Eli's Big Brother Gift

With Addisyn's arrival, Taryn & I wanted to surprise Eli with a Big Brother Gift, so that he had something special just for him amid all of the new-baby craziness.

We were considering one of the red plastic cars that kids can climb inside and "drive". There were a ton of them at SuperFranks - the adventure-time playland that we took Eli to early in January. He spent a lot of time in them, and really seemed to enjoy them. Plus, his daycare has two, and we've caught him driving them around the track when picking him up in the afternoon.

But then Uncle Kendall, Aunt Nicole and Cousin Ariel came by, bringing with them a Disney Princess tent/tunnel. Eli loved crawling through the tunnel and popping in and out of the tent surprising Ariel and the rest of us. Seeing the look on his face, recognizing how much he enjoyed having a space of his own to hide and play - it sealed the deal.

We went looking for a more manly option than the Disney Princess tent. There were Cars-themed tents, Dora the Explorer-themed tents, a tent that looked like a tree ... but as soon as we saw the Buzz Lightyear Spaceship, we knew it was the right choice.

For Christmas, Eli got both Buzz Lightyear and Woody - and he hasn't put them down since. And he's seen the newest Toy Story movie a number of times (making us laugh out loud when, every time, during the opening scene where Woody is on top of the train and starts fighting ninja-style with Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head, he jumps up, points and starts yelling "uh oh! uh oh!")

So here's the Spaceship. There are the two tunnels on the sides (which Eli quickly learned to shut and open by himself, so that he can lock himself in). On the back there are three little holes where we can drop in toys, or reach in to grab him and play. In the front the picture of Buzz Lightyear is a see-through mesh, so that we can make faces. It's pretty cool. We brought it home, set it up, and had it all ready when he walked in the door. His face lit up immediately and he made a run for it - not coming out for a solid 2 hours!

We also bought him a 4-pack of the Disney/Pixar Cars. He has Lightning McQueen, The blue Dinoco Car, and 2 other racers. He takes these everywhere with him too, just like Buzz and Woody ... and Elmo, Big Bird and Cookie Monster ... and his Star Wars Potato Heads ... the list keeps getting longer.

But I guess the Lightyear Spaceship also makes for a great 3-D race track.