The Yuppie Gift Guide, Day 11: For the Little Ones

There should be some sort of official rule that once someone has a baby or dog, you need only get gifts for the little ones and not have to worry about the adults. I'm trying to get my parents to understand this rule, since they love getting treats for my dog anyway. I think that children (when they are very small) and especially dogs are much easier, and more fun, to shop for.

| 1. Wee Gallery Art Cards for Baby ($13) | These bold animal prints on durable flashcards are intended to appeal to and stimulate babies' visual development. I was drawn to the simplicity of using just black and white in art for babies. I used the Jungle collection to decorate my bathrooms.

| 2. Skip Hop Zoo Pack Little Kids Owl Backpack ($20) | Possibly the cutest backpack I have ever seen in my life. Also available in dog, monkey, pig, penguin, zebra, bee, and frog varieties.

| 3. Uglydoll Ox Plush ($20) | For the trendy kids who may not care for bright-eyed and bushy-tailed animals, there is the Uglydoll collection— flat plush monster dolls that won Specialty Toy of the Year in 2006. The characters started out as little doodles on love letters between the creators and now I see them everywhere from Paper Source to FAO Schwartz. And of course, I have one of my own.

| 4. Melissa & Doug Stir Fry Slicing Set ($14) | The little wooden meats and veggies in this set are held together by velcro so they make a satisfying crunchy sound when you slice through them with the wooden knife.

| 5. Chilewich Pet Mat ($35) | I am loving the very abstract bone shape and the little doggie cutout in the middle. This mat is made out of Chilewich's super easy-to-clean basketweave and will hold your pet's bowls in place.

| 6. Nylabone Dura Chew Plus Bone ($6) | My parents bought Lillabelle one of these for Christmas last year and to our surprise, it is still going strong to this day, despite her destructive tendencies. Lillabelle likes to bring this up onto the couch while we are watching TV and she chews away to keep herself occupied.

| 7. Sushi Pups Bone Maki Plush ($7) | I am such a sucker for dog toys that are made to look like human food. Sushi Pups makes dog toys that look like sushi! Who doesn't love sushi around here? I can't get these for Lillabelle because I would not be able to bear watching her shred them to bits but for a dog that takes better care of plush toys, this is just too cute.

| 8. Jonathan Adler British Flag Dog Bed ($245) | A luxury dog bed like this is pretty ridiculous but I had to include this one because I am such an Anglophile. Not only does it look like a big comfy cushion for a doggie to lie on but it would be a pretty cool decorative item for the home, as well.