Infant Toys

The Lamaze toys are really fun. My friend had Celeste the Sun and we got our son Mortimer Moose. It was his favorite toy to play with for a long time. They have car seat or stroller clips on them and they rattle, squeak, jingle, crinkle, etc, and are bright and really cute. It also had a teether built in. They have about 10 or 15 different ones. I got my son's at Target about a year and a half ago, in the toddler/infant toy section (not with the other baby toys), but if you can't find them there you might find them online, or look at this link so you know what you are looking for at Babies R Us or whatever. I ham having a girl and I want to get her her own fun Lamaze toy too, it was definitely my son's most played with toy.

http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&rh=n%3A196601011%2Cp_...

A mom at Babies R Us intervened when we were looking at mats one day and recommended the Baby Einstein mat. It was almost 4 years ago, so I don't know if it's the same one today, but it was great.

Our kids favorite toys at that age (and close to 9 months) were the colored rings that lock into each other - that you use to hang things from the car carrier with. We'd connect 5-8 together, and it was the best thing for them.

All the old standards are still great. Babies don't know the difference, and the old Fisher Price toys (like the rings you put on the stand) are great. Balls, stuffed animals, etc.

One caution is that they'll quickly outgrow some toys. So if it says 18 months, buy it at 12 because they'll likely be done with it by 18 months.

Our daughter's second birthday was Saturday. Her favorite toys? 2 balls we got from WalMart and Meijer for less than $6 each.

Also, stacking cups are great! They have them at United Arts and Education in Castleton. We got ours at Pottery Barn kids (before the cost of 2 kids made us realize how expensive they are), but the same ones are available elsewhere.

The other things our kids loved early on were bath toys and the bath letters that stick to the tub.

Good luck!

My daughter's favorite toy was a taggie blanket. She loved to play with the ribbons. You can buy them in stores but I made my daughter's blanket. I used fleece and different ribbons so the "tags" would be a little longer. I also made the blanket big enough to use as a true blanket for her in the carseat. She loved wrapping up in that blanket. She still loves the blanket.
I also agree that the best toy were stacking cups. We had a set of cups that we took on trips, used in the bath and used in the pool. Our stacking cups have different sized holes in the bottom so they float in water. They are the best toy ever. My daughter is 4 years old and still likes them.

Both of my children loved the Baby Einstein gym and I know they still have it...I think I saw it at either Target or Toys R Us...they both spent many hours under that thing staring at the blinking star. The bouncy chair was also great...my oldest daughter had the fisher price aquarium bouncer and loved it but it was a hand-me-down and it didn't make it for my youngest daughter...we bought her a fisher price once with a giraffe that has 3 different things that you pull and make music, etc. and she loved that one. When they started to be able to grab at toys and look at them they really liked any type of mirror or things that make noise...rattles, crinkly books, squeaky toys, etc. Now that my daughter is sitting up really well, she loves the stacking rings and the leap frog musical table...anything that makes noise or she can manipulate. Hope that helps!

Infants don't see in color yet so the best stuff for them is in black and white. We had this book for our infant and he LOVED it:

http://www.amazon.com/Look-Peter-Linenthal/dp/0525420282/...