I was freakishly early finishing my holiday shopping this year (yay!) Here are some of the gifts I got for the young ones on my list:

One and only Nephew – age 7 years
For my lovely, loving, and finicky nephew I took the easy way out and got him something that represents two things that he loves – SpongeBob and Lego. I got him the terrifyingly logo filled “Build-a-Bob.” I picked it up at Borders, but you can get one at http://www.amazon.com/.

Niece #1 – age 3 years
This niece is very bright and active and loves making crafts. She is also easy to please and grateful for anything she receives. For her I decided to get a combo gift. She LOVES puzzles or “piece-o-puzzles” as she calls them so I got her a Curious George puzzle and a set of eeBoo sewing cards. Her mother is a master knitter – and not a bad sewer – so I thought I would give my niece something to do while her mother clinks her knitting needles. I got both gifts at http://www.babyscholars.com/index.html.

Niece #2 – age 1 year
My niece has a ridiculous amount of toys already. After my gift of a donation to The Heifer Project went over like a lead balloon at her first birthday party , I decided to get her something she can play with. The problem then became finding a cool, fun, unique, non-plastic* toy. I chose for her Stacrobats. I love that they are very colorful and they are magnetic so hopefully the pieces will stay together. I found it at one of my favorites sites, http://www.flaxart.com/.
*I’m sorry, but my family has an obsession with non-plastic toys.