Toys for the baby or baby for the toys?

The other day, Matt and I were Christmas shopping on ebay. Yes, we were.

And we couldn't help typing in search terms like "Playmobil" and "Legos." After Matt found a Lego swat team and I found a set of Playmobil hedgehogs, we both pledged our little girl would have it all. Every last bit. And soon.

Almost, anyway. If any of you would've come up to us at that moment and said "Kalina wants toy hedgehogs this year" the scale would've been tipped and she'd be getting an entire Playmobil farm, followed by a cottage and a zoo, for the next five years of her life. Then, in the sixth year, she'd be old enough to play with it.

What about all our old toys stored in our parents' basements? She will have those, too. As many as we can get.

Of course, we're actually trying to convince each other she'd play with these toys much sooner. Our plan would be to remove all of the choking hazards and let her bang around the precious few remaining pieces to her heart's content. "Look, she likes it!" we'd happily exclaim to each other. "We didn't need our second car, anyway!"

Which brings us to the point that the funnest part about a baby is at times her accessories.

This, by the way, is why on some days Kalina is dressed more cutely than others. It's more fun when she resembles a cupcake.

In essence, we have a new hobby: entertaining the baby and in so doing, entertaining ourselves. By any means necessary. At any price necessary. Because she's much easier when she's amused.

We hope Kalina doesn't end up spoiled, but we think there's hardly any way she won't. Before she was born, we decided she would entertain herself with anything she finds in the yard, and the occasional stuffed animal.

After all, we did, we tell each other. Besides, she needs to learn creativity, and she won't if all of her toys are already made for her with predetermined uses. We certainly don't want a dull baby on our hands--she will learn to make her own fun and in so doing, will become even more of a super-genius than she already is. This will set her up for life.

Now that she's here, we've determined she'll only play with carefully molded plastic made in China. And lots of it.

We finally firmly told ourselves that Kalina should only receive age-appropriate toys this Christmas. Except one toy we both think looks just amazing that's recommended for 1+. She'll be fine, and we know she'll love it. After all, she's rather advanced for her age. And the toy is really cool.

Incidentally, all Kalina really wants for Christmas is to be carried around the house and allowed to touch perfectly ordinary objects like doorknobs and drawer pulls.

Sorry, Baby, we're too busy over here on ebay.