Norah's 2-year-old Christmas presents.

Hello! Toy reviews are such fun, I think. Here are some of Norah's Christmas presents this year! (We are blessed with very generous family, so we definitely don't buy her all this ourselves. She is the first and only grandchild on both sides currently, so she's showered with love!) While every kid thinks it's fun to open presents and Norah is no different, it was neat to try to teach her about the true meaning of Christmas, Christ's birth, and to teach her about giving. We let her help give presents to friends and family and delivered lots of plates of Christmas cookies! It was fun to do her advent calendar with her this year and watch her read along with the stories each day. (Here's a Christmas post about her advent calendar and other holiday items.)

1. KidKraft Waterfall Junction Train Set and Table- This was one of the big gifts she got from my parents this year. It's really neat! We thought a train table would be a great "big" gift because she can use it for many years to come, as well as the twins! It took Kley a long time (like two hours) to assemble it, so beware, but it's really neat and great quality. It has lots of fun pieces. It's also pretty large, so you definitely have to make sure you have space for a train table, but we had room in our basement. If we didn't have a basement, then I would have thought of another idea, because it takes up a decent amount of floor space. When I was searching for the link for this one, tons came up, so I guess they have lots of train tables, but my mom got this one at Costco.

2. American Girl Bitty Baby Doll and Accessories Set- This was her other big gift from my parents. She loves this one too! She got a Bitty Baby (one that looks like her) for her first birthday, and my mom thought it would be fun to get her another one so she could have her own twins (since we are expecting twins soon). It was a great idea, and she loves carrying her "twins" and "two babies" around. The accessories that came with her are adorable too! I wanted to her her an African American doll for diversity. 

3. American Girl Bitty Baby's High Chair- Norah's aunt/uncle gave her a high chair for her dolls, and it's super cute! She loved it and had to feed them right away. At first she put it right by the Christmas tree, which was adorable, but then we suggested putting it right by her play kitchen for easy access to food and she settled for that idea. :)

4. Fisher Price Little People A to Z Learning Zoo- This was her bigger gift from us. (She actually hasn't even opened this yet- us mean parents. She had plenty of presents over Christmas, so we decided to save this for a blah winter day later when she needs a pick me up!) She has a lot of the Fisher Price farm things, but not much about zoos, so I thought this would be fun! Each animal has what letter it starts with on it, and then you can match it to it's spot on the mat, so I love the educational aspect too.

5. Play-Doh Starter Set- Norah has only played with play-doh a couple times, but has enjoyed it and loved cutting it with a plastic knife, so I knew this would be a hit. This was the gift from us she chose to open first!

7. Melissa and Doug Birthday Party Cake- Norah got several different Melissa and Doug food kits, so her kitchen will be well stocked for all occasions. Such fun!

8. Melissa and Doug Flip & Serve Pancake Set

9. Melissa and Doug Pizza and Sandwich Combo Meal Felt Set

10. Learning Resources Snap Cubes- When I taught preschool, unifix cubes were popular. I love that they are small for easy storage, yet you can do lots of educational things with them like practice colors, counting, patterning, etc. They seemed a bit hard to find, though. These looked similar to my favorite kind when I taught, but upon ordering they feel like they are made out of cheaper plastic, but they will definitely do. 

11. Fisher Price Little People Tow n' Pull Tractor- We got her this to go along with the farm and animals that she already has. She loves pointing out tractors when she sees them (which is pretty frequently since we live in small town Iowa), so I think it will be a hit!

12. Pottery Barn Metal Shopping Cart- Norah got this from her grandparents, and it is definitely one of her favorite gifts. She has been wheeling it around ever since she got it! She loves to go to the grocery store and get her "own cart," so she was beyond excited to have her own! I put her name on the chalkboard part in gold alphabet stickers and it's super cute!

13. Bitty Baby Darling Dots Swimsuit- A cute swimsuit for her dolls!

14. Bitty Baby Mommy's Purse- Norah loves to take care of her dolls, so this little purse is great! It has two bottles, baby food and spoon, and diaper and diaper cream in it, so she's prepared!

15. KidKraft Laundry Set Espresso- This was Norah's big gift from Kley's parents. She loved this too and washed her baby's clothes right away. It goes along with the kitchen she got last year. 

16. Learning Resources Smart Snacks Shape Sorting Cupcakes- A fun way to practice shape matching! You can match the frosting to the cupcake, and then again match the shape to the correct spot in the muffin tin. I also love that it doesn't take up a lot of space!

17. My First Bible Stories Set- I love to give Norah books for her birthday/Christmas, and I bought this Bible story pack off Groupon for pretty cheap earlier in the year. They'll be perfect for this year as she gets a little older, as they are a bit more wordy than smaller board books.

18. Skywalker Trampoline 60 inch Round Seaside Adventure Bouncer with Enclosure- Norah got this from her great grandparents, and it has already received many a jump. We have to go to the basement at least once a day to jump on it (yesterday was three times!). I'm sure this thing will be well loved for years to come! It's 5 feet, so it's definitely big, but not too huge- the perfect size for the toddler years. (The weight limit is 100 pounds.) I had originally thought about getting a smaller one that just has a bar to hold onto while you jump, but I am so glad we went bigger- this will last much longer and is more fun! It's the best basement toy for cold winter days when you can't get outside but they need to do something active! It's also quite light, so it's easy to move to vacuum under and such, but it never moves while they are jumping on it. I love the netting too, for safety. I would highly recommend!