I wound up buying the Sit’n'Stroll by Lilly Gold, it is one of the only products on the market that attempts to combine a car seat and stroller. It isn’t a great car seat and it isn’t a great stroller, but it’s light, fairly easy to use and did its intended job.

But when my son was old enough to face forward (1 year or over 20 pounds) he did not fit in the seat anymore even though it is supposed to be for up to 40 pounds. My car is a 2001, the year before they started making the latch system. If I had the latch system I think it would of worked. I wound up returning it for store credit.

Our next big family trip was to Mongolia. This time we brought his regular car seat, due to the incredibly poor state of the roads in the countryside and the amount of car time we would have, and a Go Go Kidz TravelMate. The product converts your car seat into a fairly effective stroller. This worked out very well, and I would recommend it.

Check back for a list of travel tips for families. Particularly if you are interested in traveling in developing nations!

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My hands down, all-time favorite online toy store is Oompa. It has an awesome selection, free shipping for orders over $65, and orders under $65 ship for a flat $4.95. You really can’t go wrong with anything from this place. It offers the good European brands like Haba and Selecta, most of which are not made in China, if that worries you. Haba does manufacture a few things there, but the nice thing about Oompa is it tells you where the toy is designed and also where it’s made. Oompa’s motto is this mother’s dream come true: no batteries, no blinking lights, no cartoon-themed toys. Period. It also has a wish list you can make and send to the grandma. Fabu.

My mom got my son a doll house made by Plan Toys. He loves it, calls it “playing family.” He’s two and I wanted one that wasn’t all pink and purple, like the ones his girl friends have; I didn’t want to discourage doll play, but for his father’s sake I didn’t want him to do it in pink!

I also got some nice wooden teething things from Plan Toys when he was little.

Another favorite are the Fantasy Blocks from Haba. He’s been playing with these almost daily for the past year. I added the Gedulsteine and Discovery Blocks set and it has worked out great. The Kaleidoscopic blocks and the Mirror blocks look cool too. He loves his Haba Ball Track, but he likes anything with a ball. The best toy we have is a basket filled with balls: wiffle, nerf, squish, any kind, different sizes–there’s at least 30. We dump’em, golf’em, hit’em. And he’s got rubber bases too, which is great if your kid likes baseball.

Grandma just got him Variola from Selecta. I found it’s not for carpet; much better on hardwood floor if you put a rubber no-slip mat underneath.

Another great toy he just received is the Your Body Boy Puzzle from Beleduc, a German company, though the toy is made in China. Totally worth it though. He loves it. It’s designed for 3+, but his dexterity is good and he can do the whole thing. We’ve been talking about how food goes in the mouth and what it does before it comes out as poop, and this puzzle puts a nice graphic to what’s inside.

I don’t love Melissa & Doug toys because the paint seems to chip a lot. Also they are made in China, so who knows how safe that chipped paint is? I’ve tested a few of his M&D toys for lead and none have had it, but still I don’t like the idea of all the chipped paint. And yet some of their stuff is great, and for a toddler who isn’t also teething on the toy, they’re at least an affordable, nonplastic alternative. Also, M&D have some great toys which you can’t find elsewhere. His favorite is the fishing game. He got this from Nik for his 1st birthday. She figured he could grow into it since the age is 3+. But he was doing the game by the end of the day, and it’s been over a year and he still asks to “play fishing” almost every day. Now we fish and count them, and line them up and name them and their colors. It’s a really simple magnetic game that you can take places. He also loves magnets. And speaking of magnets a great building magnet toy that you don’t have to worry about the magnets falling out (have to be careful about this, kid swallows two of them, they’ll join together through their intestines and stuff. Bad news.) or the balls getting swallowed is Magneatos. They’re plastic and made in China but hey with 80% of the toys made there you do the best you can. Anyway they make a jumbo set with balls 2″ diameter so your toddler can build and your 6 month old won’t choke.

I also like the “Take-A-Part Truck” by Battat. My boy got this for Christmas and he’s kind of a tool guy. (He gets that from his mom, I have a soft spot for nice power tools.) Anyway, he thinks my power drill is just the best and when he got this toy he flipped. They also make a crane and a plane but the concept is great. It comes with a “power drill” and the truck is put together with these big screws. The kid unscrews all the screws and takes the truck apart and then puts it back together. There’s even interchangeable bits and you can take the tires off too. There’s a little button on the drill to make it go righty tighty or lefty loosey. Which my kid has been talking about all holiday season since we use the old-school c7’s on our tree and he has been unscrewing them all season. Hopefully this toy will help get that out of his system by next year so we can maybe turn the tree on more?? But it’s just great and he loves it. And I love that he can do it all himself. Again the age is 3+ but if your kid has good dexterity and is past eating stuff that isn’t food, it shouldn’t be a problem. Also this toy is the one thing he wouldn’t share with his best pal, Nik’s son, both of which are great sharers so that’s saying something. Oh and with his own “drill,” I was finally able change all the pulls in my kitchen, since I could use my drill and he could use his.

Let’s see, I got grandma to get him a digital camera and he digs it. Keeps his hands off mine now which is just great. I got him this one by VTech but this one from crayola] looks a little simpler.

I think that pretty much wraps it up! Enjoy and happy playing!

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The best gift this year, in my opinion, is to lend $25 to the nonprofit Kiva, or give someone a $25 gift certificate from the organization so that he or she can choose the person they want to lend to. Best of all, when the money is paid back you can lend it to another person who needs a loan to get his or her business going. Teaching a child early on the importance of helping out those in need may stay with them their whole lives. At Kiva, you can look together through the profiles of people from all over the world who are asking for relatively small loans. The loan repayment rate is phenomonally high–near 100%. What a wonderful feeling to know that in a small way you are helping someone.

One of my all-time favorite gifts is a solar powered rainbow maker that attaches to your window. Over the years, we’ve bought these for more than half a dozen of our friends and family. They’re simple to use and can really brighten up your morning!

How about you? Do you have any suggestions for neat gifts this year? We’d love to hear them!