Hot Christmas Toys of 2009

Is it ever too early to start thinking of the holidays? Shopping for that perfect gift, planning festivities, writing out your Christmas cards... yikes... there's a lot to do!!

Every year, people starting buzzing about what the hot christmas toy will be. And that's a great question. Many moms, like myself, want to get a head start and perhaps beat the crowds and get that hot christmas toy. So: what ARE the hot Christmas toys of 2009? I've put together a list that I hope will help all you early shoppers!

Fisher Price Elmo Live Encore : What would a hot Christmas toy list be without some mention of an elmo doll. It looks like this toy is currently in stock at most major retailers, but who knows for how long. Black Friday (biggest shopping day of the year - isn't far off.

Zhu Zhu Pets : Wow is all I can say about this toy. Again, there always has to be a toy on the list that makes all adults scratch their heads. I guess you get a hamster without having to feed it and clean up after it. It moves and kids can buy all sorts of accessories for this faux hamster - including a car. Right now, Walmart, Target, and Toys R Us are out of stock - the only place to get it is Amazon - which is fine by me...it's where I do most of my christmas shopping anyway.

Fisher Price Smart Fit: This commercial makes my son go CRAZY. He really wants this and I think for under $45 (@ Amazon), that's not a bad price. It would be great to get him to wear some of his energy off when we're stuck inside all winter!

Fisher-Price Kid Tough Digital Cameras : I'm quite intrigued by this one. It seems like it's about as close to the real thing as you can get, without paying a ton of money. Durability is key as is it's realism. My son received a camera last year as he love taking pictures, but it didn't have the screen on the back to preview the picture. This camera from Fisher-Price does.

Fisher Price Laugh & Learn Learning Farm : I love this one. It's the newest version of their Laugh & Learn Home, which entertained my son for a LONG time. If I already didn't have that one, I would so get this. It's a REALLY great toy and I would highly recommend putting this on your hot toys list this year.

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Product Review: LeapFrog® Learn & Groove Musical Table

"Wow" is all I can say about LeapFrog® Learn & Groove Musical Table
. When I first bought this for my firstborn - I was hoping my hubby wasn't going to get upset for buying it. Not that it's THAT expensive or anything, but our living room looked like Toy R Us threw up in it. Having the first grandchild in my family means he was incredibly spoiled to the point where it seemed like he had every product in the Fisher Price catalog.

I think he was about 9 months when I bought this and he instantly fell in love with it. Each little component makes a different sound or lights up. It's difficult for the kiddies to get bored with this one. What's nice, too, is that it has two different volume settings - because heaven knows that you can only tolerate hearing "Red! Green! Blue" so many times before you start getting the sounds into your head. (Although getting any song from "The Wiggles" is much worse).

Another benefit is that the legs can be removed very easily (just a click away) and you can lay the table top down flat for infants that can sit well but aren't great at standing or pulling themselves up just yet.

Durability: my kids reallyput this to the test. The climb on top of it, hit it with (toy) hammers, anything you can think of. It truly stands up to the test! Finally - a toy that last for more than one toddler. My 8 month old is now playing with it and loves it just as much as his older brother.

The only negative thing about this toy (and this could just be ours) but sometimes it'll just start making a sound like someone is playing with it. (Yes - I do say that it's possessed). And it FREAKED out my son in the middle of the night. I just have to make sure that it gets shut off when he's done using it. All in all, it was a great mini investment.

It also made me have to move all the baby toys out of our living room - a blessing in disguise. ;)

View more information about: LeapFrog® Learn & Groove Musical Table