Last week I posted on some of the birthday presents Bean got so that you can see what he’s playing with these days. At the video chat this week someone reminded me that I hadn’t done the second part of his gifts and so I thought I’d follow up with that today.
Bean’s Grandmomma Jackie gave him a set of the big, oversized Legos. I wasn’t sure he’d know what to do with them yet, but he definitely understands. He needs Chris and I to sit with him and help put them together, but he hands you the pieces that he wants you to build for him. He really likes when we build cars.
He also got a lot of books from his Aunt Annie. Annie is so great because she always gives the classic books as presents to Bean. For Christmas she gave him a set of books from when she and Chris were little. They even had their names written in the front in scribbly handwriting – so cute! For his birthday, she gave him new copies of all her old favorites, which is great because they were some of my favorites growing up, too!
My Dad gave Bean this Little Tykes Hauler Pop Truck. I hadn’t seen this one yet and I think it’s a perfect toy for Bean’s age. It has little balls in the back and when you roll the truck, those balls pop. It makes a lot of noise, but it’s become one of Bean’s daily favorites. He also likes it because it’s big enough for him to maneuver himself. And I like it because he has thrown it around for days and it doesn’t even have a scratch on it. That’s one tough little truck!
Grandmomma Jackie also gave Bean a few good books. Jackie always gives Bean books that do something – sing, talk, move, pop up. His favorite that she’s given him was a book about the different oceans in the world and each ocean scene pops up with these brightly colored fish and plays sounds from that ocean. It’s pretty cool. For his birthday she gave him a lighthouse book whose light at the top flashes and it plays music. It’s called Let Your Light Shine.
And she also gave him this book that she put pictures of her and Bean into. And then it recorded Jackie reading the story to Bean. So every night we play the book and it’s like Grandmomma is reading to Bean. It is so sweet! It’s called What a Day It Will Be. (I can’t find a link for this anywhere online!!)
But maybe Bean’s favorite present he got was one of the cheapest. Have you see those small, rubber Cars trucks in stores? They are $4.99 at Target. Well, Bean had two of them and he drives them all over our house. Grandmomma Jackie came through big time and bought him the WHOLE CARS SET!!! Bean loves them because they are small but still big enough for him to play with and he likes the bright colors. I really like them because they are small enough to fit into my diaper bag and to pull out when we’re in a restaurant or something. Big hit with this gift!
Can you see him making the motor noise in that last picture?
All in all, Bean really racked up on his birthday. He got a lot of new clothes, too, so now he’s stylin’ while he’s playin’!
What about you? What are your kids playing with today?
When I told my Mom that I wanted to take Bean to Disney’s Animal Kingdom for his birthday, she didn’t squeal with delight at Bean’s first visit to Disney. She didn’t get all excited about rides and parades and fireworks. She didn’t gush about the Magic of the Kingdom. Mom’s only words were, “Wait until you see the baby care centers.” And then her eyes glazed over and she started muttering about diaper changing tables and dimly lit nursing rooms.
I thought she was insane.
Until I walked into the Baby Changing Center at Animal Kingdom. And I realized that outside the gates of Disney World, everything was cold and dark in comparison.
For those of you who haven’t been to a Disney park or who have but, like me, had not yet experienced the awesomeness of a baby changing center, allow me to give you a tour.
The baby changing center is a building for families with small children to re-group during a day of fun. You walk into the lobby and it looks sort of like a doctor’s office. But off of that lobby is a TV room with (what else?) a Disney movie playing and a few small tables and chairs. This room, I am guessing, if for your older children while you take care of the wee ones. Or, I suppose it could also be a break room for the family if you just need a cool, air conditioned, clean place to sit for a while. I also imagine it would make a nice little time out location for a tot who is on the fritz during the day and needs to just sit still for a minute.
Also off of the lobby is the baby changing room. The crowning glory in the Disney Empire, if you ask me. It is a room filled with baby changing tables. And not those cheap plastic ones in public restrooms. Good, sturdy, big, clean changing tables with cushions.
Also in this room there are high chairs like you would find in any home kitchen. There are also microwaves and even a bottle warmer. There are plastic plates, bowls, and eating utensils, along with purified water. Basically, everything you would need to feed your baby.
Off of this nursery room there were several smaller nursing rooms with rocking chairs for mothers and babies who needed to nurse. Or, these rooms would be great for a little one who needed a quiet place to catch a quick snuggle with mom or dad.
I think my favorite part of the baby changing center was that they had everything a family of small children might need if they forgot something for the day. They had diapers, wipes, sunscreen, baby food, juice, bottles, binkies, and even infant and children medication for a tyke who might have had a little too much fun in the sun. And everything was reasonably priced for about what you’d pay at Target or Walmart. Some of it was even free!
We took a little time out for Bean Man in the morning here. It was a great break from all the heat and I made sure to give his little face a wipe down with a clean wash cloth that I brought packed in a Ziplock. I remember my Mom and Dad doing this when we were little and traveling. They’d pack a clean, dry washcloth in a baggie and then while we were out and when we got hot, they’d take it to the bathroom and run it under cold water. It was the greatest feeling when you were hot. Bean loved it, too!
He was so appreciative!
After he was squeaky clean and cool, we took a few extra minutes to enjoy the air conditioning.
And we also loaded up his stroller tray with snacks and filled his juice cup back up with cool apple juice.
We spent about 20 minutes in the baby care center and when we left we felt like we were fresh out of our house. It was the nicest, most convenient, thoughtful, innovative, genius thing I’ve seen as a mom so far.
I wonder if I could convince Target to put one of these in their stores? I’d never leave again.
Bean has some pretty wonderful and generous people in his life and so his first birthday party was like a mad dash through Toys R Us. I don’t know about you, but I am always looking for new toy ideas for Bean, especially since I started staying home with him. He had such a wide variety of engaging activities at daycare and I want to be sure he has that same experience at home, too. So, I thought I’d share what Bean is playing with right now.
My friends, Sarah and Scott, gave Bean the Fisher Price tugboat for his bathtub. He loves this! He is still taking baths in his blow up duck bath (though I really need to transition him out of that soon) and his boat doesn’t fit in there, so he plays with the boat separately with all his other toys and then plays with the little animals in his bath.
He also got this set of blocks from me and Chris. Right now, he likes chewing on them. And banging them together. But he also likes when I build something and he can dismantle it one piece at a time. For being so rough 99.99% of the time, he’s really gentle with his blocks so far. (I couldn’t find the link for this toy, but it was the Circo brand building blocks and it was about $10.00.)
My sister lives in Virginia and couldn’t be here for Bean’s birthday. So she sent Fisher Price instead. Like, the entire company. She went CRAZY with presents. Bean’s favorite was the Circo Workbench that she gave him. It lights up and makes lots of noise (thanks for that, by the way, Gin…). He loves the circular saw and he wacks just about everything EXCEPT the toy with the hammer (thanks for that, too…).
Chris and I also got him the Little People airport set. Though, Chris says that we should save it for a while because he got so many toys already. To that I say, pashaw! But really, he was right because Bean has been on such an overload these past couple days that he hasn’t even played with this one yet. Maybe we’ll bring it out again in a month or so when he starts getting bored.
Bean’s big gift from me and Chris was his water table. I chose the Step 2 Arctic Splash table because it was pretty simple. I had no idea that water tables were so complex! You can get them with a million little parts and themes. I, personally, loved the pirate ship one but it’s a little old for Bean right now. So, we got this pretty simple little table and Bean Man LOVED it! He played outside for over an hour with it and only stopped when he needed a break from standing! YAY! SUCCESSFUL GIFT!!
But my parents really outshined us all with this little doosey of a present…
That’s right. They bought Bean a Little Tykes school bus. A giant freaking school bus with many, many parts. Like this steering wheel…
Chris and his sister, Annie, put it together for Bean after everyone had left the party while I cleaned up. And the more they worked, the bigger the bus seemed to get…
Bean thought it was the most awesome-est gift ever!
He climbed right up into the driver’s seat and started making his engine sound. And he hasn’t stopped since Tuesday.
But his favorite part is the off the back of the school bus there is a slide.
He just stands there and points at it, saying, “Da! Da! Da!” until someone helps him slide down. And then he crawls back up on the platform and does it all again. And he hasn’t stopped since Tuesday.
The toy box says that this is supposed to be for ages one and a half through three years old, and I can see why. Bean loves this right now, but he’ll love it even more when he’s able to walk steadily and can maneuver it without us holding on to him the whole time. For now, it’s, like, the greatest jungle gym ever.
Right in my living room.
I’ll post more about Bean’s new birthday toys in the next week as he continues to collect things. He also got some really great clothes and new books, too, so I’ll share those things, too. But for now, I should go. It’s 6:45am and Bean is already standing by the school bus slide saying, “Da! Da! Da!” and that’s my cue.
I can’t believe Bean’s birthday is less than a week away.
Actually, that’s not true. There is birthday stuff all over my house right now, so I can totally believe it’s a week away.
Bean’s first birthday, as you might imagine, will be like Woodstock in our house. It will last for days and days and days and we’ll all be in such a sugar high that we may not even remember what all happened. So, I figured before I hit that wall, I would go ahead and share some of our birthday party paraphernalia with you.
Bean’s actual birthday is June 1, which is on Tuesday next week. Since it’s in the middle of the week and my parents will be traveling, we’ll have a small little birthday party for him at our house with just us and Chris’ sister, Annie. For this home party, we’re going to grill out and I’m ordering a few helium balloons for the house decorations. Bean likes to suck the helium. (Just kidding.)
I’m also ordering a jungle cake from Publix, our local grocery store. Publix has this great policy where if you order a full-sized birthday cake for a first birthday, they make you a free small individual cake for the baby. So, Bean will get to indulge a bit. I’m also going to get a jungle-themed table cloth cover for our outside table so that we can sit outside with our tiki torches lit. This is also the night we will open Bean’s birthday presents. For our BBQ and cake, we have these adorable jungle themed party plates and napkins.
Now, if it had been up to me, that would have been it. I mean, we’re heading to Disney’s Animal Kingdom on the following Saturday and that seems like it should be enough of a celebration, right?
Wrong, according to Bean’s Nana.
Last week, random boxes of safari things started showing up at my house. Like these jungle print leis…
And these bucket safari hats, which are, unfortunately, in adult sizes so I think Mom means for us to actually wear them…
Since it’s just going to be a small little party at our house, I’m assuming that these are for the day at the Animal Kingdom. Now, as much as Chris loves Bean and as good of a Dad as he is, I know for a fact that I will not be able to get him to wear these things all day long. So, I think I’m going to drop them at the Rainforest Cafe, where we are having lunch, when I drop off our cake early in the morning when we get to the park. Then, when we come back for lunch, we can all put on our safari get ups for lunch and cake. Chris is already protesting, but he’s just going to have to dress like an idiot for an hour. I don’t know what else to tell him.
In one of the boxes that arrived, there was a bag of these rubber finger puppets…
I got a bag of 50.
That’s right.
50.
And they’re really cute and all, but what the hell am I supposed to do with 50 rubber safari animal hand puppets?
Bean has a few ideas.
He LOVES these little guys. I think its cause they are small and chewy.
And we all know that SMALL and CHEWY are very much age appropriate toys for one year old boys. (Can you hear my sarcasm through the computer?)
I’m scared to death Bean’s going to choke on them, so he’s only allowed to play with them when I’m sitting there with him. But he doesn’t mind if I’m there or not. He loves his little safari animals.
His favorite is the elephant. He likes to flick his ears.
And I can’t blame him. Those ears are very flickable.
So, here I sit in my House o’ Birthday, surrounded by plates, animal print leis, napkins, jungle safari hats, and 50 small animal shaped choking hazards.
I’m so damn excited!
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