Christmas - Louisville,KY

We actually take our children to the store and put different toys in front of them to see how they react. As our daughter is getting older, this does't work as well since she wants to take everything home, but it has worked well in the past. We make a list of everything they like with a star next to the "really liked" items and then pass the list around to anyone who is coming up short on ideas. Otherwise, I just tell everyone to buy for the next stage (for example, our son is 12 months so I tell them to buy 18 months to 24 months) so the child can grow into the toys throughout the year and has not lost interest in two months. This makes a great outing for the family too. We always combine it with dinner and ice cream and the children love it! Doesn't hurt that our ToysRUs has a play area either. {Wink}

Hi,
Each of my three children enjoyed an "activity table" at this age. There are usually a couple of different styles made by Fisher Price/ Leap Frog/ Playschool. It's nice because it's the perfect height for them to learn to pull up or to stand next to and take that first step to reach the couch, etc. My daughter is about to turn 3 now, so I'm not sure what's available this year. Just do a search on one of the major online retailers. Another thing that was popular was any toy container that you put balls into. There are usually many versions of this... from fish in fishbowls to Fisher Price Peek-a-boo balls in a gumball machine, etc. I did child care for an 11 month old, and her favorite thing was putting balls into a container and dumping them out. I had purchased a multi-colored set of tennis balls, and put them in a large clean plastic container that previously had animal crackers in it. (they are still sold this way in the cookie aisle at Walmart) Anyway, thought I would share a couple of ideas. Good luck! Happy shopping!

R.

E. my son is 18 months and daughter 1 month so I am not sure if this will help, but at 10 months I don't remember him liking too much of any thing in particular. I did notice that he enjoyed playing with toys that made noise (ex. Baby Leap Frog). Other than that he wanted to play with ordinary , around the house things like newspaper and pens. Buy something that has a lot of different color lights that flash through it and that makes noise, but don't buy much because other family members will do that for you anyway!

at this age it doesnt matter to them what they get, my 2 yr old still doesnt have any idea about christmas yet

I like to look at the Toys R Us Web site and "Shop By Age". You could look at Birth - 12 Months, but I would look more at 12 - 24 Months since she will be 12 months soon! Actually, your daughter is almost exactly a year younger than my daughter!

Here are some things my daughter got last Christmas (Ok this is all from Santa, both sets of grandparents, and aunts/uncles! LOL yes, she's a bit spoiled...):
Bounce & Spin Zebra (still loves it)
Go and Grow Rider (ride on toy kinda like a tricycle but no pedals, they push their feet on the floor; still loves this one)
One of those plastic outdoor swings for 9-36 months age
Hokey Pokey Elmo (LOVES Elmo now haha)
Wooden activity cube that has things on different sides
Ring Stacker (she actually got 2, one was stars instead of rings and had start to sit on top, it makes a noise when you put on/off a ring and plays one of a few songs when you put the star on top; LOVES this one b/c of the music)
Glow Worm that plays music (again, still LOVES this one)
Wooden letter blocks

And of course clothes, clothes, and more clothes! haha

They are too young to know what's going on, so a few toys should be fine. Don't feel bad for getting her clothes or other things she NEEDS rather than just toys.

Also, instead of candy in her stocking, we put some finger foods in it. Most were Gerber things such as different flavored puffs and those fruit strips.