What to buy a little one for his first birthday

I have been doing my research trying to figure out what to get Christophe for his birthday. We bought him his potty that we plan on unveiling on his birthday but we also want to get him a toy. The potty we selected is from Boon. Honestly we chose it because I though it was cute, I actually have no clue what to look for when one buys a potty.

For the toy half of his present these are the items that we are looking at:

Busy Boat by North Star Toys

Battino by Selecta

Click Clack by Plan Toys

Hammer Balls by Plan Toys

Toy Thursday

Sometimes the classics are the best. I think we all had a version of this toy, most of us probably had fisher price plastic version. Before the all famous Plastic Ring sorters by Fisher Price there were wooden ones that our parents would have played with. Thanks to companies like Melissa & Doug they still exist.

Thank you memere and pepere for this one.

This is probably one Christophe favorite Christmas Presents; he can put it together but he can take it apart and sure enough he tries to put it back together one day he will get it; after all he is only 10 months old.

Toy Thursday

Christophe is now 9 months old and we though he would need a few 9 month old toys to help stimulate his development.

My parents recently got him NooBoo Pound a Sound from Manhattan Toy. He seems to find it interesting and each time he triggers the sound on the toy; he is like were did that come from. (He does not seem to understand how to make the noise deliberately but he will get there.) I just love the crazy colour and prints on the fabric.We decide to get him the Peek-a-boo barn from Melissa & Doug. So far he seems to like to chew on it more then anything else. When I close and open the flaps it seems to intrigue him; again he will get there eventually.
Images from: Manhattan Toy website and Melissa & Doug website.

Toy Thursdays

North Star Toys has been making non-toxic wooden toys since 1979 they are a family run business and are based out of Questa New Mexico. All there toys are very well priced and they are an eco-friendly company. Some of the key points that make them eco-friendly are very interesting such as:

• Their saw dust is used to supplement compost and for chickens
• The wood-scraps are donated to schools for art projects and are used for kindling
• Only use local hard woods
• They only use solar and wind energy

Some of our favorite picks from there catalogue are:


Little Rollie Vehicle Set at $45.00 USD. At less then $6.00 per wooden vehicle this is a steal we will definitely be ordering this one for Christophe when he is a little older.

Busy Boat at $16.00. We were thinking of ordering this one for Christophe at Christmast or for his 1 year birthday. The boat floats in water so this is a great non-toxic bath toy.

Baby's first Toy at $9.00. I find this one very elegant and simple.

Credits:
Images from North Star Toys website

Toy Thursday

We recently ordered and picked up from Treasure Island Toys Haba's Discovery Wagon
Christophe has been showing interest in walking for over a month now so we decided it was time to get him a push toy / wagon. Well its a hit, this is the toy that he wants to play with all the time. I hope this continues as it was not cheep (average cost $250), but so far it is worth it. He will also be able to grown with this toy as it should last till he is about 3 or 4 years old. So far I have to say both his balance and walking ability are improving fast and furious with the help of this wagon.

Toy Thursday

A few weeks back I picked these up for Christophe; Christophe loves rolling the balls around, he is still to little to play with the turtle bottom part. I love these kinds of toys that can grow with your baby. Geoff and I however think racing the turtle are fun all you have to do is put a bit pressure on the ball and it send the turtle rolling away. I can't wait till Christophe is older and we can have turtle races.I hope he lets me race the red one.

Toy Thursday - POST UPDATED TOY RECALLED

When you make the decision to only buy cloth or wood toys for your child there are a few items that are hard to find. One of them being a car; once Christophe gets older I will be able to find tones of wooden toy cars but there are not many made for babies. We successfully found 2, and Christophe especially likes the one from Plan Toys.

Baby Car by Plan Toys:

Speedy Baby Wooden Toy Clutching car by Haba: ***THIS TOY HAS BEEN RECALLED BY HABA FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT THE HABA USA WEBSITE***

Toyspotting Thursday

These days Christophe's favorite toy is a rattle from Melissa & Doug. If I offer him 3 or 4 toys he always choses this one out of the pack and sometimes gets upset if I take it away to pick him up or something. My guess is that he is attracted to the big bright eyes of this frog. The recommended age from this one is 6 months plus but our guy has been playing with it since he has been 3 months; however only recently has he really shown interest in it.

Toy Spotting

I stumbled across this while I was looking for a wood activity bar for our little one. I have definitely marked this one as a possible purchase for when he is a toddler. It's by Hape toys and the cost is aprox. $100. Ages 2 and up.

A few new toys...

Today I went out to purchase a few items for baby and stopped in our favorite toy shop, Treasure Island Toys on the Danforth here in Toronto. As always I left with a few toys...

Pontino by Selecta Spielzeug


Orange Push Fox by ImagiPlay


Spring a ling by Educo

The search for safer toys

Many of you know that we have made the decision to remove almost all plastics from our sons life. This includes toys. I have spent many hours on the internet researching wood toys and below is a list of the manufacturers I have found so far.

Melissa & Doug
Plan Toys
Haba
North Star Toys
Selecta Spieizeug
Grimm's
Heros
Jalu Wood Creations
Ringley
Holztiger

If anyone out there knows of others manufacturers please share.

Toy Spotting

I am always blogging about toys that I want here are few toys we already have that Christophe is loving.


Kringelring Wood Clutching Toy by Haba, this is probably one of his favorite things after his hands to shove in his mouth. Simple yet effective toy. I purchased this on at Treasure Island Toys at 581 Danforth Ave in Toronto.




Sophie the Giraffe by Vulli, many of you out there probably know this one or already may have one but I had to mention it because once again Christophe can't keep his little paws off this one or his mouth. Thank you grandmama (this one was a gift)

Toy Spotting

Art that your little one can play with. Fidoodle makes these beautiful wooden puzzles. Inside the puzzle hides stick puppets. The wood is from responsibly sourced forest. They come with a organic cotton storage bag. I would love to have one of these for my wee one but with a price tag of approximately $135.00 I don't think we will be buying one soon. However I still think these are great.

Toy Spotting

Great educational wooden puzzle to help your wee one learn there body parts and organs; available at Honeybunch.




ABC flash cards to satisfy the geek in you; available at Etsy.

And we present the nursery...