Monday, August 25, 2008

Got Toys and Pictures

I was shopping in Target the other day looking for some new toys for Tony and was quite disappointed with the selection. I couldn't find anything I really wanted to buy that I thought he would enjoy playing with. I left with just one lame toy. Later that same day Todd and I went downtown where all the little boutique shops are in the tourist section of the little beach town close by. They had a really cool toy store with tons of toys and trendy boutique prices to go with them. I bought just one toy at this store too, completely satisfied with the toy, but not the price. I then came home and started looking around on the internet for online toy stores, I figured there had to be something better out there and sure enough found a pretty good one, fat brain toys, with no tax, and free shipping (that always wins me over). And their toys are supposed to be really good ones, you know the kind that will make your kid smart just by playing with them.
The toys came in the mail a few days later while Tony was napping and I was so excited, I set them all out for him on his new little play mat. When he woke up I brought him downstairs to check them out. I must say, I think I was more excited than he was, but he really liked the wooden hammer, and everything he picked up he put in his mouth.
So if you have any good suggestions for places to toy shop, I'd love to hear them.

Here are some pictures of him checking out the new toys.


This little eggplant toy he got at my baby shower, and I had forgot about it till the other day when I found it in his closet. He is just a little young for it now, but in a month or so he will be able to climb up on it by himself. He is a bit scared that he might fall over. I was a little scared too as I let go just long enough to snap the picture.

This weekend Francie came over and took a few more pictures of Tony. I'm so glad she does this for me. I was really good at it [dressing him up and taking pictures] back in the beginning, but now I just let Francie do it. She is better than me at it anyway.
I thought this picture was so cute. When I showed it to Todd he was more concerned about the fact that we put him in the dirt and let him put a dirty tomato off the ground in his mouth. He's just a tad bit overprotective.

14 comments:

Elle J said...

Fantastic photos by your sister!!! Your son is always so photogenic and adorable!

Kristin said...

oh my word! he's so cute! if you ever need a babysitter let me know! Seriously! :) there was this really cool toy store I went to in Niles...maybe South Bend?! I'll find it out and let you know because they had amazing toys...and the BEST coloring books! :)

Francie said...

That day was not a great day for pictures, but that last picture made the whole thing worth it... and then Todd didn't even like it? I mean, really... who DOESN'T walk out to the garden and throw a fresh tomato in their mouth? I definitely didn't even think about it being bad for Tony, though! Sorry!

Rachael said...

That is a great tomato picture! It rivals the famed one Mom has of me with the onion in my mouth when I was about that age. I also love the pic just above it. The one just above that, though looks like he has a comb-over!

Hey, and if you need a toy store, please come "shop" in my playroom/basement. I will hook you up.

Unknown said...

Rachael's playroom sounds like the coolest toy store ever!

One of Madeline's favorite things to play with at that age was a set of pots and pans with wooden spoons. I gave her her very own cupboard in the kitchen (she was always in there with me anyway) and she would pull the stuff out and bang away while I cooked.

I love the tomato picture. I can't believe how big he is now.

Are you coming here for Christmas this year? Just wondering cause I don't want to wait too long before I get to see Tony again.

PS. I love the super cool gift that you, the girls and Ryan got me for graduation. Are you still gonna visit later this fall when Todd can come with you though?

Paula said...

Yes, I agree its hard to find good toys. I just bought Hannah this Little Tykes piano that she really likes. Its not too annoying. I think her favorite one is those stacking rings and you already have that. Tonight when she was in the bath tub I let her play with the empty conditioner bottle and yep, sure enough it was her favorite thing to play with.
I LOVE the pic of Tony in the dirt. I think its good for them to get dirty and feel different textures and stuff.

Tina in CT said...

As soon as I saw the picture of Tony in the tomato garden, I thought of a scrapbook layout. Adorable picture.

Does he have an leapfrog toys? Tupperware also makes a great toy that has different size openings and the child has to fit the correct piece in it. It's still around as I saw it in a Tupperware booklet. My daughter had one. Kids also love toy telephones.

Rachael said...

Hey, Lori -- I just thought of a good scrapbook idea for you. Remember how we made the ABC books a long time ago? You should make one for Tony, but pose him all over the farm to get the different letters: e.g. z = zuchinni, j = john deere, t = tomato, b = barn, etc. You could do it on one of those book sites too and call it ABC on the Farm or something like that.

Tina in CT said...

Great idea for the ABC scrapbook, Rachel!

I'm so into scrapping that when I sometimes get a great theme paper and don't have pictures to go with it, I wish the girls were closer so we could do a photo session to give me the pictures. Since Halloween is not celebrated in Moscow, I have few Halloween layouts. This year I'm going to ask Tami to have the girls dress up and pose so I can do a layout. Aren't I lame?

PrincessGreen17 said...

The tomato one is SO cute!

Mandy Lou said...

Toys are such a pain - I love target, but not for toys. But Toys R Us and all the rest are kind of lame too. I tend to buy my nieces stuff from Leapfrog on line - educational and not too annoying :-)

Love the tomato picture, it's great!

Muddy said...

Cute pictures. My kids are older teens, but I remember when my daughter was about your son's age, I started looking for some new toys. I remember doing the parents magazine toys through the mail for a few months. One of the items they sent that she ended up loving a lot was "wiggle worm". It made a crinkle sound when moved or squeezed. It had rings to chew on and probably something else that gave it texture. She still has wiggle worm as it ended up being one of her most favorite toys at that age.

I also remember buying her some fisher price eggs that sat in a basket. The eggs came apart and a chicken was inside. She got that for her first Easter, when she was eight or nine months old.

Muddy said...

http://www.ishelomi.com/Marketing/CDT/CDT0Samples.pdf

This pdf link shows pictures of some of the parent's magazine toys, including wiggle worm. (pg 4)

Anonymous said...

Hi Lori and Todd...congrats on the up and coming new baby sister or brother for Anthony...how fun AND busy you will be! :-)
I just went through all your new pictures of Anthony...my how he has grown! He is absolutley adorable with the cutest smile!
Grandma Janice keeps me up to date and she said he can motor down her hallway at record speed now and loves to eat all kinds of food! Those cute puppy pictures with Emma and Anthony are too fun...nice they get to "grow-up" together so he won't be afraid of her when she's "just a tad" bigger than him by Christmas! :-)
As much fun has he was having in the tomatoe field...he'll love the pumpkin patch! :-)
Love to all..."Go Blue"...just had to do it! :-)
Sandy