The toys my kids loved the most in their first year

Lately I’ve been having a lot of fun looking over our photo albums. I guess that in itself is a monumental thing isn’t it? Photo albums. Seems most people just like to keep their photos in files on their computers these days. Now that it’s so easy to take thousands of them, many people do. …but I digress

My kids – who are now 8 and 10 years old – LOVE looking at the albums and it’s been fun remembering the things they used to do and say and it’s reminding me of Christmas gifts they really liked too.

Early on the big hit was any kind of baby carrier – my babies insisted on being held so neither of my kids were fond of being out of Mommy’s or Daddy’s arms for long I enjoyed slings and carriers where they were right on my tummy/chest for most of the day.

Then there was the baby swing. I honestly don’t know what I would have done without it. Well I guess I would have never taken my babies out of the sling actually but that would have been tough LOL! The swings allowed me a bit of time to do dishes or peel potatoes while still keeping my baby moving – my oldest especially did not like to sit still.

Once they were mobile, rolling or crawling, any kind of toy that was sturdy enough to help the kids pull to a stand was great. Mine enjoyed the Little Tykes Activity Garden pictured here – which we loved enough that I’d encourage you to search out a second hand one.

And last, the reasonably priced, but always a hit, gift I like to get for kids as they approach their first year is the Little People Zoo. Not only are the animals fun to play with but the animal sounds it makes are always a hit! Granted eventually I’d heard enough of the elephant but it sure did make the kids smile and it was a fun way to play “what does a monkey say?” and “what does an elephant say?” with them too