cool birthday gifts

Quint's aunt came to visit this weekend and brought Quint his first birthday present. It was a huge hit with both child and adults! While Quint was hopping up and down while playing with the blocks, we were enjoying playing with them too. We had four graduate degree recipients playing with blocks and saying things like, "wow, this guy really put a lot of thought into these" and "ooo look, it can do this too!" and "wow it fits perfectly this way too!". We all loved that they are a toy that encourages creativity and can be used with lots of other toys. Quint's only a year old now, but he'll play with them differently as he grows.


Here's the whole ship set:As we pulled the ship set over my non-smooth wood floors, it sounded like a train chugging along. No fear that they would scratch my floors! The pieces are very smoothly sanded and the wood feels divine.

With all the pieces displayed:
The pegs easily come off the boat base to use as connectors, yet stay put within the boat.

And some of the endless things you can do:
And yes, this is a shameless ad for the guy in Franklin, North Carolina who makes them. Go check out his website called CircaToys.

These photos were taken after Quint was in bed, so unfortunately I don't have any shots of Quint hopping up and down with a big "oooooo" face. I'm sure you'll see photos like that on this blog in the future.

Quint's aunt asked if these would make a gift every year, and I said sure!