Hey, you’re new! I love new people, welcome. You may want to subscribe to Baby-Log via RSS feed or via email. Thanks for visiting!Take a good look at this picture. Isn’t this toy just adorable? it’s a soft furry little sea lion, a present from a friend who brought it back from her travels.
It’s [...]

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Babies love faces. One of the first things they see is their mom’s face, and probably the next one is dad’s. But how can they see their own face without a mirror? Ok, we have established that a baby needs a mirror.
The one my baby had was Sassy Me In The Mirror and boy, [...]

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1. I had this for Bubba but he really didn’t seem to care for it other than to chew on the corners. Didn’t buy one for Chubba but he seems to love looking at himself in the mirror. Go figure.

   Comment by LaToya — August 3, 2009 @ 9:21 am

2. This looks great! I work for exchange and mart and there are currently over a 1000 items listed under baby, clothing and nursery equipment; might be worth looking for a bargain there.

   Comment by ExchangeandMart — August 4, 2009 @ 10:34 am
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To tell you the truth, for a while this toy was a source of frustration for me. But that’s just because of me, being a clueless, silly, first time mom.

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1. Bubba got this for his first Christmas and I LOVE it!!!! Chubba is starting to throw the shapes in now too. I did notice like you mention that the top comes off too easy. When Bubba first started putting the shapes in if he got frustrated he’d just pull the top off and throw them in.

   Comment by LaToya — July 27, 2009 @ 10:48 am

2. [...] Evans presents Toys That Last – Baby’s First Blocks posted at [...]

   Pingback by The Homesteading Carnival #106 | Quiverfull Family — July 27, 2009 @ 1:17 pm

3. Glad to know I’m not the only one who worried about why my child didn’t know how to use it!

   Comment by Isha — July 28, 2009 @ 12:07 pm

4. @Isha Are you kidding, I was so worried I couldn’t think of anything else :) At about 12 months of age Eric started to occasionally fit shapes into the right holes, at 18 months he was doing it really well.

   Comment by Emma — July 28, 2009 @ 9:34 pm

5. It was one of the first toys we bought her specifically ourselves. I remember seeing the age suggestion and being excited about getting her something she could use right then! I didn’t worry a lot at first, but then it just seemed like it took soooo long for her to use it the “right” way. What eased my mind was seeing other babies playing similarly.

   Comment by Isha — July 29, 2009 @ 6:06 am

6. I bought Fisher-Price Brilliant Basics Baby’s First Blocks a few weeks before christmas as my own present from http://www.dealsshoppie.com/product/search.php?ID=B000LSZVKA&product=Fisher-Price+Brilliant+Basics+Baby’s+First+Blocks! I love this thing and someone will probably have to pry it from my cold dead hands some day. There were 65 reviews with an average rating of 4.0. I found this information to be very helpful and give the product a thumbs up.

   Comment by Jason — August 7, 2009 @ 10:27 pm
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My sweet, sweet friends sent me these toys when my baby was born and I will remain forever grateful. My kid enjoyed them so much and for such a long time that I just had to tell the world about it, couldn’t keep it to myself.
Meet my son’s three little friends:

[...]

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1. This is a nice gift suggestion. I know baby Sophia will like this because she’s being fascinated by sounds lately.

   Comment by baby bows — July 19, 2009 @ 11:07 pm
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If you’re thinking about a book for your newborn, then you’re a much more experienced parent than I was when Eric came into this world.
But now, 20 months later, I have learned a thing or two about newborns, infants, babies and so on and nothing stops me form putting in my 2 cents worth. [...]

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1. Awesome post Emma, love the pictures!

   Comment by Missy — July 8, 2009 @ 6:54 am

2. I bought this one for my baby girl and she loves it, so I second your recomendation. And what a great description of the book, not a single detial left out.

   Comment by Laila — July 8, 2009 @ 6:58 am

3. I LOVE books like this. I have a bunch of the soft books from when Bubba was little. And being washable is important with little ones.

   Oh and I don’t know if you noticed but I moved my blog over to blogger.

   Comment by LaToya — July 8, 2009 @ 12:02 pm

4. Aw, cute photos. I don’t have a little one yet, but I fantasize about it :-) This is good to know for the future - thanks!

   Comment by Kristin — July 10, 2009 @ 2:32 pm
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Think newborns, what is the first image you see? A crib with a mobile. I never thought it matters what kind of mobile I get for the baby. If it was left up to me, I don’t know what I would get.

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1. My little ones didn’t have mobiles. Maybe because the crib didn’t get used until around 6-7 months old which is the point when you are supposed to get rid of them anyway.

   Comment by LaToya — June 20, 2009 @ 1:12 pm

2. So much for my set of stereotypes - I couldn’t imagine a crib without mobile on it :) Did you play any music to your babies?

   Comment by Emma — June 21, 2009 @ 3:46 am

3. The mobile I chose was a rainforest one with soft animals, a light and music. I put it up at about 6 months when she started sleeping in her crib, and it’s still up now at 19 months. I don’t see that there’s anything on it to strangle her as the hanging toys are just small, stuffed animals and their strings are very short. She loves that she can turn it on/off or change the music for herself. After I got the mobile, I wished I had gotten one much sooner since she used her crib for naps or at night on occasion.

   Comment by Isha — June 22, 2009 @ 12:51 pm

4. I tried playing soft music for Bubba to sleep with but it didn’t work. We dance all the time to the radio or a CD though so they still have a great love for music. Chubba actually will crawl over to the radio and push buttons until music comes on and then smile and start dancing.

   Comment by LaToya — June 22, 2009 @ 5:25 pm

5. Same here, music distracted my Eric and he couldn’t sleep. He loves listening and dancing to it though :) Those are the cutest little dances I’ve ever seen.

   Comment by Emma — June 24, 2009 @ 12:04 am
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If I had one word to describe my experience of choosing a toy for my baby, no matter of the babies’ age, it would be “overwhelming”.

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1. My daughter has played with the one pictured above in your post from 6 months till now at nearly 20 months.

   Comment by Isha — June 22, 2009 @ 12:46 pm

2. Wow, that’s even longer than we used it! I took the rod out because my son was grabbing and pulling the animals :) But he enjoyed the pushing buttons and playing music.

   Comment by Emma — June 24, 2009 @ 12:03 am
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I am so against kids being glued to a TV set. Yes, that’s a quiet time for mom and God knows I could use some of it, but that doesn’t make it all right for the kid to be watching cartoons or whatever for hours. I didn’t really believe that watching silly kiddy TV shows can do anything for their development, until I saw the Baby Einstein collection.

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1. I allow my oldest 30 minutes of TV a day, with the exception of Saturday, he can have 1 hr either spilt into two shows or we have movie night. The plan with #2 is no TV until 2 years old (as per their ped and AAP guidelines) but I’m not sure how that works with an older sibling in the mix.

   Fav Shows: Blues Clues, Barney, Max & Ruby, Cailou, Backyardigans, Mickey Mouse, Sesame Street, and Dora and Diego (yuck).

   Comment by LaToya — March 5, 2009 @ 8:20 pm

2. Wow, and I thought I was harsh! I had no idea there were such guidelines about TV time, thanks - will look into that.

   Comment by Emma — March 9, 2009 @ 8:07 pm

3. [...] Dancing to music 8. Outdoor trips 9. Pretending to drive a car 10. His Teddy 11. His hats 12. His Baby Einstein DVDs 13. Playing hide and seek 14. Bananas and oranges 15. Broccoli and meatballs 16. Unbeatable pasta [...]

   Pingback by Quiz : What do your kids like? @ Baby-Log| Learning to be a Mother, raise a Baby and live as a Family — August 13, 2009 @ 8:27 pm
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If you were to ask me when I was single: “What makes a good present for a 16 months old boy”, I’d say “Beats me!”. But now, living with a baby for that long and having spent every day of his life with him, I have a very good idea what toys stand a chance.

It is true that every kid is different and they all are unique, but there are activities that most of kids like at 15 - 18 months and there are toys that almost always will be a success with toddlers of that age.

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1. PUZZLES!!! My son loves puzzles. Art supplies are a hit too: crayons, chalk, paints, markers.

   Comment by LaToya — February 23, 2009 @ 11:20 pm

2. Cool! Great addition to the list. My kid can’t draw yet, but he enjoys taking the markers out of the box and putting them back :)

   Comment by Emma — February 24, 2009 @ 5:27 am

3. Have you tried melting down some crayons to make really large ones. They are easier for the toddlers to handle.

   You take crayons, break them up and put them in a muffin pan. You can keep the colors the same or mix them up a bit. Bake at 350 until they melt and then put the pan in the freezer until they get hard and they should pop right out. They are almost impossible to break and last a long time. And even just banging on the paper makes a nice mark.

   Comment by LaToya — March 1, 2009 @ 11:50 pm

4. Wow, that’s a great tip, very creative? Where did you learn that? Seriously, I would have never thought of it.

   Comment by Emma — March 2, 2009 @ 4:38 am

5. My consideration in buying our toddlers toys are, toys that are designed for babies to stimulate their senses as they begin to interact with the world around them, these toys are colorful with texture and can contribute in there learning with out bringing boredom to them most toys I got them here at http://www.simplykidstoys.com/creative-play-learning-toys.html I had the space coaster, and the pig set.

   Comment by Claire- Kids Toy Guru — March 22, 2009 @ 1:12 am
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