When my first was starting to eat solids, I bought myself this Baby Bjorn Plate and Spoon set. The plate is nice, but the spoons are extraordinary. They are perfectly sized for small hands, and the spoon is deep enough to actually pick up food, unlike many other toddler spoons. They are truly the best spoons I’ve ever used, but ... Read More »

Yesterday morning, the Today Show featured the Musical Nutcracker Dress by Acting Out, and right on time, the UPS truck rolled up with our first shipment. When I first heard about musical dress-up I was very wary. Dress up is one of the most open-ended, creative play activities, and I wasn’t sure that adding music could really improve the experience. ... Read More »

When I was pregnant with my first daughter, I was freelancing as a writer, working on a catalog for a posh epothecary on Newbury Street. This was my introduction to Mustela, and by the time Audrey was born, I was an avid fan. I particularly loved the wipes, which are thick and soft with a very gentle fragrance. As it ... Read More »

Last week, a customer came in and asked if we carried a game called Buy Word. She was shocked that we’d never heard of this game, which was recently named Game of the Year by Games Magazine. We never want to be out of the loop, so I did some research and eventually ordered this game, which has won so ... Read More »

I know I’m not alone on this one. Both times I’ve watched my babies learn to crawl, I’ve cringed at the wear and tear on their knees. So when I found these baby kneepads at the ABC show, I stopped in my tracks. The Snazzy Baby Knee Pads are not too thick; they have just enough padding to provide a ... Read More »

Ever since Magic Beans opened, our Thanksgiving weekends have been a bit different. We still have lots of turkey and family time, but we also spend late nights in the store, remerchandising, cleaning and getting prepared for the Holiday season. Don’t cry for me, though. When I was a kid, I used to dream about being locked in a toy ... Read More »

In the beginning, bathtime is so simple. It’s you, the baby and the washcloth with a bit of warm water, and maybe a rubber duckie or two. But as babies grow into toddlers, the bath toys begin to take over the tub. In our house, it’s completely out of hand, and every night the cleanup is a total drag. But ... Read More »

With all the mayhem surrounding the release of the XBox 360, it’s nice to see an interactive, indoor baseball game where the most complex technology is a spring-loaded mechanism that propels the batter. The Franklin Park Stadium Baseball Game, by Franklin Sports, feels a bit like a relic, but that’s partly why it is so appealing. Players can employ a ... Read More »

Amen, sister. The current issue of Newsweek features the Rody on their Tip Sheet for great toys for this holiday season. This inflatable rubber horse is a personal favorite of mine, not to mention my kids, and it is one of my top recommendations for kids between the ages of 1 and 4 (Newsweek says 2, probably because it can ... Read More »

Keeping warm on a cold day is never easy, but parents get to worry about it twice over, once for themselves and once for their kids. There are a lot of products on the market designed to keep babies warm in their strollers and/or car seats, but most of these are sized to fit babies and young toddlers, leaving older ... Read More »