Shopping for Christmas

First off, sorry it's been so very long since I've last posted anything. We're expecting baby #2 and I've been very low-energy/pukey, and it's taken everything I have just to keep Alex alive and well. Lots of tv and peanut butter sandwiches for the last three months, but now I'm feeling a bit better and thought I'd get back on the blog wagon.

We decided, due mostly to family requests and our own curiosity, to do a bit of window shopping for toys for Alex. She's in need of toy upgrades to reflect her increasingly complex imagination. :) So, we headed out to a couple stores to do our thing. Here's what we learned:

Alex reeeeeeeeally likes animals. Anatomically correct animal figures = even better. Who knew there were such things?!? We found stallions with all the proper stallion bits, male and female lions with all their bits...amazing stuff, really. Can't wait until she notices all the bits and starts asking about them. That'll be fun. Anyway, in the first store, we also found many dolls that met with her approval, mostly ones with bottles she can shove into their gaping maws. Good practice for #2? Perhaps. But she needs to learn to finesse those bottles a bit before I'll consider letting her be in charge of bottle feedings.

Also much loved was a very noisy phone that rang the same ring repeatedly and spewed super-annoying phrases. Glad you like it kid, enjoy it at the store cuz it ain't coming home. Toy cars that you say "vroom" for, fine. Toy cars that talk like smart-asses and require millions of batteries, not so much. But luckily, she generally likes the things with fewer bells and whistles (literal bells and whistles and figurative ones).

Our only purchase was Play-doh. Her Play-doh had become a desiccated mass of slightly furry disgusting. And besides, she didn't have pink!

Then, off to go do more looking, this time with Daddy. I'll (slightly) fictionalize his trip to a big box toy store with a backwards "r" in the name. My impressions of the trip:

Jeff - "Omigosh Sweetie, look at this!!! It's a castle that changes into a dragon that changes into a robot that changes into a thumb drive!!!!!! My head's going to explode!!!!! This is sooooo cool!!! I want two!!!!!!!!"

Me - "That's really neat Sweetie. Did you see anything for Alex? Where is she, anyway?"

Jeff - " She's looking at Wiggles toys. Holy &*$%, look at -that- dragon! Do you think, ummm, Alex would like that? Hang on, let me grab her and show it to her."

Me - "You do that. I'm going to look at some baby dolls. Oh gross, do you stink, or is that her?"

Yes, I think Jeff would agree that pretty much sums it up. We did find more exciting toys for Jeff and a few for Alex. Even got her some "jungle" animals. Including a bear. Looks like a brown bear. What the heck jungle it's from, I have no idea. But whatever. Surely Animal Planet knows where different animals live.

Anyhoo, now we know what Alex would like for Christmas.