Some of E's new toys

Well, they're not necessarily new anymore, but Gramma reminded me she never saw pictures, so I thought I'd better oblige her.

We were kind of in a rut in the toy department since Ethan had outgrown all his "baby" toys that he received last Christmas and birthday, and he was getting a little bored in the playroom. Cory and I were at Costco picking up a few things and grabbed a Christmas present for Ethan from us, and picked up a play kitchen that was supposed to be a Christmas present from Nana. We got it home, and Nana decided Christmas was too far away, so we call it his half birthday present. He's a lucky kid.

He loves the thing. It has drawers and cabinets to open and empty, silverware to hide in the couch cushions, buttons to press, and a bunch of fake food to chew on. It also has a stove that knows if you're using the sauce pan or the frying pan and will boil or sizzle accordingly. How smart is that??

We had to hide the telephone for awhile because apparently it was always for me or Cory, and Ethan insisted that we talk to them right that very second or he might throw a fit.


Ethan also LOVES to be outside, so we picked up this baby for cheap on craigslist:

Yeah, I know he doesn't look too thrilled in this picture, but I swear he likes it.

He loves climbing and sliding, so we thought this would be a hit.

See, proof he likes the slide.

Oh, and it also has a steering wheel. He's a fan of steering wheels. We honestly thought he'd play with it a lot more than he does, but he'd much rather carry a stick around the backyard. What can you do?


Last new thing was as much a present for me as it was for Ethan. He absolutely hates when I go in the kitchen to cook and leave him in the gated living room, so we thought maybe he'd like to help. We found a good deal on a learning tower type thing, so we went ahead and got it. Plus, it's collapsible, which is a must in my teeny tiny kitchen.

His favorite thing to do so far is stir. He also likes to have his snack in the tower, which usually gives me time to throw dinner in the crockpot.

Ah, the things they make for kids these days. We'll have to see if we can control ourselves for Christmas because there are so many cool things I'd like to get him.