push around buggy by step2

www.amazon.com: Push Around Buggy

the excitement of first birthdays! all your little baby friends that just a few months ago were rolling around on the floor are suddenly, amazingly, terrifyingly mobile. they want to Go Places! and Touch Everything! and Move Really Fast!

while this milestone birthday means crawling for almost all, cruising for most and walking for the elite, it most definitely means mobility in any way, shape or form. and what's the best way to accomplish this? by being pushed around in a car, of course!

the push around buggy by step2 is every one-year-old's dream. luckily for me, it's also every parent-to-a-one-year-old's dream. the smiling plastic car has a solid handle attached at parent height for you to push your little one up and down the halls of your house or even down the street. there's a steering wheel that moves, a little horn that beeps when pushed and, best of all, a seat belt to keep active curious babies securely in place.

when not in motion, the push around buggy has a generous trunk in front that baby can open and close and hide numerous toys in. that'll keep your baby busy for a guaranteed five minutes. also, for those aspiring princesses, the buggy is also available in a lovely shade of pink. perfect for stuffing my little ponies in the trunk.

the buggy is a good size - big enough for your tot to ride in, but small enough to hide in a closet when playtime is over. as baby gets bigger and more independent, the buggy's handle is removable, so you could let your little one out to explore on his own..... within eyesight, of course.

oh, by the way - can't find your car keys? try looking in the push around buggy's trunk.

monday mommysaver: radio flyer walker wagon

www.amazon.com: Radio Flyer Classic Walker Wagon

the pre-walking stage is about as exciting as it gets around here. between cruising from couch to couch and occasionally forgetting that he can't quite stand on his own yet, i'm realizing that this is the least mobile my son will be for, say, the next million years.

that being said, even though i know it'll be the end of any remaining peace i may have, i'm really excited for cole to start walking. while he's perfectly happy with the little plastic walker we have at home, my friend jen highly recommends the radio flyer walker wagon.

radio flyer's walker wagon has been a bestseller for 25 years, and it's easy to see why. it has a durable build and is made of natural solid wood. as jen says, its solid design helps keep things stable when your little one's pulling up to use it as a walker. the front bumper will help save baby, furniture and (hopefully) even your dog from being bumped into, while the sturdy molded tires have enough grip to keep baby from sliding around when on the move.

the removable wooden sides keep things interesting as your child gains more confidence walking. when the sides are on, they make a perfect space for your child's favorite toys, bouncy balls, blankies or (hopefully not) your dog.

the radio flyer walker wagon makes a great gift for that special toddler-to-be in your life. and just in case my parents are reading this, i love you. and don't forget your grandson's first birthday is coming up.

monday mommysaver: peek-a-boo pop up tunnel

www.rightstart.com

blah, mondays. if you're a stay-at-home mom like me, then you also have 5 whole days before you've got both hands free at the same time. what to do with your cranky baby when it's yucky outside, you're tired and all your friends are busy? tunnel time!

the pop up co. makes your child's (and dachshund's) new favorite toy: a tunnel that goes right in your house! come on, you've given up the pretense of "not having giant toys in the house" a long time ago, so you might as well have some fun with it.

available through right start (one of our favorite companies) as well as other toy stores, the peek-a-boo pop up tunnel is really cool. it's 6 feet long - big enough for adventures, not so big that your kidlet will get tired halfway through. the brightly colored fabric is easy to clean (we unintentionally tested out that aspect over the weekend) and best of all has a long mesh panel that runs the length of the tunnel, allowing you to see what baby's up to and also letting them know you're right there to keep them company.

after you're done playing with the peek-a-boo tunnel, it folds up quickly into a flat circle with easy-close velcro tabs, so you don't have to live with it taking over your entire living room when not in use.

my son cole crawled through the tunnel all weekend long, back and forth, as did my weiner dog. so did my husband, who took an ill-advised trip halfway through the tunnel (before getting stuck). it has been baby, puppy and husband approved, although i'd only recommend letting the first two travel through it.

monday mommysaver: infantino giggle ball toy set

www.target.com

a sassy trio of fun toys for your little one in one convenient package? and all for less than $15? yes! infantino's giggle ball toy set is a wonderful gift for someone.... or your own little one.

three little toys offer three different ways of keeping your baby happy and busy. the crab rattle and giggle ball are for 3+ months and the bendy bug is for 6+ months. each makes different rattling sounds and captivates your baby with moving or wiggling parts.

the giggle ball has sliding beads and different textured surfaces for baby to explore. the bendy bug has moving rings, makes a soft rattling sound when shaken and has (according to my son) delicious antennae. the crab rattle with its wiggly legs and mirrored ball hands still travels with us in the car.

overall, infantino's giggle ball toy set offers a lot of bang for the buck, so now you can afford those tiny prada shoes your baby so desperately needs.

monday mommysaver: lil' playzone with lights and sound

www.rightstart.com

remember before you had kids? it's tough, i know. but if you think very hard, you can remember what it was like to have a living room with freshly cut flowers instead of linking rings, squeaky things and pacifiers littering the floor. these were the times when my husband and i would go to visit our friends with kids and smugly look at each other thinking, "oh, our house will never look like this."

think again, sucker!

i am now the proud owner of a lil' playzone with lights and sound, sitting squarely in my living room and i. couldn't. be. happier.
no, seriously. this thing is AWESOME.

even though my mom thinks it looks like the ok corral, and my childless friends will think it's a plastic monstrosity, the lil' playzone is fantastic. the lil' playzone measures 46"x46" - big enough for your little dictator, you, and a weiner dog, should you have one. and at 23" tall, it's the perfect height for your child who's just learning to pull up and stand on his own.

the lil' playzone has one panel with built-in toys (no assembly required), including a play phone, a mirror, a little slidey door and buttons to push that light up and play music. the playard is so easy to assemble that it took less than five minutes to put the whole thing together. you now have somewhere to put your mobile child while you run into the kitchen and get their lunch ready. we couldn't even get cole out of it! every time we out him on the living room floor, he'd turn around and crawl right back into the playzone.

in fact, the playzone is such a big hit in my house that i'm breaking my own rule and including a picture of my little dictators having a blast with it. ta da!

monday mommysaver: lamaze chime garden

www.amazon.com

another monday.....is anyone as tired as i am? so sleepy.... must find toy for baby to play with that doesn't play music that makes me want to throw said toy out the window.

got it! lamaze chime garden, my savior. the lamaze chime garden has five brightly colored flowers and three settings to keep your little one occupied.

one setting will play a song while the flowers light up, another plays gentle tones each time baby touches one of the flowers and a third plays snippets of "if you're happy and you know it," waiting for baby to bop a flower before continuing the tune. (fun for baby, not fun if you're my ocd sister, since the tune literally never ends.)

the different colors and textures invite baby to touch and explore and the jingly sounds will actually be music to your ears. the lamaze chime garden will also help encourage your little one to sit up to play. or, conversely, if you 're my son, it will encourage you to pick it up and gnaw gently on its base. whatever your pleasure, lamaze chime garden is a winner.

monday mommysaver: symphony in motion mobile

www.toysrus.com
tiny love's symphony in motion mobile is great. cole loooooved his mobile starting at almost 2 months. he would have entire conversations with it. the mobile was the first "toy" he really liked... and still does.

your little baby will be fascinated by the bright colors, circular motion and jingly music. the symphony in motion mobile has three cute but bug-eyed little animals on it, prompting us to dub them "stupid cow," "stupid donkey" and "stupid mystery animal," since we can't figure out what the heck the third one's supposed to be.

the mobile is useful at first to buy you 15 minutes to throw some clothes on or pull endless laundry out of the dryer. later, it will serve a different purpose altogether.

for example, thanks to the mobile we just discovered that cole can pull himself up on the side of the crib.....where he also apparently learned how to turn the mobile on and off once he's standing.five minutes after we put him to bed and closed the door, we heard the jaunty tunes of beethoven keeping our child from sleeping. au revoir, mobile. we had a good 9 month run.

monday mommysaver: learn & groove musical table

www.toysrus.com

ah, another monday. and another case of "holy crap i've got you all to myself for five days and daddy's already thrown 30 electronic toys at you before he's left the house and now i have nothing left to give you to play with."

keep this one hidden for your own use until daddy leaves: the leapfrog learn & groove musical table. cole is crazy about this thing.

it has 15 different musical activities and over 40 different tunes, including the alphabet song and musical renditions of "if you're happy and you know it." want the keys and drums to make instrument sounds? done. change the setting and the same instruments will teach numbers and colors, along with "up/down" and "open/close."

the table comes with legs, but if your guy's on the littler side like mine, you can just leave the legs off and let the table sit on the blanket that now covers the floor of your living room.

have i mentioned that the learn & groove table is bilingual? this way if you get really bored of hearing the same things over and over again (cole's favorite is the little door that says "open/close") you can at least switch it up and hear "abierto/cerrado" over and over again.

monday mommysaver: baby einstein exersaucer

www.toysrus.com/

baby einstein exersaucer, how i love you. i love you so much that you are the mascot for little dictators.

cole is 8 1/2 months and still loves the exersaucer. i mean, this thing has some serious longevity. half our pictures of cole are of him in the exersaucer because he is just so freakin' happy in there.

there are nine different types of activities, including spinny globe thing, thing with a picture of a cow on it that moos when you push on it and awesome dino-dragon puppet. (note: these may not be the technical terms.) this was one of the very first toys he loved, other than his mobile.

bad for me but good for you - the exersaucer was recently redesigned with better colors and much more aesthetically pleasing fabric, so it's not a total eyesore. because believe me when i say this thing will live in your living room.

added bonus: the exersaucer is stable and keeps your baby happy long enough for you to actually make a cup of coffee, check your e-mail or scarf down a luna bar for breakfast.

monday mommysaver: leapfrog spin and sing alphabet zoo

www.amazon.com

it's monday! your husband is back at work and you are once again faced with the question, "oh my precious darling angel - what the heck am i going to do with you all day?"

leapfrog's spin and sing alphabet zoo is a true baby pleaser. there are three different settings for your little one to do - they spin the wheel to learn letters, animals, or the olde faithful alphabet song.

true, some of the choices will make you scratch your head ("u" is for "umbrella bird"? really? "x" is for "x-ray fish?") and some of the animal sounds are questionable (i really don't think a newt sounds like a jazz piano), but your little one will love to spin the wheel over and over again, especially when they're able to sit up.

having the theme songs stuck in your head for days is a small price to pay to keep your little guy happy and entertained. now if you'll excuse me, i'm off to sing "spin, spin a letter" for the 700th time today.