Christmas Gift Ideas For Toddlers.

When shopping for my toddler this year, I was surrounded by an abundance of options to choose from and a lack of money to get them all. I had to hold myself back and remind myself that my son is only two and a half and doesn't need an entire toy store, and that I will be kicking myself later if I spend anymore money on him.

One of the items that I DID purchase for him is of course the hottest toy of the season, the "TMX Elmo". This little guy is hilarious. He laughs and smacks his knee, rolls on the floor laughing, picks himself back up, shakes and wiggles, it's great. "TMX Elmo" retails at approximately $35 but since all the stores are out of this popular item, I paid around $70 or so on Ebay.

Since my son is always eyeing our neighbors little girl's bike, we decided we would get him a "Go Diego Go" trike from Amazon.com. It is small enough to still be considered a toddler trike, but is cool enough that it looks like a small bike. It has Diego's rescue pack on the front of the trike to hold things, as well as a cute little water bottle.

One of the toys that I opted not to buy, because I had already spent too much money, was "TJ Bearytales." Reminiscent of my childhood days with "Teddy Ruxpin", "TJ Bearytales" is a talking adorable stuffed bear that tells your child stories from special storybooks. "TJ Bearytales" would make a great gift, and I may consider it for my sons next birthday in six months.

"Dora The Explorer" is a very popular show. A popular gift for young girls this Christmas is "Dora's Magical Castle". Priced at around $50, this is a pricey present. However, it would put a smile on any little girls face. You can't go wrong with Dora!

The one present I really wanted to get my son was the new "Fisher Price Kid Tough Digital Camera". He loves playing with my cameras and is pretty good at snapping pictures. The "Fisher Price Kid Tough Digital Camera" is a real working digital camera that has a memory card and a usb plug to transfer images onto the computer. While I know my son would LOVE this, I'm holding out for his birthday, as this item costs around $60-$80 dollars. That is NOT cheap and I have spent way to much money already.

A great item that I purchased off of Ebay for about $20 dollars was a hardly used "My First Leappad" from leapfrog. It came with the carrying backpack and four cartridges and books. I must say that I got an AWESOME deal!! "My First Leappad" helps children learn phonics, reading, math and rhymes by pressing the pen on the pages of the book to hear the sounds and stories. By itself, the "My First Leappad" is approximately $30 or so dollars. This is a great gift to give to pre-schoolers! When searching on Ebay, you can find some great deals. However, you have to really read listings and think of the shipping costs and make sure you don't end up paying more than you would total for item price and shipping, then you would buying it for retail at the store.