Current favorite books and toys at our house

I have always loved it in the past when other bloggers mentioned their favorite toys and books for their little ones.  It helps me to know what to look for at the stores and what to plan for for big gifts like Christmas and birthdays.  Spence is almost 16 months, and these are a few of our go to things around our house.

We bought this bike for Spencer for his birthday.  He loves it!  He scoots around on it, climbs on it, wants us to push him on it, etc.  We keep in indoors mostly and he'll scoot and scoot and scoot around the kitchen while we're working in there.  He loves to say bike (seriously, it's his favorite word), so he'll get on it and say bike, bike, bike forever and ever.  We debated between this and a wagon, and I think he would have liked both.  I think he would like to pull the wagon around and put things in it.  That's a possible Christmas idea for him.

Oh, goodness, we love Sandra Boynton around this house!!  This is, by far, my favorite bedtime book to read to the buddy.  Moo, Baa, La La La is another great one.  If you don't have these in your bedtime repertoire, you're missing out!!!  WAY better than Goodnight Moon (which I just don't get!?!?!?).  We also love Thomas the Train books, Big Red Barn, Mary Engelbreit's Mother Goose, and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Recordable Storybook from Hallmark (this is a GREAT idea for a niece, nephew, or grandchild!!)

Balls.  Any.  All.  He loves to kick them, throw them, drop them, chew them. 

This Melissa and Doug stacker is great.  It has a ball on top (see above) and the circles in the middle are large enough that he can get the rings onto the peg.  Melissa and Doug really do make great toys.  We have on of their puzzles, and I know I'll be looking to buy more this fall/winter. 

We received the above Tonka truck from a friend of my mom's whose boys are too old for this now.  I would have never thought to buy something like this, but it's definitely Spencer's favorite outdoor toy.  He likes to sit in the back and have us push him, and he likes to push it up and down the sidewalk in front of our house. 

My Quiet Book is a great book for church or to have in the diaper bag.  It teaches all kinds of good skills for young ones (buttoning, snaps, lacing, matching colors, etc), and it can all be done quietly!!  It's a little pricey, but the bookstore up north that I frequent can't keep it in stock, it's so popular!!

These flashcards were give to us by my SIL, and I would have never expected them to be the hit they are.  Spencer loves looking at them and has learned a few names/sounds already from doing them with him.  There are a few others (First Words, Animals, Colors, etc) and I have to imagine they're all just as good.  They're great now for learning all the modes of transportation, and they'll be great later for learning colors, sounds, and jobs.

So, these are our current favorite toys.  What are yours?  Anything I should be thinking about for the fall/winter?