42 days til Christmas...

kaleb87 · November 2014

Has anyone started shopping or planning what you will get LO for Christmas? I think this year will be a really good Christmas. My dd is starting to understand it, and is getting really excited.
Anytime she sees a toy on tv we have entered the I want that phase. I asked her the other day what she wanted and here it is. (Some more practical than others.)
-A bracelet that takes pictures (it's a VTech kidizoom watch. Might be a little advanced yet)
-A happys (stuffed pet animal that runs)
-A dress to sleep in (night gown)
-A new combine with a tv (that's a heck NO!)
-A new tractor (nope again)
-A polka dot bedroom (she's obsessed with polka dots right now)

That's her list that she tells everyone. I was thinking maybe a Fisher Price doll house? I haven't really looked at them other than in the catalog they sent. What are your LOs wanting?

nunzchucks · November 2014

We are going shopping this weekend! Likely we will be getting her the Elsa toddler doll and some Barbie clothes. She has all of my old Barbies, but the clothes are in bad shape. We already have a little Sofia dress up wooden doll and a Richard Scarry board game.

H did ask her what she wanted. "A green balloon" was her request. Ha!

krispy83 · November 2014

@nunzchucks - that's hilarious! You guys should totally also wrap up a green balloon just to see the reaction!

I've done a fair bit of shopping for DS already. So far he's getting:

-an easel that has a chalkboard on one side and a whiteboard on the other plus a paper roll (Ikea FTW - wooden easel for like $15!!!)

-a few additions to his train set (trains, track pieces, etc)

-a whole bunch of Little People sets (found them in near-new condition at a resale event!)

-a Ninja Turtles hoodie

-a Radio Flyer scooter

-several books

countrygrl5533 · November 2014

DD is in the "I want it" stage too. We usually have started Christmas shopping by now but I can no longer shop with her in tow. Bummer.

I'm also saving up my Amazon gift cards from Swagbucks, etc. to be able to afford her Christmas gifts.

She's getting:
-a foldable slide for in-house play this winter
-Daniel Tiger toys
-a wooden John Deere tractor with trailer set ($3 at a consignment store)
-books
-puzzles

That's probably it unless we find something really cool or manage to get a babysitter for an afternoon (ha!). I'd love to get her a bunch more stuff as she has outgrown most of her toys but 1) we just can't afford it and 2) we decided before she was born that spoiling is for grandparents. They can go all out. But we will try to keep Christmas at least semi-small right from the start so we don't set a "bigger and best" president.

kaleb87 · November 2014

i‌ @nunzchucks I gave my dd my old barbies also. My mom bought her a new one for her birthday and I can't believe how cheaply made they are now. The hair has like a greasy feel to it now or something weird. I was glad my mom saved my old ones after seeing the new ones.

@Countrygrl5533 my dh says the same thing that grandparents are for spoiling. The only thing that I can convince her of when a toy comes on and she says she wants it I tell her she has to tell ho ho. If not she just keeps saying I want that over and over and over.

@krispy83 that's really a good deal for the easel. I might have to look into that. It would be a nice inside activity for this winter.

nunzchucks · November 2014

@kaleb87 I know! Their legs are so flimsy. All my old ones have nice bendy legs.

krispy83 · November 2014

@kaleb87 - I couldn't believe it! I was cringing at spending around $50 on a nice wooden one. The big rolls of paper are like $3 so we got a couple of those as well. We got him train sets there too. We opened one up right away and then bought some extras (additional trains, roundabout, train station, etc) and put them aside for Christmas. I always forget how reasonable and yet durable their toys are!

Swanigam · November 2014

Every time we ask dd what she'll ask Santa for she says a jack in the box and Thomas' friends. So well get that and more pieces for the train set. We also got a nice used power wheels were re-painting for her. I'm so excited to give it to her!

Wipz · November 2014

We were all done, wrapped an all about a week ago. Hell the tree is up too... I like to have plenty of time for the cats and munchkin to get used to it before decorating it properly. The novelty has already pretty much worn off with the lil guy, he hasn't taken bells or ornaments off for a few days.. wish I could say the same for my Tazzy cat *rolleyes .. that is a bit of a lost cause methinks

His main present from us is a Step2 kitchen.. TRus had a $30 off and I had a $50 gift card towards it. I love the kidkraft ones; but this little flower is less than delicate, so Plastic seemed a better idea at this stage. When he is older, if still interested I might get him one.

Play food and pots n pans to go with the kitchen and a fruit basket and fruit
Ninjago alarm clock
3 Ninjago books
A wallet with $5 gift cards in it for Walmart and Macdonalds ( he loves to take mine and DH's wallet lol.. figured we would just get him his own. He loves to hand over tickets and such at the Zoo so seemed like a cute idea to let him pay for his own stuff too.
A cookie jar for his cookies
3 build n grow vehicle kits and a build n grow hammer (Lowes kids clinic kits)
stocking stuffers included a dish brush, dish sponge, dustpan brush set, small dinosaur figures, a lizard that grows in water then shrinks again when it dries, money tin.. and maybe a chocolate or two.

We're pretty much done unless something catches our eye.. I may craft some stuff for him too but we're on a tight budget nowadays too.. and time is as tight as money lol. I have a partial project already in the works for a ninjago quilt.. but may downsize that idea into a Green Ninja pillow instead lol.

I was considering building a boys "doll house" he is in imaginative play mode right now .. maybe a castle theme, or emergency services type thing... We shall see. I may re-purpose a cube system to save time for the structure..add doors and a roof and then add brick and wall coverings etc ...

We're making ornaments this year.. unbreakable or cheap and safe enough not to care lol.. felt, wood, plaster of paris and such... only a few resin ormanents are going on from our usual stash... no glass * rolleyes lol Pretty much I have everything I need already for those projects so not costing much at all if anything to make ornaments this year.

Although I did just get a clover pom pom maker for speed.. LOL

kaleb87 · November 2014

@Swanigam the powerwheels will be an awesome present! Trains have been a huge hit it seems like with all the march 2012 LOs.

@Wipz I so want your life! I would love to have our tree up already, and all our shopping done, and presents wrapped. Our big present for dd last year was a kitchen. She loves it, and it is her most played with toy. Good luck with the projects! Let us know how they turn out.

nunzchucks · November 2014

@wipz We have a Step2 kitchen and it is great! DD loves it. I have it in our kitchen so we can cook at the same time.

countrygrl5533 · November 2014

@wipz We got a Step2 kitchen for DD last Christmas then some Melissa and Doug play food for her birthday. It's the one toy that never gets rotated out.

Have you seen the tutorials on making felt food? I'm considering that for part of DD's Christmas gift this year.

Wipz · November 2014

kaleb87 said:

@Swanigam the powerwheels will be an awesome present! Trains have been a huge hit it seems like with all the march 2012 LOs. @Wipz I so want your life! I would love to have our tree up already, and all our shopping done, and presents wrapped. Our big present for dd last year was a kitchen. She loves it, and it is her most played with toy. Good luck with the projects! Let us know how they turn out.

LOL trust me .. you want my life haha. The grass always looks greener on the other side .. I could make your hair curl if you only knew the big picture haha. It's a whole lot better than it used to be, but still has it's moments

Wipz · November 2014

nunzchucks said:

@wipz We have a Step2 kitchen and it is great! DD loves it. I have it in our kitchen so we can cook at the same time.

Haha this thing is almost as big as my kitchen..I live in an old apartment and lets just say kitchen design was not exactly a strong point with this builder. We have a corner dining set in the dining area next to the kitchen.. it will go there so he can cook and set the table and such.

Wipz · November 2014

countrygrl5533 said:

@wipz We got a Step2 kitchen for DD last Christmas then some Melissa and Doug play food for her birthday. It's the one toy that never gets rotated out.

Have you seen the tutorials on making felt food? I'm considering that for part of DD's Christmas gift this year.

Nope I haven't, but I do have some felt crafts planned .. so if I get time or have left over felt I might take a look, thanx

eyenigh · November 2014

Ugh, I'm already telling myself to slow down this year. I bought two Thomas train sets that I got on lightning deals from Amazon (one is huge and will have to go in the basement play area), a motion controlled Thomas (instead of a remote, you wave your hand the way you want to go-- it seemed like he could handle that), how to Train Your Dragon 1 and 2 (I already cracked one open in the hopes I could break his obsession with some of the other movies we watch incessantly-- I think it's working!), several Cars Lego sets and a big 27 pack of Hot Wheels with a car transporter. He's such a boy. We were out shopping and we always look at all the toys, not necessarily just "boy" toys and when we were by the girlier toys at Costco he told me "Mommy, this is terrible. I need trucks and planes."

cmsdouglas · November 2014

You ladies are so far ahead of me! We have some books and I'll definitely get her a necklace for her stocking, but other than that, we're out of ideas. She has so, so many toys and we have very little space. I'm thinking maybe some dress-up clothes? We're having the same problem for the little - she already has all of the big presents we got for Jane, so we don't know what to get her!

Wipz · November 2014

I was at Walmart earlier picking up some milk and a few things and found they had a 24 pack of acrylic paints for $9.99 Dominik loves to paint on canvas with my acrylics...so I grabbed those. He still has a bunch of mine to paint with, but I figured that was a decent price and another thing for the tree lol.

Zimger · November 2014

We don't watch much TV so he doesn't have many "wants" from commercials. He is a big collector of Thomas the Train. So I am getting him a new track set and a few trains for his train table. That is his big ticket item. He has mentioned airplanes and tools recently so I bought a small toolkit and a set of airplanes. A few puzzles and activity/art books. He is getting new art supplies in his stocking.

[Deleted User] · November 2014

Wow Mamas, I feel like a total slacker! We haven't got him anything. Unless I can keep the easel I got tucked away until Christmas. I have 3 family birthdays between Halloween and Christmas so I don't think much about Christmas gifts until those are over, which probably isn't the best tactic.
I have been thinking about getting him a play kitchen too so he can play while I cook. I like the ikea one but it's a little pricey. I'll have to look at that one you all have for your LOs too.

Wipz · November 2014

https://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=20220276&cp=&parentPage=search

We got this one

Step2 Lil' Chef's Gourmet Kitchen - Neutral

and it looks like the $30 discount is still active with the coupon code.. even tho their ad said $20 off

Wipz · November 2014

Oh the code also works on one of the cheaper ones too if you don't like this one

nunzchucks · November 2014

@rocknrollfriend We have this one and I really like it: https://m.toysrus.com/skava/static/product.html?type=TRU_product_us&url=/product/index.jsp?productId=3537274&cp=&frmSearch=true&frmSearch=true&parentPage=search&domain=http://www.toysrus.com

countrygrl5533 · November 2014

This is the kitchen we have. It is a bit smaller so it fits better in our smaller house.

https://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11978969&cp=2255956.2273442.2256395.4486211.3254086&parentPage=search

(I like how we all have a different Step2 kitchen)

countrygrl5533 · November 2014

@rocknrollfriend -- keep an eye on blackfriday.com Last year Kohl's had a play kitchen for $59. You could do the deal online and do free shipping and percent off codes as well as cash back through ebates. Made it really cheap.

[Deleted User] · November 2014

thanks for the recs everyone!
those whose LO's have asked for things (aside from what they've seen in commercials), did you ask them what they wanted? DS has no concept of Christmas presents at the moment. We haven't brought it up at all.

cmsdouglas · November 2014

We have a smaller step 2 kitchen! Both girls love it (although Lucy just stands at it for now). I think we've decided on dress up clothes. I'm with you, @rocknrollfriend‌ , I don't think she understands Christmas presents yet. We asked what she wanted and she said "a sin tower ." If you know what a sin tower is, please enlighten me!

countrygrl5533 · November 2014

rocknrollfriend said:

thanks for the recs everyone!
those whose LO's have asked for things (aside from what they've seen in commercials), did you ask them what they wanted? DS has no concept of Christmas presents at the moment. We haven't brought it up at all.

DD totally gets what Christmas presents are. I didn't ask her what she wanted. I'm just getting her stuff based on her likes. She does get excited when we go past/through the toy section at Walmart and ask for certain things. I try to pay attention but I know she is interested in the Thomas stuff and princess stuff. So that's what I suggested to the family.

Wipz · November 2014

Our lil guy doesn't either... although this year is probably going to be interesting as he has become a master at opening packaging lately haha. I think we have plenty of time in the coming years to learn about Santa Claus and such.. when he is old enough to understand the concept beyond it's all about him and presents. Since we're not of the religious persuasion that side of things will also come later if he is inclined.

rocknrollfriend said:

thanks for the recs everyone!
those whose LO's have asked for things (aside from what they've seen in commercials), did you ask them what they wanted? DS has no concept of Christmas presents at the moment. We haven't brought it up at all.

Wipz · November 2014

If anyone isn't broke and has two kids... Step2 just released this Walmart exclusive...

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Step2-Spin-Go-Xtreme-Cruiser-12-Volt-Battery-Powered-Ride-On/35743567

https://www.facebook.com/therockfather?fref=nf .. cool facebook page

nunzchucks · November 2014

Wipz said:

If anyone isn't broke and has two kids... Step2 just released this Walmart exclusive...

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Step2-Spin-Go-Xtreme-Cruiser-12-Volt-Battery-Powered-Ride-On/35743567

https://www.facebook.com/therockfather?fref=nf .. cool facebook page

This is amazing!

Wipz · November 2014

Yeah I saw it reviewed by Rock Father a while back .. I like his FB page.. he seems like a cool dad.

Zimger · November 2014

rocknrollfriend said:

thanks for the recs everyone!
those whose LO's have asked for things (aside from what they've seen in commercials), did you ask them what they wanted? DS has no concept of Christmas presents at the moment. We haven't brought it up at all.

He gets it. He asks for presents all the time, Haha. I didn't really ask him what he wanted I just try to keep up with his interest.

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42 days til Christmas...

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Step2 Lil' Chef's Gourmet Kitchen - Neutral

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