BigBrother turns five tomorrow (no, I don’t want to talk about it yet). All of his presents are wrapped (in Toy Story wrapping paper). We give him the gifts from us — FireMom and FireDad — on his birthday. I can’t wait to see his face as he unwraps some of this goodness.
I decided to share this list as I created one two years ago and it remains a highly searched post. Apparently people don’t know what to get boys. I always have the opposite problem and google “what to get x-year-old girl” when I’m shopping for the Munchkin or the boys’ female friends. As such, feel free to add your ideas in the comments of this post.
1. LeapFrog Leapster Explorer
. Much to my dismay, I did not win one of these on the 86 billion blog contests I entered this summer when the new Leapster-like hand-held was released. I was hoping to win, knowing that I would save it for his birthday. I eventually bought it and I’m hopeful it will be a big hit. I know he’ll love the Toy Story
game, and figure he’ll also enjoy the Star Wars
one as well. He has absolutely loved his Leapster, and as this is supposed to be a bit more advanced, I’m hoping it takes him to the next level of fun-based learning.
2. Iron Man Action Figure
. This is the only thing the kid asked for this year. Thank you, preschool! No, he hasn’t seen the movie. Nor will he. Anytime soon. But action figures are action figures. I figure Iron Man will be hanging out with Buzz, Woody, and a group of dinosaurs in the backseat of a big dump truck in the very near future. I hope the batteries on this particular action figure die quickly. I wonder how many times I’ll hear “I am Iron Man!” before I start to twitch.
3. Where’s Waldo?: The Complete Collection
. Oh yeah. You may have caught his Waldo Halloween costume. He’s big into Waldo, both from the books we constantly borrow from the library and the computer game. I know that owning all of the books will be a big hit. I’m actually way excited about this present myself.
4. Jumpstart 3D Preschool & Kindergarten
for PC. He’s big, big, big into the computer right now. I’ve been trying to find fun, educational games for him to play on a regular basis. We’ll give this one a whirl. He already plays Jumpstart online, so he’ll be familiar with the “characters.”
5. Toy Story Yahtzee Jr
. We have a “Disney” Yahtzee Jr.
, but — and I’ll be honest — my kids don’t really know who Mickey Mouse is. I know. I’m a bad mom. Plus, it was a used version and we’re missing some of the stickers on the dice. So, I thought we’d update with something they like to make playing a bit more fun. As an aside, I had never played Yahtzee, Junior or otherwise, until this year.
6. Bolt
. Okay, maybe he also asked for this movie… last year. But it wasn’t until after his birthday and Christmas. And I kind of forgot. And remembered when I was trying to pick a movie for this year. He loves Bolt. I am 100% sure this movie will annoy the heck out of me as both he and his brother will then pretend to be dogs for weeks on end. But it’s okay. I think. Anyway, we go with the three-disc combo pack when we buy any movies nowadays.
7. Melissa & Doug Space Voyage 48-piece Puzzle
– The kid loves puzzles. I love Melissa & Doug puzzles because they’re sturdy, the pieces fit together well and they’re colorful. He loves space, so this was an obvious winner.
We also got him a pair of Buzz Lightyear jammies in a size that makes my mommy heart weep. And a Steelers hat in youth size as he hasn’t been able to wear “toddler/preschool” sized hats since he was two.
We outsourced some other ideas to querying grandparents. How to Train Your Dragon
, Toy Story Duplo Train Set
and the Trouble Board Game
(which, by the way, I just saw that they have a Star Wars Trouble game
— GASP!).
Oh, and we obviously got both of the boys Toy Story 3
, but they don’t get it until their party on Saturday. Because we’re mean, mean parents. (But mainly it is a gift for both of them, not just BigBrother or LittleBrother. So party gift it is.)
I can’t guarantee that all of these gifts will be a hit with BigBrother. I can guarantee that LittleBrother will attempt to paw all over these gifts before BigBrother has a chance to and there will be minor drama. I will give an update early in December as to how these gifts went over, if there were any evident losers and tell you what we’re doing for Christmas presents this year.
I about fell off the couch. LittleBrother’s room is green. I have been struggling to find something he likes that fits with his wall color. We could repaint, but not in the middle of winter. I was starting to get desperate. Then I logged onto Zulily after the email this morning. I almost didn’t click on the