[lunarmagic]

Okay, so everyone dish: what did your kiddo get? What are their favorites? What ones make you go all "Huh?!"

::

Kate's favorites are her little people amusement park, the fisher price tea set, the aquadoodle mat, and the meowsic keyboard. She also got a Leaptop, which would have been a huge hit but she already has one (and plays with it every day still).

Others of note are clothes, books, and a wooden puzzle. Great stuff.

Oh, and I got a digital photo frame from FIL which I am so so excited about, and DH ordered my new car stereo! Can't wait for that!!

We had an excellent Christmas, everything went well, Kate was well behaved, good food, time with family. I love Christmas.

[-erin-]

From the inlaws Juliet got a big easel! It's kinda big for her (and takes up lots of space), but I think she'll like it. She has already colored a bit with it. Oh and a Santa Mr Potato Head!
From us, she loves her Little People Zoo and her travel size magna doodle.
From my mom, she got a play kitchen and all the accessories. We're working on how to "pretend eat" stuff since she's teething like crazy these days.

Tonight we're off to see my dad's family. Then we can be done with Christmas and return to normal life.

No duplicates and nothing that made us wonder really

[edgeofelise]

Oh man. Eliza got play food and the wooden mixer I was really excited to give her. My mom got her a wooden cookware set and that was a big hit. Tons of art supplies--some color wonder markers and paper which she wasn't too excited about. Crayons, finger paint and paper, aquadoodle mat (she LOVES that, and the grown-ups had fun with it too, lol) play-doh, and more that I can't really think of right now. She's not ready for a lot of it. I got her a tabletop easel but it's not here yet.

She also got a Little People treehouse and she went nuts over it, kissing the "babies" and the unicorn. She got some megablocks which are also awesome. Opa got her a leaptop, but she's not into it.

The only "huh?" present was a little activity table that makes all kinds of noise, the kind all the babies had when they were first pulling up and standing. It's WAY too young for her. It was her big gift from DH's parents. I think they just saw the recommended age range (9-36 months) and since they don't spend that much time with Eliza they thought it'd be fine. They got my niece this freaking awesome music set with drums and a piano and stuff, and I'm not gonna lie--I was a little jealous, lol. Oh well, she'll play with it for a minute and we'll pass it on to a friend until the next kiddo comes along.

My mom got me an awesome 75-300mm lens for my camera, so I'm completely stoked about that! DH's parents gave me a Coach purse, which I neither love nor hate, and it's a good size so I might actually use it. I get a purse at every gifting occasion, and I never use them.

[rebeccabaltimore and more]

Easel, trampoline, amazing train table complete with track set, a few Thomas trains, a power wheels, a Thomas book, a Leaptop, a swingset, a pretend tool workshop, big building blocks made out of stiff colored cardboard (I had a set as a kid), some Melissa and Doug toy that involves whacking pegs with a hammer, a Hot Wheels tub toy,a toy you can play hide and seek with, a Little People car and track, some books, a Chuck truck, a stuffed animal that does NOT make annoying noises and/or light up, a plush Thomas (***?) and there are a bunch of little gifts from me and Dan he hasn't even opened yet.

I know, I know, that is a crapton of toys. But my parents are wealthy,and their #1 favorite thing to do with their money is spend it on the ones they love. They splurged on their non grandkids too. I got some nice stuff!

[Danielle.W]

Lyrics by far favorite gift was his football. 2nd to that was this color your own car and person thing. He LOVES coloring.

Valley got a lot of art stuff. Some that I totally love like canvas and paints and some that I hate like moon sand and weird toys/art stuff like that. She says her favorite was her new pet balls (zoobles)

John got me stackable mom rings and I paid for his lasik procedure.

[sarahp]

We got Zoe a Cabbage Patch doll and a Graco playset which comes with a stroller, car sear, and a frame that uses the car seat to turn into a swing or high chair. She LOVES it. She's been carrying "Katie" around, pushing her everywhere in the stroller, and feeding her in the high chair.

She got from DHs family a cash register (which has already stopped working...) some Melissa and Doug food, and a shopping cart. She hasn't opened the cart yet - waiting to Skype with DHs sister before we open it, but I know she'll love that too.

She also got some books from my mum and some pajamas that are too small (d'oh!), a Sigg water bottle from a friend, and a huge teddy bear that she loves. We ask what teddy's name is and she says "Zoe" - ha! I think she got a lot of cool stuff without going overboard. I really need to clear out some of the baby toys though to make some room.

[survey77777]

Let's Rock Elmo he received a few days before xmas and he LOVES "Melmo". We need to know where he is and what he's up to at all times. He gets Melmo going and the takes the drums or his piano/xylophone thing he got and sits across from him jamming along like they're in a band together.

Yesterday he got a shopping cart, a Dr. kit, a drum set, and a rc car from us/santa. He loves the shopping cart and keeps all of his belongings in it. Melmo goes for many rides. The drum set is a huge hit...and I'm scared...really, really scared. I will try to remember to post a video of that one. He was terrified of the rc firetruck all day yesterday and would run screaming from it. Today he is warming up to the controller part of it anyway. Dr. kit is also a hit.

I finally got a sewing machine and I'm so excited. My sister bought me a beautiful wool blanket in Ireland and it's so gorgeous that I live in terror of what GG might do to it. A spa g/c is also very much appreciated

Extended family gave him a cute frog hat, a wooden race car that we all love, little people race thing (I think), a wooden train that's really cool, a slingshot sock monkey (for mommy), a sockmonkey jack in the box, TAG jr and several books, a zoobie. There's not one thing he doesn't absolutely love.

[aussie_mama22]

We got Ashton a big Woody Doll, like from Toy Story. He loved his cousins so I thought I would get him one, despite the age range for it. He's not really into toys so it was tough, but we also got him a couple of tonka trucks that he likes. My mum got him a little tikes car that he loves.

Rylee's favourite by far this year is her ipod touch.

[lunarmagic]

Ooohhh, Danielle, so exciting about the new lens!!

All the kids got great stuff! Gives me ideas for more things to get Kate, hahaha.

[BobbityBoo]

Kate got her play kitchen, a Minnie Mouse pillow pet and the CUTEST Minnie Mouse slippers. Then she got a TON of clothes from MIL. MIL also bought pots and pans and a tea set, but they are really cheap but made of metal and ceramic. We put up the tea set part afraid they would break and a sliver would get lodged in someone's foot or eye.

The two things I absolutely hate is the Shark swimmer DH got DS. I don't think he realized how dang big that thing is. Kate is terrified. The other thing is that Moon Dough! That stuff is awful!!

[edgeofelise]

Originally Posted by lunarmagic

Ooohhh, Danielle, so exciting about the new lens!!

All the kids got great stuff! Gives me ideas for more things to get Kate, hahaha.

Hehe, I know, now I have to learn more about my camera!

I put away three huge boxes of Eliza's old toys and blocks to calm the chaos this morning. Should be fun in six months when she's forgotten about them all! She's so obsessed with her new stuff, especially the tree house, that she had a major melt down when we left for an outing today.

[momoftwins]

Mason got Let's Rock Elmo too, along with the coordinating keyboard, microphone and guitar. All 3 kids have a blast playing with that together! He also LOOOOOVES his FP car ramp. He played with that thing non stop on Christmas day. Talk about OBSESSED! He's loving his new Geo Trax train set that the boys got to share. DH actually had to take the train away today because he was a little too into it and was getting super upset when he couldn't get past brother and sissy to play. Hehe. I think the best present was his stuffed Daisy Duck! I think I've told you guys, but he is in love with that silly duck. He gets the biggest grin on his face when he sees her on TV, then runs around yelling "Where Daisy!???" So I definitely had to get him a Daisy. He saw her in his stocking, grabbed her and kissed her! LOL! It was hilarious.

[sarahp]

Just in case anyone wants to keep prolonging Christmas, here's Zoe opening her cabbage patch kid and Graco set Christmas present opening - Katie and stroller - YouTube

[survey77777]

I don't know if I should tell you this, but...
GG was all over Zoe in that video. He had an ear to ear grin while I was trying to watch it and then started making out with my phone screen.
So cute.

[Linzie]

Xander got spoiled rotten this year. Im still reeling from what all he got.

From my parents:
A bounce&ride RadioFlyer inch worm
Garanimals wooden playset (it has SO many things in this neat wooden chest)
Huge container of bath toys

Sister:
A cute outfit

Brother:
Handy Manny & his dancing tool box
Plastic drum with removable top filled with toy cars
Lego Duplo set

Me:
Xylophone
Cars themed 9V quad (his favorite!!)
Cars themed placemate, spoon & bowl

The BF
Cars Themed table & chairs
My Pal Scout
Cars themes inflatable ball pit

BF's mom:
My First Desk/Easel (he also is in love with that)

It was a good Christmas

[sarahp]

Originally Posted by survey77777

I don't know if I should tell you this, but...
GG was all over Zoe in that video. He had an ear to ear grin while I was trying to watch it and then started making out with my phone screen.
So cute.

Haha cute! Zoe loves watching other kids on the computer too - we often watch her friends videos over and over because she gets so excited

[Linzie]

I love your accents Sarah! That's so neat! All i have is some redneck southern one i hear all the time.

I had to unwrap Xander's presents for him. I opened them up some to show him what was there, he ripped the paper a little bit, then got bored and went to play with his other toys. He'll learn!!

[MOI's Mommy]

She loved the opening of the presents this year. Made me a little sad how big she is and knew exactly what to do with no help but anyways....

Big hits were the aquadoodle mat, fur real friends puppy, our alive new toddler puppy, babies and a doll stroller, shoes and slippers, her brother's remote control stuff, and lots of cloths that she randomly carries around and tries to put on.

[misscari]

Keegan has not put his buzz light year toy down since he opened it and my sister got him a drum kit that he also loves.

He got puzzles, books, little people pirate ship, Zig the big rig, and lots of little cars to go with it. His grandparents got him a Mobigo but he mostly just pushes the buttons-we figured he may not know how to play with it for a little while.

My mom got him Rock with me Elmo and he likes it ok but has been more interested in the other items so far.

[momoftwins]

Avery and I played with Let's Rock Elmo for a good 45 minutes last night! I was on guitar and she was on the keyboard and/or the microphone. It was super fun! When she was on the mic (the one that you can buy separately) Elmo would just mouth the words, dance along and occasionally would sing a few phrases.