Before having two little boys, I had long since forgotten how important “collecting” is to children. Did you have a sticker collection too? It’s hard to find a child of the 80’s who didn’t!
However, collecting is much more than just assembling like-products. Children’s collections, whether they are stickers, stamps, cars or baseball cards, provide inspiration, knowledge and skills. They give children a sense of responsibility; a justified reason to spend their allowance wisely, and a sense of victory and accomplishment as hard-to-find items are crossed off their collector’s list.
(While I had multiple “Grape Stuff!” jelly on toast stickers, the “Looking Good!” gumball machine Scratch-n-Sniff sticker evaded me. I officially stopped collecting some 30 years ago, and it still bothers me.)
In addition to (obsessively) collecting Disney Cars 1:55 Die Casts by Mattel, the boys have recently started a new collection: Disney Planes 1:55 Die Casts by Mattel.
Yes, they’re based on the most popular characters from the movie, and are perfect for recreating all the great scenes. But if you’re looking at the figurines and thinking, “So What? They’re just planes…” – believe me when I tell you, they’re so much more….
“I’ve finally joined an exclusive club that I’ve longed to be part of. I’m an Auntie! Welcome to the world sweet baby. You are already so loved.”
And with two doting older cousins, it’s no wonder our tiny angel feels safe and secure. Sweet dreams, little one!
“It’s a great age, this “pre-cool” period. Your child wants action and adventure—to feel like a big kid. But you’re careful about what they play with—and probably looking for toys that encourage imagination as well as being fun!
We turned to Dr. Google when baby was sleeping.
Enter the 
Live in the Greater Toronto Area? Know a Thomas & Friends Fanatic?
Mike the Knight Glendragon Castle Playset
Octonauts Octopod Playset
Do your kiddos love Monsters Inc. and Monsters University? Then they’ll adore this playset, which includes Mike, Sulley, 3 doors, 2 canisters, 3 pieces of mail, mail cart, garbage can and broom – essentially, everything you need to recreate the scare floor! Fisher-Price, you’ve done it again :)
Experience what a day with Mike and Sulley would be like at the Scare Factory. Visit the mail room and help sort packages; go to the Scare floor to operate the doors moving through the factory. Place a scare canister on the holder, rotate the disk and watch it fill…
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Rolling in the sand, jumping in the shallow water, making castles with their sand buckets. It astounded me just how at home they felt on the beach. And then I looked around, and realized that all the children were having the time of their lives. Of course they were!! There is nothing better than outdoor play on a beautiful day.
My hope is that by this time next year, we’ll have made progress and Ryder will open up to everyone – not just the people he is comfortable conversing with. He is an inquisitive, intellectual and expressive little boy, and I want everyone to know the Ryder that I do. Until then, we’ll continue to introduce him to new people and new situations.
The entire show schedule can be found 
But WHY are new moms, by nature, overachievers? Are we programmed to simply want the best for our baby – or, has social pressure amplified our standards of successful parenting? Is second guessing and a guilty conscience part and parcel with raising a child, or do we bring it on ourselves as a side effect of setting the bar too high?
This is the toy:
On the Stand ’n Play Rampway, they zipped and zoomed up and down and all around! It’s over two feet tall, so the Wheelies really would zoom down each of the two spiral ramps. Ryder and Reid adored the lights and sounds as the cars “drove” around, with a mechanic’s lift, a place to fill ’er up, a sign that spins when a car drives through. Bonus: it was one of the few toys they could enjoy together, as they each took turns launching their Wheelies down the ramp.
Well, that was that. He fell hard for Princess Ariel and wanted everything to do with the world of The Little Mermaid. (I didn’t have the heart to tell him she was already taken.) In fact, at the Art of Animation’s gift shop, my husband and I were both surprised when he walked straight to the Ariel figurine and pointed – “Her.”
– The toys have been tried & tested through the years, and year over year have been favourites of moms, not just in Canada, but globally.
As only parents will tell you – OVERnight takes on a whole new meaning once you’ve had children. OVERnight can include screams, cries and padded feet across the hallway. Wet beds, dry coughs and hollers of I’m thirsty! Tooth fairies, closet monsters and kicks in the back while you co-sleep. Midnight feedings, bedtime stories and resisting the urge to take their temperature just one more time.
For bedtime reading you’ll want to load the E-Story on a tablet, as there are interactive features which allow the child to connect with Thomas and his friends. And there’s no fancy registration or sign-up involved; simply input your desired name and start reading. Bonus: each month, Thomas will launch a new E-Story! So you’ll always have new tales to share with the kiddos, and less repetition = happy storyteller. At the moment, you can choose from “A World of Imagination” or “Let it Snow”.