This also brings back a flashback of my own situation. I had been landscaping my backyard over the years, but in pieces and not as a whole landscape. This resulted in several disparate forms, a gazebo on a berm (circular), lawn (rectangle), and playset on bermed area (another rectangle). It wasn't until I saw a little side-bar snippet and drawing in Fine Gardening (don't remember the issue) that referenced "recieving forms". I posted here awhile back my excitement about this (see link to thread below). A recieving form is basically relating shapes to one another, be they bed shaped, lawn shapes or berm shapes so that the peices look that they "go" together, which unifies an area over a stretch of negative space. For example looking from space at the earth, it's easy to see how S. America (brazilian coast) can fit into the west coast of Africa. This type of re-structuring your lawn shape and bed shapes will help to bring together all of the areas of your backyard into pleasant spot. Also consider adding some berms for changes in elevation (assuming drainage won't be adversely impacted)to add some interest and aid in the recieving form effect. Here is a link that might be useful: Recieving forms

My 3-y-o really liked the "grandma reading on tape" book. If you do that, leave a gap after the ringing of the bell for the kid to remember that it means to turn the page, get ahold of the page, actually turn it, etc. My mom kinda rushed that interval. I give my kids a box of cereal each Christmas--something sort of fun and out of the ordinary from what we normally buy. It goes away after they eat it!!!! As he gets older, maybe you can have some category of present like this that's slightly goofy, and only grandma and grandpa give it to him. That'll give him an expectation on a SMALL scale, and reinject some intimacy into the gifts. Each year he can wonder, what weird cereal, or what weird food, or what funny pasta shape, will G&G get me this year? (and get to know someone in Kenosha, WI, or some other test market, who can send you their test-market cereals!). Or what T-shirt w/ what funny saying or great picture? So he knows the category of gift, but not the humor and thought, etc., that went into it? My grandma made my bro's their flannel & cotton pajamas. My big brother hated to wear the shirt when he slept; it got in his way. But it was comfortable, so he took to wearing it to school. My grandma thought this was funny, so she took to making him 2 shirts for Christmas every year. She went all out to find the most goofy fabric imaginable--the most babyish, pajama-looking flannel she could find. The more infantile and obviously-sleepwear-looking the design, the better. It became a little joke between them. Same grandma loved choc.-covered cherries; my dad (her SIL) loved fruit cake. They always bought them for each other for Christmas. The funny thing is, boring and predictable though it was, it was a neat little bond between then. The rest of us shied away from buying those presents; we knew Grandma loved the cherries, but we wouldn't get them, bcs that was horning in on Dad's territory. Once my dad teased her by putting the cherries (a predictable box shape & size) inside a slightly larger box--she laughed and said she'd worried suddenly she wasn't going to get any cherries! My daughter once got all excited opening a present (the gift was $$) from an aunt, because the aunt had tossed in a bag of Teddy Grahams--"look, mom, FOOD!" she cried. I was tickled to open the gift from my aunt and find the Brach's Christmas Nougats I loved but couldn't find. Those are the gifts that are intimate, I think. They're fun, and they're not too serious. but they reflect a genuine interest in the other person, and an ongoing dialogue. True, they're fleeting, but the bond isn't, and the story isn't. And truly, ANY gift will eventually end up in the landfill! At 3 he's too young to get this idea particularly, but he can identify w/ food (or juice w/ Elmo's pic on it, etc.). Also, something he'll use daily might be better--aim low instead of high--a backpack, a stepstool, slippers, a shirt w/ a big old truck on it (C.W.D. has great pictures on boys' T-shirts), a plastic cup in his fave color, etc.

We have made several long trips with our son - at six months, 10 months, one year, 18 months and 22 months. (If I remember all the trips right...) All kids are probably so different on what gets and holds their attention, but for our son books were the ticket. I would look for books with lots of flaps to lift or the musical books - anything different and 'busy.' I would buy about 5 or so books and give him a new one whenever he seemed bored. One time we went through four books in an hour - I was worried about that trip - but the 4th book held his attention the rest of the trip there and back! Your son is at an odd age for toys, I think. Or at least, I have found that to be an odd age for our son. He is too old for 'baby' toys but too young for other ones. If he likes trucks - our son has a Fisher Price set of four stacking trucks - each one has a different noise or function. They cup inside each other so they wouldn't take up much room in your vehicle. If you live in an area with a teacher supply store, you might want to check out toys there. I have gotten my son some great educational toys that are so different than you find at the department stores. I always have people ask where I found one item or another. They would probably have some primary puzzles that he could do with some help. Also - we try to schedule our stops either at Cracker Barrel or a shopping center with a Barnes and Noble bookstore in it. I am not a big fan of CB's food, but it is a great kid-friendly place and you can sit and rock while your son stretches his legs. Our son is a big Thomas the Train fan and most B&N have train tables set up in their kid's book section - another great place for them to get our and walk around for awhile. Best wishes. ~ Suzie

Oh how cool is that! I am going to bat this around with my sister-- these outdoor/nature ideas are interesting because it fits their lifestyle-- but as my sister said the other day, last year he was content with a bucket and rocks. This year he's a very busy boy.. perhaps too busy for these kinds of activities just yet. I am not the expert on toddlers so I'll talk to my sister. In the meantime, I think I have a great bag going! (and SHE still needs ideas for easter basket and birthday so she may just use some of these also). Again, thank you all for the ideas.. there are many holidays so what I don't use for this birthday will surely be helpful at Christmas and next year!