Figuring that others are going to buy him toys, I would donate to his 529 Plan college savings account.

Has he transitioned to a real bed, yet? We were asked to purchase beds for the last two GKs' second birthdays.

How about a subscription to ABC Mouse.com or another educational site. The ages listed for ABC Mouse are 2 - 7 and if he is into electronics he might enjoy learning on the computer. Our granddaughters like to learn/play on the site. I always love to give books/puzzles also.

My DD loved finger paint and bath soap crayons and stickers of all sorts at that age. That was pre-electronics, though!

How about a subscription to the Highlights mag that is geared toward that age? Or even the regular one -- not too early for parents to be reading it to him and doing the hidden objects puzzles. There is still an advantage, I think, to being exposed to print.

What a great gift, hhireno!

Thank you all for the great suggestions.

Graywings, thank you. I give money to his account also so I am looking for something besides the monetary gift. Honestly though, kids have so much stuff and savings is always a great idea!

Errant, he hasn't but I bought his crib and dresser for him and the crib converts into a bed frame. They are so not looking forward to him not being in the crib because he will want to be out of bed playing on the floor instead of napping.

Grammaj, I never heard of Mouse.com. I will definitely be looking into it. I love to gift books. He has tons of them because my two older boys passed all their books to him. One of our favorite things to do when I visit is to read one of his Llama Llama books.

Hhireno, what a wonderful idea! I am sure it was a fun project and I'll bet your nephew will have them forever! I think I may do a book of animal drawings for him. He has Spiderman sneakers that he adores so maybe I can incorporate animals and fun stuff about him!

Raee, I agree about being exposed to print. He has many books and I plan on buying him several more for his Easter basket. I subscribed to Highlights for my older DGSs and they didn't enjoy it which totally surprised me. I loved Highlights as a child and both boys are avid readers so I'm not sure why they weren't impressed. I even bought them both their own subscription so they would have their own copy. Unfortunately DD doesn't have much time to read to him as she also has five month old twins and works part time but I read to him when I'm there.

Dr. Seuss' Happy Birthday to You! "Today you are you. There is no one alive who is you-er than you."

Letter magnets.

The same place also has lacing letters or various lacing cards.

Tub crayons are fun, if the parents will not mind the color in the tub.

A bug catching kit with a butterfly net, perhaps a magnifying bug viewer.

A wind-up flashlight.

A bucket with a shovel.

When my niece was about that age I had one of these cartoon DVDs made that featured her along with her then favorite character, Dora the Explorer. She loved it and we even reminisced about it a couple of days ago. She's nearly 14 but fondly remembered her special Dora video.

I think there are quite a few places to have these made. Here's one:

http://www.kdnovelties.com/personalized-dvds/cat_15.html

You all are amazing! What a lot of great ideas.

BP I have Happy Birthday to You in my cart! Thank you so much, we will have a blast reading it!

tish, he has letter magnets but I love the ideas. Tub crayons sound like so much fun. A bucket and shovel is great too. All kids love flashlights and bugs.

Jen, thanks for the link. I think that's a great idea. I'm going to search now.

I'm so glad you started this post Holly-Kay. My DGS is also turning two soon. He loves our iphones. I hadn't thought about getting him his own tablet. Is a Kindle Fire more age appropriate for a 2 y/o?

Great ideas that I'll also be checking into. Thank you.

After his birth, a friend gave DGS a personalized book from I See Me.

I See Me

My children have loved wooden unit blocks. They get by far the most regular and long term play in our house. They are the only toy I intend to keep in case we have grandchildren.

I always found great educational toys my grandchildren loved at leapfrog. They would tell me how those were their favorites.

www.leapfrog.com/en-us/home

Ten Minutes Till Bedtime was one of our favorite books to gift at that age. Also the Hairy Maclary series (start out with Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy). Sheep in a Jeep was another favorite. I didn't like Highlights as a child, but the magazines in the Cricket family are fantastic. He would be about the right age for Baby Bug. If you're looking for an activity, making his birthday cake would be great--there are a lot of wildly colored cake mixes out there which make for a memorable time. We just made Blue Velvet cake.

Romy, IMO, yes a tablet is age appropriate. It is amazing how quickly the little ones catch on. There are, of course, parental controls on it. Amazon even has a special Kindle deal for kids. They also warranty the unit for two years with a no questions asked if they break it. I had purchased a different tablet for him at DD's request for Christmas but it didn't last a month so I bought the Fire as a replacement. I love electronics so I've always felt that the money I spent on electronics for the GC was money well spent. The I See Me books are adorable!

CRL, I've never heard of wooden unit blocks, I will Google it. I remember my children loved their Sesame Street cardboard blocks that we got them for Christmas one year. they came in flat sheets and had to be put together but they were so sturdy and yet lightweight.

Raven, my older grandchildren had many Leapfrog items. I looked at the link and think I will get him the Chat & Count Smart Phone. I just hope it's realistic enough for him. He can open the pics on Mom's phone so he can look at them and knows how to access her music. He is like a little sponge. It cracks me up to watch him swipe through the pics. He will be two y.o. on tax day but is better with electronics than his Pappy is!

RG, I remember Sheep in a Jeep. My older GS had that book and it was great fun to read! I added Ten Minutes Till Bedtime to my cart, thank you. I will ask my DD what she thinks about a subscription to Baby Bug maybe for Christmas or future birthday.

Happy birthday to your grandson! My kids have never been too into toys, but they have all loved play silks. They use them for so many things-- certainly our most-used toy. My DH questioned why I bought them when our first was 2, but he quickly saw their value. These are the most beautiful I have found and the customer service is good. Beneath the Rowan Tree

a recorded book -if he has a kindle fire he can play a book downloaded from audible. Also eating things. His own sectioned plate, fork spoon , cup

Unit blocks

Thank you for the Birthday wish Anele. The silks are beautiful. I'm not sure what he would use them for, a cape, a tent? I know he loves Spiderman so maybe a red silk that he can use as a cape? My other two grandsons loved toys but my little guy just isn't into much except mischief! He loves to interact with people and has to be communicating. I never see him playing on his own.

Aunt Petunia, I love the idea of a recorded book. He can play it on his Kindle. I gifted him with a china set and silver flatware earlier. I always felt so special when I ate off the Raggedy Ann and Andy china my DGM gave me when I was a young girl.

CRL, ooooh I like the unit blocks. That may just be something he would enjoy. I can see him having fun building and destroying and they look really sturdy.

Kids are funny. My DGS turned 2 in January, and he's just as happy playing with sticks and retractable tape measures as he is with his toys. Electronics are something else entirely and his parents have had to curb his enthusiasm with that.

Here are some gifts that were hits with him since he loves school buses and Thomas the Train Engine. Fisher Price Little People School Bus. Thomas train set and the Brio train set. My daughter got him the trains and track for Christmas. I'm not sure if both sets of trains will work on the same track. There was some question about that at Christmas. I'm not sure they do. I bought him Playhut's Thomas the Train Engine Play Hut. He loves that when they put it up.

Mega Blocks First Builders Big Building Bag. He's had that for a while now and plays with it all the time. They're kind of like the old Duplo blocks but more colorful.

They make artificial fruit and vegetables that can be "cut" with a plastic knife on a cutting board. His other GM gave him that. I was a bit leery of the knife idea but he really loved it. Get the fruit/veggies that are joined together with velcro. It makes a neat sound when you "cut" into them. I think the others use magnets.

I bought him a bright yellow slinky last week. He liked that. Good Easter Basket item.

He has a baby doll, plastic head, hands and feet, but a soft body that's he's had for over a year now. It was really cute when he was smaller and would cover the doll and pat it to sleep. The pats were pretty hard. He still takes it and his teddy to his crib every night.

I bought him a little kite which I think he'll really like, but we haven't flown it yet.

One book that I got him which I think is cute is Even Firefighters Go to the Potty.

I bought something called the Kaboost Portable Chair Booster to have at my house in lieu of a high chair. That's been working out fine now that's he's bigger. Just something to think about so you don't have to deal another high chair. Amazon sells them.

Thank you for the suggestions chickadee. Aren't grand babies just the best? I ordered tow books and a set of unit blocks from Amazon and I will give a check for his bank account.

I have an antique highchair here at the house that all my grandchildren have used and I have a small portable chair that straps to a regular chair. I will need both when the twins get old enough to sit up for meals.

Now I have Easter shopping to do for 5 grandchildren. The two older boys are easy, all I need are a few pieces of candy and an iTunes card. My toddler and the grand babies are much harder. I love the idea of a slinky for his Easter basket.

The play silks mentioned above are awesome for Easter baskets. If you get green they can substitute for the "grass." My kids have had them for years. They are fun to dance with to music (most little kid music classes will have them), play dress up with, and use in all sort of imaginative ways. Ours have been blankets for stuffed animals, and lakes for block villages, and so on.

You can also buy them on Etsy.