikea. I suggest this because though she likes elmo now the Ikea kitchen is able to grow with her and it will go in any style room as she gets older. Both of my kids )age 3 and 5) have a v-tech Mobigo and love them. Bonus, they have a Jake and the neverland pirates game!
Chris Jarrett
Hey Katie, cool bike! I’m sure Bean will love it. I wanted to pass along a bike style my buddy (who is an avid cyclist) gave his son at 2 ish years old. It’s called a balance bike and you can get them for similar prices as the one you have posted. Basically it removes the pedals and the training wheels and the kid learns how to balance by propelling himself with his feet. It is remarkable how fast the kid learned how to ride an actual bike. The kid is probably just about 3 years old and rides a standard bike without the training wheels. Just thought you might be interested since it seems Bean is getting to that age where he could really enjoy a bike! Here’s an example. http://tinyurl.com/97ssj9h