Mr. Weenie Sparks Feud

I made that sound so scandalous ;)

I love the bundled movies you can get with special things these days. I especially love getting the stuffed animals with the movies. But that always causes controversy. Who gets it? If its a mini cd or a book or something like the yo-yo from Journey to the Center of the Earth I give them to my older daughter. But the stuffed animals... Of course I always want them for myself ;) but as I am supposed to be the adult here, I usually give them to one of the two little ones. And thus begins the toy feud. There were big fights over Kung-Fu Panda. Until I found a panda beenie.

They should really sell those little stuffed animals separately also. Because I would certainly buy an extra one to save my sanity for the rest of the day (or week, however long it takes for the newness to wear off).

The latest feud has been over Mr. Weenie from Open Season 2. Why is he so popular? He looks just like our little dog Sally. I probably would have bought a few extras of these ;) 'cause I want one too!

You can see our little Sally's tail at the bottom of the picture.

Swipe! Trouble...

Toys, Toys, Toys

Ever have these kinds of toy troubles?

Empty Toybox

Living Room full of toys

I think this happens just about every day. D just doesn't play with any one thing for longer than a few seconds. Everything just comes out of the toybox and he plays with it long enough to throw it. Then he might climb in the toybox and hang out in there for a while. He's got baby sister in on it too.

I'm really fed up with it. I know we have entirely too many toys. A few times now I have gone out and bought some totes for toy storage, with the intention of switching out toys on a regular basis. But in all honesty, I'm lazy. So the odds of ever getting around to switching out toys aren't good at all. And even though he barely plays with anything, there are some things that he will play with once in a while... and there are things that I can't bear to put away - things that cost a lot of money, things that were gifts... etc... now we have B's toys (which most are D's old baby toys). I'm really bad when it comes to deciding which toys to put in storage. I start out meaning to put away quite a few toys, then it ends up to be much fewer than I'd hoped.

How do you handle the toy situation? Found anything good that works?

Oh Those Fabulous Toys!

I have two birthdays coming up here, so I've got toys on my mind. Baby B will be 1 in a few days!! A year flies by so fast! And D will be 3 the first week of Sept!

My mom called the other day to say she sent out B's b-day package, and I conned her into telling me what everyone got her. I really wanted to get her that little people doll house (she really had a blast playing with it at my sister's house). I was going to start looking on eBay to see if I could find one. But grandma got it for her! I can't wait :) Poor B doesn't really have too many toys that are hers. I have bought her a thing or two here and there, but D has so many toys that she's pretty content playing with his. And she is playing with his outgrown toys, so there's really not much point in buying her a lot of toys. Of course there are things that they fight over - such as the treasured little people school bus. But the coolest thing is that my mom and sister found a *pink* little people school bus! They knew that D had one, and almost didn't get the pink one for B, but then decided to go ahead and get it. I'm so glad they did because I bust up fights over that school bus all day!

A few months ago we were visiting my sister A and she had these really cool nesting fabric boxes that were decorated as presents. B loved them, so I went to Target to try to find something similar for baby B. I didn't find anything, but I noticed they had this whole aisle of "Word World" toys! D loves "Word World" so I was really wanting to get him one of the toys (I must admit that it is one of my favorites on PBS). They had some really great things, like puzzles, and the animals (that are spelled out in letters) that come apart. But a very good percentage of the toys (all of them that would have appealed to D) have those little magnets in them! I can't believe that companies are still using them!! Those little magnets are the reason that a lot of toys have been recalled. Granted in the animal letter toys they were sewn into the fabric, but still there's a chance that a child could get them out.

When B was a few months old we bought these tag along chime toys from Infantino. After we got them home we realized that they had magnets in the straps to keep them attached to the car seat or stroller. We strapped one to her bouncer while we cut the magnets out of the other one and slapped some velcro on it. Before we got to the second one she had gotten it off her bouncer and was chewing on the strap right where the magnet was! I was really mad that these were still on the shelves. I can guess that it wouldn't have taken too long to chew through the seams or the fabric and get that magnet out.

A few months later I stumbled upon an article online that talked about how some stores (especially Wal-Mart) have a habit of leaving recalled toys on their shelves. I guess it's perfectly legal in some states (Parents Magazine had a list of these states in their Feb or Mar issue, but of course I can't find it online!). I wish I could find that article. I originally found it on the League of Maternal Justice site, but I've been hunting around for it there and haven't been able to find it! Go figure. Anyway... just because a toy (or bib or bottle) has been recalled doesn't mean you can't buy it on the shelves of your local store or on eBay... I just know that I will never buy toys with magnets that could even remotely potentially come out.

Favorite Age

I was reading through some other mommyblogs and ran across one who was asking people to comment on what their favorite age of their children was. Of course I probably wouldn't be able to find it again to post a comment on that blog, but it made me think about it.

There's no easy answer to that one. They are all my favorite age :) My first "quippy" response would have been up to a month old - because they're sleeping most of the time ;) but of course that's not true. It's actually the most boring time because they're not really doing much but sleeping (and eating and pooping). Of course it's the most miraculous time - you are busy just watching them, checking them out, amazed at how tiny they are (even if it's your second, you just don't remember your first being that small) at how beautiful they are.

I have loved every age my children have been. You might think someone would say that those toddler years were not their favorite because of behavior issues or the frustration of that age. But really, every day he is adding new words, new phrases, new abilities. And it's all so very exciting. Of course his behavior is atrocious at times, but what toddler's isn't? In reality, those times when he's being cute totally outweigh the times when he's hurling his toys across the room at me :)

I just feel really lucky that he's not too attached to his toys, as most small children are. The couple of times we've been visiting family out of town, my niece is really bad at sharing her toys (because she's 2! aren't they all at that age?). Everything my son picks up yields shrieks of "that's mine." My son will just give it to her and find something else. He's had virtually no experience at sharing his toys. But I'm sure that if she were visiting us, my son wouldn't care what she played with. He plays like that at home, from one toy to the next in two seconds flat. The times that I've taken him to a playgroup, he's never fought over a toy - if someone wants what he's got, he gives it to them w/out any hesitation. I find that completely amazing. I expected that he would be right there with the other kids fighting over toys.
**edits

There's only been one time where he's shown an attachment to a toy. We were in the waiting room at the car dealership while they gave our car an oil change. They had some really lame old toys. When we were ready to leave, he had this wooden fire truck. I told him it was time to go and he clutched that fire truck to his chest and I had to pry it out of his hands and explain to him that it wasn't his and we had to leave it there.

Part of me really wanted to take it. It was something he really wanted, and he'd never expressed that kind of interest in a toy before. But I knew that there was no way I could let him take it. Sure it was old and stupid and they probably wouldn't have missed it - and he so desperately wanted it! But I couldn't do it for many reasons. First of all it would have been wrong. I would never knowingly steal something. Secondly, it would send my son the wrong message. He needs to know that a person can't just take things they want. Thirdly, it would have set a precedent. He would think that he could take a toy from wherever whenever he wanted. Can't have that! ;)

Anyway, back to the favorite age... haven't met one yet that's not my favorite :) so far they are so adorable at every age. Baby B is now a little over 5 months. She's rolling and scooting all over the place! She's going to be crawling soon! And she is soooo smiley and happy! Baby smiles and laughs are the best things in the world!!! :)