Top 5 Toys For My One Year Old

Between Christmas and his birthday, Superman has recently received more toys than I can count.  When I was looking for toys to buy him I found that there just isn't a whole lot of help out there.  If you go on Amazon, you can't search for toys for a 1 year old.  The closest you can get is birth to 24 months...really, Amazon you need to rethink this.  Do you not understand how different a 3 month old is compared to a 12 month old compared to a 24 month old?  Craziness.

There are a few good lists if you do a Google search, but really I didn't even know what I should be looking for in toys for him.  I wondered:  What skills am I trying to foster in him through play?  What toys will grow with him?  What skills should a one year old even be working on?  Well I gave up trying to figure it out. We got him a big gift for Christmas (see below) and a big gift for his birthday (a wagon) and we called it good.  And it was great because everyone else knew better than I did and he ended up with some great toys and books!

Before I get to what he actually plays with, I was really grateful that some people gave us toys targeted for 18 months so he wasn't given all his gifts to play with at one time.   One of the cool toys for 18 months and older that I can't wait to see him play with is the Fix N' Learn Speedy (amazon says it is 6 months - 3 years but that isn't what the box says).

So what did he get?  Along with the toys I mention below, he got a bunch of new books (which I am really grateful for since we do story time 3x a day), bath toys, plastic beads, music, and stuffed animals.  There isn't a single toy that he doesn't play with on a daily basis...seriously, not a single one.  

So without further adieu, here are the top five toys Superman has gotten in the past month.

5.   B. Sugar Chute - Basically this looks like a big gumball machine filled with different colored balls.  Superman is obsessed with plastic balls that fit in his hands to begin with (thanks to the Playskool Explore and Grow Busy Ball Popper which we have had for some time, but is still one of his favorite toys).  I love that this provided him some challenge.  Of course, he could just reach in the top and grab a ball, but we were able to put it on the coffee table and teach him how to get the balls to drop and then how to pull them out of the little door at the bottom.  He struggled with this quite a bit, but once he learned to use two hands he was on a roll.  He also loves throwing the balls into the top after he has retrieved them from below. 

4. Count and Learn School Bus - The bus comes with 4 colored balls that have sensors in them.  When you put the ball in the special hole it tells you the color or the animal that is on the ball.  The top is also open so if they can't get it in the hole, they can still put the balls in the bus.  It took him a little bit to learn how to do it, but Superman loves to push the ball through the hole and watch them roll down the bus and out the door (the door opens and closes).  He does this over and over and over.  Downside to the toy? Both my husband and I have the song it plays stuck on our heads at this point. 

3. Mega Bloks Maxi Tub with 140 pieces - I wasn't sure if he would know what to do with the blocks and, frankly, he doesn't know how to build anything yet.  However, he loves to pull the pieces apart and to wreck anything we build.  The big thing that surprised me was how much he likes to open the lid, take out a piece, close the lid, put the piece on top or on the ground and then repeat the process over and over and over again.  It was the first toy that he really "played a game" with by himself.   

2.  Mega Bloks Cat Large Vehicle Dump Truck - It is so big that he can push it around the living room while walking.  He loves to throw blocks into the back, pull them out again or tip the truck over to get the pieces out (he knows that they are supposed to "dump" but he hasn't figured out how to unlatch the bin so this is his version of it 'dumping').

1.  Smart Trike - He loves this thing!  I bundle him up and we go for a walk and he literally sings the whole time.  I have never seen him happier than he is on that trike.  While he is still too little to pedal it, the pedals disengage so they don't move as you push it and there is a little platform that drops where he can rest his feet.  There are also rails on either side of him that keep him from falling off.  The push handle, rails, and sun shade remove so that it grows with the child. (I am proud to say that this was actually our gift to him from "Santa"!)



Note:   Although I am willing to do product reviews upon request, I was not asked to do these reviews nor was I given anything in return for my opinion in this post.  These were truly gifts given to Superman from our friends.
 

Loving Motherlove - A product review

I have eczema.  It is on my fingers and I struggle with it year round, but during the winter?  It is much worse.  And when I am pregnant? Ugh! It is awful.  So here we are in the winter and I'm pregnant and there isn't much I can do about it since steroid creams are not recommended during pregnancy. 

When I was pregnant with Superman I used my paraffin wax dipper thing a lot.  I would load my hands up with a high quality cream and then dunk my hands.  It worked okay, but the results never lasted very long and doing it multiple times a day was not possible.

Well this time around I have this blog and with that comes companies occasionally wanting me to review things.  I was lucky enough that in October a representative from the Mother Love Herbal Company contacted me and wanted me to do a review.  I didn't know I was pregnant yet, but told her that I was still nursing and do struggle with eczema (because frankly even my prescription doesn't work that well).  She said she was sending me their nipple cream for any nursing issues and the Green Salve for my eczema.  (I have been fortunate not to need the nipple cream, so this review is not going to include any information on it.)

Shortly after I got the products I found out I was pregnant and, once I knew the Green Salve was safe during pregnancy, I began to use it.  I have to be honest, it only worked okay.  At this point I had several cracked areas on my fingers (to the point of bleeding) and I was desperate for it to work.  Unfortunately, although it gave me some relief when I put it on, the results did not last long.  In fact if I put it on at night, I would wake up with my hands just as bad as before I used it. 

So I sent an email to the representative saying that I didn't think I should write a review given my results (she said that I could still write it because they are looking for honest reviews from people).  However, she forwarded my email on to the owners of the company and they came back with the suggestion that I try the the Diaper Rash and Thrush salve.  It contains myrrh and oregon grape root (both are anti-bacterial and anti-fungal).   I was willing to try anything at this point so I agreed.

The first night I put the Diaper Rash and Thrush salve on my hands and went to bed.  The next morning I woke up, and I swear to you, my hands were so healed I couldn't believe it.    I was (and am) so grateful that the rep. was willing to take that extra step to find something that did work for me.  It isn't every day that you find a company willing to do that. 

At any rate, they were so healed that I didn't have to even apply it to my hands for 4 days.  After 4 days they started to get a bit dry and I figured I would prevent a huge attack by putting on at night again.  Then the worst thing happened....I couldn't find it anywhere!  I searched my house from top to bottom...staying up way too late searching for it.  Yes, it works that well.  Finally after about 40 minutes, I realized I had put it in my laptop bag...pure relief. 

Then a strange thing happened.  I didn't really get the same results that I did the first time.  In fact, my hands didn't really look any different in the morning.  So after trying it a couple more times, I decided to switch back to the green salve, thinking maybe whatever was causing it this time could be solved by it.  It got a little better, but not great.  Then? I get the brilliant plan to put them both on my hands together.  This? Worked perfectly!

I am still not sure how it all works (and because Motherlove is an herbal company they "can't make medical claims to cure any conditions or diseases"), but from what they are suggesting and the research I have done, it appears that eczema and yeast can go hand in hand with some people and I am one of those people.  It makes me really wonder about the prescription stuff I normally use...maybe a trip to a naturopathic doctor to see if I can learn more about this would be a good idea.  Either way, I am just grateful that I found something that works during my pregnancy.

I highly recommend the Motherlove Herbal company if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or have a baby.  They have been around for 20 years and based on what I have read about them, really strive to provide the best products possible with the least amount of impact on earth.  Many of their products are certified organic and never contain mineral oil, lanolin, parabens, or synthetic or artificial ingredients.  They have amazing customer service and have been a real pleasure to work with. 

Disclaimer: I received 3 products to try for free from the Motherlove Herbal company in return for an honest review.  What I have written here are purely my opinions and should not be considered medical advice.