Big Letters
Whitespike, these just went up for auction on ebay for a very reasonable price. Perhaps you could spell out "architect" and leave it over his crib like a subliminal message. 🙂
http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-MATTEL-TUFF-STUFF-ALPHABET-BLOCKS-EAMES-ERA-...|65%3A10|39%3A1|240%3A1318
Oooh, congrats!
I have a newish grandson, 7 months now, and he's a lot of fun.
You only asked about toys and books but may I also suggest Target and Old Navy for inexpensive, all-cotton, well-designed clothing? It's hard to find boy stuff that isn't sports-themed or he-man type stuff ("Daddy's Lil' Bruiser" type crap) but Target has some decent stuff in amongst the junk and Old Navy pretty much always has some good stuff.
Right now Old Navy has some Charley Harper graphic tshirts, books and toys that are really nice. The T's are on sale, even!
http://www.oldnavy.com/browse/product.do?cid=43645&pid=632038&scid=63203...
Charley Harper
Most of the Charley Harper stuff is online only. The Tshirts are on sale right now (did I mention that?). Go ahead and buy in all sizes. In winter you can put them on him over a long-sleeve onesie.
The ABC and 123 board books are great. The puzzle(s?) are ok. The memory game is really nice and I think the flash cards are nice, too.
Here's my grandson looking impossibly cute and hip in his CH shirt over an Old Navy onesie:
Dwell stuff
The Dwell stuff at Target is pretty nice. My daughter got the crib bedding there. It's reasonably priced given what it is, as opposed to the Dwell Baby stuff which is ridiculously overpriced.
Babies outgrow clothes and toys and things long before they wear out so it's smart to buy inexpensive things. I am envious of the choices new parents have these days. When my first was born in 1981, every single damn baby garment except for Tshirts was 100% polyester! I made PJs for my infant and even then it was really hard to find all cotton knit fabrics. It was all because of the flame retardant sleepwear laws. And now we hear that the chemicals that make fabric flame-retardant are not so great against babies' skin. HMPH.
Have fun shopping!
Highchair
Here's a great Nanna Ditzel highchair just listed on ebay. What rocking chair did you and Mrs. Whitespike finally decide on? When is baby coming? Give us the update, Pops.
http://cgi.ebay.com/50s-NANNA-DITZEL-danish-modern-TEAK-Childs-HIGH-CHAI...|65%3A10|39%3A1|240%3A1318
Congrats!
Please let me have your addy and I will send you one of the alphabets for your modern kid!
http://blueartstudio.blogspot.com/
House Industries...
has some AWESOME Girard-related items that, unfortunately, are ASTRONOMICALLY priced. These blocks are somewhat reasonable but...COME ON HOUSE!! We have a few of the Girard dolls "on display" in our newborns Girard-themed room but she probably won't get to PLAY with them.
http://www.houseind.com/objects/girardobjects/alexandergirardalphabetblo...
Thinking toys
Thinking toys are the way to go - things that encourage creativity, problem solving, and ingenuity. Remember, your child is going to need these skills to evade you when they become a teenager, so it's best to get them on track now.
Digging back I remember my favorite toys being things that could be built: My father (a carpenter) made a big set of wooden blocks for us to play with when we were fairly young. Memory tells me that they were not colored, which I think speaks to the above about saturating kids with brightly colored objects. And, there was no particular 'value' assigned to any particular block because of color.
The wooden blocks led to Lincoln Logs, Erector Sets, Constructs and Legos. These toys were kept in large bins - something I think was important in terms of us kids building what we wanted, rather than being dictated by the pictures on the boxes.
Interestingly enough all of my siblings, myself included, now have very rich creative lives that overlap with, and sometimes are, our carreers. Not saying that had anything to do with parenting but I thought it was a neat coincidence. 😀
are we there yet?
Soon, right?
There's a mod-style high chair by Boon that is very functional and looks better than most. No, it's not a gorgeous vintage Nanna Ditzel, but it's very easy to clean and has a tray that comes off with just one hand. And it glides smoothly across the floor, which parents like and older babies love (they can walk while pushing it across the floor). My daughter got one on Ebay for about $170, which is less than retail. It's so much better than the ones I had for my kids. Link below.
Our little grandson will be a year old next month. We're getting him the Wheely Bug bee by Prince Lionheart. Looks like a well-designed toy to me and has a lot of good reviews on Amazon.
Good luck with L&D, whitespike! Keep us posted, please!
http://www.amazon.com/Boon-Flair-Pneumatic-Pedestal-Highchair/dp/B000G80O4I
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