A prize winner – I can’t go into all of the different ones this Wheely Bug Walker has won. I like this walker because of a several things. First it’s a friendly, unisex character, sure to please just about any child. It’s also sturdy and not easy to tip over. And, the soft padding makes it easy on little bottoms.

There’s always the question of whether to go totally retro and get a wooden walker, but experience has shown that those walkers tend to tear up hardwood floors so are not good for inside use. On the other hand, all plastic ones tend to be less decorative and not as nice to have around the living room.

You may see a theme here in my posts – I like things to look nice to both children and adults.

So this little bug fits in the middle. The padded plastic seat is soft and easy to clean. So, it’s great for spills and accidents. The sturdy construction and wide base make it unlikely to tip over. All the benefits of plastic with a real world construction made just for little bodies.

If you and your child like  bugs and a walker you can hand down to your grandchildren, this Wheely Bug may just be the way to go.

If you like retro toys and look for toys with real play value, then a Melissa and Doug stick pony is exactly what you need. I’m always watching how parents choose toys. If you frequent the toys stores, as most parents do, you’ll notice that many parents are completely absorbed looking at and reading the complicated instructions that come with so many toys these days.

When confronted with something as simple as a stick horse, they pick it up, shrug and move on. In reality, anything that comes with few instructions is the best toy for imaginative play. Without a back story so common in anything based on a TV show or movie and without electronic parts, simple toys let children figure out what to do with them.

Stick horse are great because they can play a part in so many different stories. Young knight one day, cowboy the next, a favored steed plays the part. Stick horses can be stabled or ridden or fed or turned into elephants or even motorcycle for a truly imaginative child.

This is a toy that will take a child through the toddler and preschool years and even be ridden fondly on occasion as the child enters school age years..

An everything gift goes a long way! This Luvable Friends 24 Piece Layette Starter Set  is a great gift for a new mom. For a first child or the first of the opposite sex, new parents tend to need lots and lots- of just about anything that can be worn. The need is great, between bodily fluids and the habit newborns have of losing everything put on their bodies - or is it we parents who lose them?

This layette set, which helpfully includes 24 matching pieces, includes bodysuits, caps, mittens, a gown, a blanket, cloth diapers, towels, bibs, burp cloths and washcloths. Yes, many of these things appear on a new parents list in cute styles and specific prints, but having a complete set that can thrown into a bag for those quick trips to Grandmas is a treat. The entire set is packed in a reusable vinyl bag, which I always find helpful for used cloth diapers and yucky burp cloths.

Though you might be tempted to buy from the registry, if you like me tend to wait until the last minute, as usual, all the good stuff is gone. Or if you have a number of friends having babies and want to buy the same thing – this set is a sure winner. I’ll probably stock up myself.

More portable fun- do you see a theme here? No, I don’t actually move every 6 months, nor do I live in such a small face that we take turns sitting down for dinner. I just like to change things up a lot and hate to throw things out. This is, of course, a bad combination – pack rat who likes new things. Only my thrifty nature saves us from having to move just to get away from our stuff!

We have this Little Tikes Basketball Set and I love it. We got ours from a friend who, as in common in urban Southern California, has no backyard. She could easily drag it out into their ally any time the kids wanted to play. I find it useful that way too! I put it out front of the house and around back. I’ve even brought it indoors on a rainy day.

Because it adjusts in height from 4-6 feet, it can easily be used by a toddler, as well as, an elementary school child. We have had the occasional teen give it a whirl too. And, of course, in our house it does double duty. We pull out the hoop and use the stand when we need a post for making hideouts with blankets and sheets!

Portable fun is my idea of…well fun. Mothers and dads of very young children find themselves both staying at home and …umm…getting out of the house!!. When visiting, it’s important if not critical to take along some toys. This can be challenging when the activity takes you outside in the bright sun.

In addition, most adults, of course don’t necessarily realize the critical need that toddlers have for shade. Sure, they love to play in the sun, but those harmful rays can burn a baby’s skin in no tie, so I find myself constantly reapplying sunscreen and replacing hats.

The Little Tikes Butterfly Beach Sandbox takes care of two or three of these issues. First of all, it provides a great place for kids to play. Just fill up one side with water and the other with sand…or don’t fill it up at all…or fill it up with water too! It doesn’t matter. It’s portability makes it the perfect toy to drop in the trunk on a hot summer’s day and take along. Water play is a favorite of kids of all ages so they’ll be entertained for a long time.

Finally, it comes compete with umbrella, which I find essential. Though of course they won’t stay under there all of the time, at least it helps.

The wooden castle is one of my favorite toys.  The opportunities for pretend play are endless as little boys (and girls) discover the age of knights. This well made model by Melissa and Doug is sturdy and incorporates all of the interesting nooks and crannies found in a real castle, without the must and spider webs.

Made from real wood and including a workable drawbridge, balconies and turrets, it beats many more expensive plastic models for sheer play value. Because it has an inside courtyard, as well as, plenty of places for small figures to ride horses and brandish swords, pretend play can take various routes and a storyline can develop as figures are moved about.

One of the things I like best about a wooden castle is that it can last for years. Without the obvious toddler-like decorations often found on electronic plastic models, the wooden castle doesn’t embarrass as a child enters grade school. If he has a well developed imagination, he’ll play with this castle for years, replacing dolls with action figures and extending the fantasy.

And because its made of wood, it actually looks rather nice when it ends up being left in the middle of the living room. O.K. not really.

This is just so cute I had to laugh when I saw it. If you read this blog, you know I’m a big fan of costumes. Just about any occasion is perfect for a costume is my motto. And birthday parties are an occasion for being silly and having fun. It fits right in!

So this “Fun-to-be-One” hat is a great way to celebrate a first birthday. Now, even though we don’t always admit it, first birthday parties are for the parents and other adults involved. Sure, you can invite a kid or too, but really, your child is never going to remember it, so focus the first birthday party around you having fun and not tiring your child out!

My perfect 1^st birthday party starts after nap time. The birthday child runs around a bit pops on the birthday hat, blows out the candle and gets a bath and goes to bed. Then the fun starts.

Adults enjoy a bit of socializing. After the guest go home you sort through the presents, quietly deciding which will be kept, which will be re-gifted and which are just too horrendous and must be returned to the store. All guests will, of course receive a Thank-You note as the effort put into selecting a gift is appreciated, if not the gift itself.

It’s butterfly time! We’ve had a Spring tradition in our house for 3 or 4 years – raising moths and butterflies. It started when my son’s preschool teacher handed out silkworms. Having raised them for 17 years, she had an abundant supply and was happy to send the children home with a few each year to raise themselves. Silkworms eat Mulberry leaves and the old and healthy trees on campus were handy for stocking up on food for our fat and squishy friends.

Once he left preschool though, things got a bit difficult. We still received the silkworms but without the thrice weekly trek to preschool finding mulberry leaves got a bit more difficult. In our neck of the woods they just aren’t that common.

So last year, we switched when he received an Insect Lore Butterfly Pavilion for his birthday. This easy to use set comes complete with a net house for growing butterflies and a mail away form for the larvae.

The larvae, once they arrive in the mail, are contained in a small plastic jar and eat themselves silly for a few weeks, then proceed to build their chrysalises on a paper sheet under the lid. Then  it’s a simple matter to transfer them to the net pavilion where we watch them hatch into butterflies.

It’s a great learning experience and a chance to watch nature up close!

I must admit, as much as I yearned to be totally crunchy and carry my child everywhere, pick him up when he cried and never put him down…we were swing people. The swing was wonderful. My husband grabbed it from the UPS man and put it together immediately…as opposed to the rest of the baby gear which was assembled the day I came home from the hospital.

We were bouncy seat people too and sling people and “pick him up when he cries” people. You might call it a cross between attachment parenting and traditional. It worked for us!

The Graco Swing we had was perfect for those times when my colic-y child just wouldn’t stop crying and I couldn’t keep my eyes open much longer. This Swing ‘n Bounce 2-in-1 Infant Swing by Graco covers both of those primal needs – the one where you need a soother to put an infant to sleep and the one where you just need somewhere to place him or her – a bouncer was always my first choice.

You already know I’m a sucker for anything that serves double duty, saves money and is reusable so anything two-in-one is really my cup of tea!

As much as one can, I try to go organic. With prices up and work down, that’s not always possible, but sometimes you see something so cute, it’s hard to pass up.

These Baberoo Organic Cotton Socks are delightfully sweet and perfect for a newborn’s sensitive skin. My experience with children has been one of sensitive skin. While others dressed their babies in hand-me-downs or frilly new clothes, mine developed rashes at the drop of a hat: rashes from diapers that were changed on the hour, rashes from sun hats that touched the ears; rashes from just about anything that wasn’t organic.

So socks made from organic cotton with grown without herbicides, pesticides and synthetic fertilizers make me smile.

Though I’m not a big fan of shoes for infants, they aren’t walking anywhere and the more the foot is free, the better it is for them…so I’ve been told, I am a fan of socks. Socks keep tiny feet warm, but don’t constrict and are great of for the quick walk outside when you’d rather not have bare feet.

These Baberoo socks come in a box of four pairs, which is also handy since infants have this bad habit of dispensing with just one sock while out and about. Though I’m a big believer in mix and match, it’s nice to stay in the same family at least!