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Archive through March 12, 2008

Reality TVClubHouse Discussions: General Discussions ARCHIVES: Apr. 2008 ~ June 2008: Advice for Not So New Parents: Archive through March 12, 2008 users admin

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Cinnamongirl
Member

01-10-2001

Wednesday, March 05, 2008 - 3:48 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Cinnamongirl a private message Print Post    
Ahhh Thanks Julie. Good article and it makes me feel better for not buying them.. :-)

Panda
Member

07-15-2005

Thursday, March 06, 2008 - 10:05 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Panda a private message Print Post    
I give DS vitamins..the flintstone ones.

Skootz
Member

07-23-2003

Thursday, March 06, 2008 - 10:24 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Skootz a private message Print Post    
My kids get 1 vitamin and a vit. C daily. If they are coming down with a cold or are sick, I double it.

I don't see any harm in giving kids vitamins.

Julieboo
Member

02-05-2002

Thursday, March 06, 2008 - 11:11 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Julieboo a private message Print Post    
NEW QUESTION

Here is a list of favorite things for 2 and 3 year olds. I have a "new" 2 year old and an "old" 8 year old, so I am no sure I can make a good list. Any other suggestions? (This is for Jen who is soon to adopt a 2 and 3 year old!!)

Here are some favorite things off the top of my head for 2 & 3’s:

TV/DVD:
Blue's Clues (FAVORITE FOR SURE!!!)
Dora
Elmo
Teletubbies
Spongebob (though some moms don’t like that they use words like “stupid”)
Curious George
Calliou
Word World
Seems like The Wiggles are “out” these days!

Toys:
Magnadoodle
Aquadoodle
Mr. Potato Head
play dough
play food/kitchen stuff
dolls/stroller/doll accessories
color wonder things by Crayola (awesome cuz no marker on the floor or walls!!)
board books—especially ones with flaps
nesting blocks and/or regular blocks
Thomas or generic Thomas trains

Any other suggestions?

Jenhavins
Member

08-23-2000

Thursday, March 06, 2008 - 11:17 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Jenhavins a private message Print Post    
Thank you!!!! That is a great list.

Escapee
Member

06-15-2004

Thursday, March 06, 2008 - 11:28 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Escapee a private message Print Post    
peg puzzles

I bought my girls 2 and 4 a double sided easel (Step 2 brand) and a bunch of color crayons and books. I put them in the playroom, turn on Caillou (which is like kiddie valium) and I can get stuff done without having to worry.

I also purchased from 2 different yard sales spring horses. You know the horses on a frame with springs and they bounce. They bounce for a long time before I hear anything out of them.

I also bought an 8 foot trampoline for them for the backyard, with an enclosure. They love this. It's only about 2 feet off the ground and only 8 feet across, and safe because it's all enclosed. It gets them playing outside and they are plum worn out when they are done and ready for a nap.

Lets see, what else do they LOVE?

My 2 year old loves her fisher price circus train and her little people playhouse, farm and jungle. They play with that stuff constantly

http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=2053&e=product&pid=41059

http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=2341&e=detail&pcat=amazinganimals&pid=37219

http://www.step2.com/product.cfm?product_id=1350

Julieboo
Member

02-05-2002

Thursday, March 06, 2008 - 11:37 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Julieboo a private message Print Post    
Oh are gazillion bubbles the really good ones? (Don't forget the bubbles!!) Those automatic bubble toys are cool too. Other outside toys are chalk, sidewalk paint (way cool!), big wheel, trike, scooter....

Julieboo
Member

02-05-2002

Thursday, March 06, 2008 - 11:39 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Julieboo a private message Print Post    
The trampoline Escapee is talking about does not sound like the typical trampoline if it is only 2 feet off the ground. BUT don't forget that a trampoline is the number one cause of broken bones for kids, enclosed or not... My sis-in-law is an xray tech at a hospital and is called to the ER all the time...

Wargod
Moderator

07-16-2001

Thursday, March 06, 2008 - 11:44 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Wargod a private message Print Post    
Dress up clothes, both boys and girls. Most the boys in our family liked having hats and cheap sunglasses to pick from (then dressing up like their daddies.) I have a friend who told me her son wore a cape for the longest time, lol.

Playhouse or play kitchen. Those get a lot of use between toddler years and 5/6 yrs old.

Play vacuum/broom/mop. Sounds weird but they like those things, lol.

Anything that goes VROOOM, cars, planes, boats, trains, tanks, trucks.

Music! Jen, you said you saw a picture of them dancing together, get them some durable radios, mics/headsets, I bet those would be a huge hit.

Mom and Dad. We've got 2 kids and 8 nieces/nephews and have had a lot of toys in our house over the years but seriously the most fun I've seen them have and the biggest laughs from them have always been when we get down and play with them, tickle them, chase them around the house being goofy, sit and read or play quietly with them. 2-3 years old, mom and dad are the best toys ever, lol.

Kids this age make toys out of everything, blankets, plastic bowls, pots and pans, cardboard boxes. It's so much fun to just sit and watch them. They're also big on imitation so if one of you works with tools a lot or spends a lot of time in the kitchen, or gardening, or whatever, they'd probably enjoy their own sets of whatever it is so they can "work" with you.

Cinnamongirl
Member

01-10-2001

Thursday, March 06, 2008 - 12:12 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Cinnamongirl a private message Print Post    
sidewalk paint? interesting...gonna google that

Yeah, I always got a sick feeling watching my neices and nephews on a trampoline and now that I have my own kid, I don't think I could do it..I don't have it in me. I would get a slide/swing set for sure. My little one can play on a slide for hours..

I absolutely agree that a playhouse or play kitchen/BBQ will be great for the both of them. That and an art easle that Escapee was talking about.

Wargod
Moderator

07-16-2001

Thursday, March 06, 2008 - 12:16 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Wargod a private message Print Post    
I don't have a trampoline (would never get Kota off of it if I did) but really are they any more dangerous (if they have the enclosure) than anything else? Kids break bones on bikes, roller skates, playing sports, LOL, heck my sis broke her foot playing hopscotch!

Cinnamongirl
Member

01-10-2001

Thursday, March 06, 2008 - 12:22 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Cinnamongirl a private message Print Post    
Hopscotch!!?? LOL... not funny at the time I'm sure but something to laugh at now.

Jimmer
Moderator

08-30-2000

Thursday, March 06, 2008 - 12:39 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Jimmer a private message Print Post    
That was obviously the full contact hopscotch.

Wargod
Moderator

07-16-2001

Thursday, March 06, 2008 - 12:41 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Wargod a private message Print Post    
Oh no it really wasn't funny at the time...hysterical now though. When it happened and she complained to her teacher about her foot hurting, teacher told her she was fine. After a couple hours the teacher finally sent her to the nurse, who didn't even bother looking at her foot, told her she was ok and to go back to class. When she got home and told step dad, he took her shoe off and looked at it and immediately took her to the dr.

Mom, of course, went ballistic and went to the school and chewed out everyone from the teacher to the principal. She really had been hurt and no one bothered looking at her foot because how could she possibly get hurt playing hopscotch?

Don't get me wrong, I do think accidents happen a lot on trampolines, but I'm just not sure it's worse than anything else they could be doing. I have a serious dislike of heelys (the shoes with skate wheels) but not cuz a kid can fall down and get hurt. Too many times you see kids using those in inappropriate places (stores, parking lots, streets) while not wearing helmets and that's just a head injury waiting to happen!

Panda
Member

07-15-2005

Thursday, March 06, 2008 - 12:52 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Panda a private message Print Post    
DS will be 2 in a month from today! He loves to play with cars, any kind. Little People Farmhouse is also a big hit here. He loves animals.

I love the idea of the easel-lots of fun for artwork. I am getting Dante a Little Tykes B-ball hoop for his birthday.

tv/dvd - Playhouse Disney shows are fun. Also Backyardigans, and DS loves Little Bill and Max & Ruby on Noggin.

Don't forget a copy of Goodnight, Moon and I think Sondra Boynton books are great, they are fun to read.
I also like those Look and Find books, they do make them for toddlers!

Wargod
Moderator

07-16-2001

Thursday, March 06, 2008 - 12:53 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Wargod a private message Print Post    
No kidding Jim. LOL, the most ironic part of the story though, years later when she was I dunno, 16-17, her boyfriend (now husband,) had been over visiting and she walked him out to his mid 70's van, ya know, one of the big ones! She had been leaning in the window talking to him and when he backed up...he ran over the same foot. She started to scream and he stopped ON her foot and then he had to get off of her foot. Went to the dr, she didn't break it only sprained it. I think that's when the hopscotch incident got really funny, that she could get run over by this big van and have a sprain yet break it playing hopscotch.

Jen/Julie, I had another thought, those little red flintstone type cars. All our little ones loved those things.

Mocha
Member

08-12-2001

Thursday, March 06, 2008 - 1:07 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Mocha a private message Print Post    
I loved the Fisher Price people with the lil plastic cars and plastic house. I had a blue and brown triangle shaped one with sliding plastic doors when I was a kid. I loved that house.

Julieboo
Member

02-05-2002

Thursday, March 06, 2008 - 1:45 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Julieboo a private message Print Post    
Mocha, so did I. I think it was called "A-Frame"--dang, now I gotta go look it up!!! I loved that house!!!



Julieboo
Member

02-05-2002

Thursday, March 06, 2008 - 1:48 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Julieboo a private message Print Post    


Spitfire
Member

07-18-2002

Thursday, March 06, 2008 - 1:50 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Spitfire a private message Print Post    
First of all I want to second the Aquadoodle...they are great!

I'm going to take a different path here.....

- Homemade playdoh is always a hit at our house. It makes a large batch which is easier than the small cartons that you get. I start out by making a road with bumps, bridges, ramps, a garage etc. and he will drive his cars for a good hour before he even thinks about getting bored.

- A shallow foil baking sheet with flour. Messy, but again a big hit. Add in some cars, measuring spoons, measuring cups and it's pure entertainment.

- Buy or make a sensory bin. Put things like pasta, beans, snow, foam pieces, magnetic fish with a magnetic pole, water (if outside) etc. You name it and they can play in it. I don't have one at home but my DCP has one and the kids will stand at that table for a very long time.

- Kids love to help bake. Stir, use the mixer, taste test.

Like Wargod said...Mom and Dad. Kids love the 100% attention and playfullness of their parents.

I will try to think of more things.

Escapee
Member

06-15-2004

Thursday, March 06, 2008 - 1:51 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Escapee a private message Print Post    
LOL I had that too! I also had the "town" and the cars they rode in. We played with those until we were at least 7 or 8. OMG we had the airplane too! ROFLMAO.

Mocha
Member

08-12-2001

Thursday, March 06, 2008 - 2:26 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Mocha a private message Print Post    
That's it Jb!!!

Mamie316
Member

07-08-2003

Thursday, March 06, 2008 - 3:41 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Mamie316 a private message Print Post    
I remember my sister having the old woman who lived in the shoe by Fisher Price and the Goldilocks and the three bears house. My mom still has both.

I think that anything Fisher Price is a winner and they really last a long time.

Cinnamongirl
Member

01-10-2001

Wednesday, March 12, 2008 - 11:19 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Cinnamongirl a private message Print Post    
I agree Mamie, Fisher Price is a great product name, as is Step 2 and Little Tikes. Can't really gone wrong with any of it.

Up thread we were talkin about vitamins and, once my son is a bit older, I'll probably give him the one a day chewable ones..right now, hes a pretty good eater so I'm not going to start yet. I know there will come a time when all he'll want is ketchup, so I'll save it for then. LOL

But a question I have now, is a simple one.. I don't eat fish. ICK! It grosses me out. If I was literally starving I might eat a tuna fish sandwich if someone else made it, with lots of onion and mayo to ward off the fish taste.. Now I know my son should be eating fish, and I wish I could help him...LOL I figure I could handle fish sticks, but when I go to the frozen food section, they have so many different varieties it makes my head spin.. Since I won't be taste testing them...Is there a tried and true Fish Stick out there?? What do you guys use??

Scooterrific
Member

07-08-2005

Wednesday, March 12, 2008 - 11:39 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Scooterrific a private message Print Post    
Vande Kamps or Gorton are good!