Both the kids' birthdays are this summer: Evan in July and Chloe in August. So we've been trying to figure out what to get them this year and also what to tell others when they inevitably start asking.
I thought if I blogged about it, it would help me. Here's what they are into right now.
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Evan loves Legos.
He especially loves Star Wars Legos like droids and ships. (He plays the Lego Star Wars video game with Todd and has only seen bits and pieces of Episode IV -- keeping it kid-friendly here. Because of that, he doesn't know yet that Darth Vader becomes good later on, and is sort of "scared" of him. Sort of.)
He loves Star Wars stuff that isn't Legos too.
He says he wants to collect Lego Creator sets. These are just small containers of about 40 pieces with instructions for three different models using those pieces. We've gotten him two other sets like this for previous birthdays and he really wants more.
He has an interest in any set involving building -- K'nex, Magnetix, Lego Technic, and things with gears.
A love of Superman has developed recently. (He learned about Superman from a comic-type book at the library and has never seen the movies.) He says he would love to be able to dress up like him or have a Superman action figure. Do they even make those little pajama sets with the velcro cape anymore??
He has expressed an interest in piano lessons. I have a really beat up copy of the John W. Schuam Pre-A piano course book, but a new one would be a treasure to Evan. It has a white, green and black cover.
His favorite book we've read so far has been
Stuart Little. It's at the library, but there is something special about owning your favorite ones.
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Chloe loves animals, especially horses, rabbits and dogs. She has a few realistic plastic animals (similar to Schliech but not that brand) and really likes when she has a "family" of something -- a mom, dad and baby.
She loves drawing. We have all kinds of art supplies (pencils, markers...) but we always need new spiral bound blank drawing sketchbooks or Dover coloring books with the realistic pictures in them.
A new Doodle Pad would be great. Our very old one is ready for the garbage can. It was travel sized and so well loved.
Thomas the Train is still a favorite. We collect the wooden track sets (we don't often buy the 'Thomas brand' stuff) and lots of brands are compatible with what we have especially things like tunnels and bridges.
She would like an umbrella of her very own.
She plays with Playmobil toys quite often and loves the horses and colts best -- any addition to this collection would be a lovely treat.
Hair bows and clips are something she treasures, preferably small-ish and sparkly, but not princess-y.
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They both love puzzles (preferably with realistic or artistic pictures instead of cartoons). Evan is doing ones with about 60 pieces and Chloe 30).
They both love exploring outside and would love things like a butterfly net, magnifying glass or field guides about birds, trees or flowers.
They both love Mary Poppins the movie and also the soundtrack, neither of which we own yet.
They both love Matchbox cars. They play with them everywhere -- inside, outside, in the rice box, on the car ramp downstairs.... Can't get enough of these.
They both love books, although I don't know what to put on a list since we frequent the library weekly and find most of what we want there. One book I adore from my own childhood that none of our local branches has is
Miss Suzy about a squirrel. I should find that one.
They both have plenty of clothes right now, but here are there sizes anyway:
Evan wears size 5 (not 5T) pretty comfortably and sometimes a 6 depending on if the brand runs small. His shoe size is 11. His favorite colors are green and brown.
Chloe wears size 3t comfortably in shirts and is ready for 4t in pants. Her shoe size is 8!! (finally growing!!) Her favorite colors are ... loud and flashy ;-)
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Alright, that was actually helpful to me. Hopefully to some of you too!
Posted by Bree
This window time seems so peaceful in a photo, but it is all noise as the kids yell "BYE DAD!!!! Have a good day!!!! Drive home safely!!!! SEE YA!!! LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
