Toy/Music Recommendations?

My kids LOVED Joe Scruggs and he's still around - still doing concerts. My kids always liked the songs where kids sang them. I think they were actually called Kids songs!!! Discovery toys are a bit expensive, but my kids liked their stuff and it was educational as well as fun. DK books were always my son's favorites - they "grew" with the kids - lots of information in them, and great pictures.

101 Silly Songs... my daughter loves it!

There is a fantastic toy called the O-Ball. It sort of looks like the skeleton of a soccer ball. It's so easy for a little one to catch, b/c their little fingers just bend right around the soccer "skeleton." (Harder for them to throw, though now there's one that has a rattle incorporated in it, for a little extra stimulation.) Our daughter loves hers still, and they're inexpensive and available just about anywhere. There is also a children's music series called "Wee Sing." It's little kids singing classic songs, and you can get different collections: Bible Songs, Traditional Songs (like twinkle, twinkle), Fingerplay Songs, etc. I think they have them in the kids book section at Barnes and Noble. And don't forget kid-friendly big-people music, too: "Peter and the Wolf", and the soundtracks to both "The Sound of Music" and "The King and I" are popular in our house, too!

Kindermusik! Find a Kindermusik class near you. Your baby will enjoy the music and movement, you will enjoy the other moms and babies, and you will learn foundations of child development in the process. PM me for more information if you like.

I saw a lot of good suggestions, and what I have been doing is dowmloading all of these things. If you have an Ipod, or can play songs through your computer, instead of buying these CD's you can just search for "Baby Einstien" or "lullabies" online and then burn your own CDs, or plug your ipod into your car or whatnot. Just an idea to make CD's more to your taste.

I have a 9 month old girl who loves her big brother's musical instruments. We have a cute turtle drum, egg shakers, tamborine, etc. Also, I started taking her to a music class when she was 7 1/2 months old. She was not too sure about it at first. Now she loves it, crawls all over the place, loves the instruments and interaction with the other children. The price of the class included cds of the music from the class.

Disney, Joe Scruggs and Wee Sing are good ones, as mentioned above. Our granddaughter went to Kindermusik, a parent (or grandparent)/child program that introduces kids to music and movement. She loved it -- was crying when she quit at age 3. She started at 3 months. Isn't cheap, though, but if you can afford it, is wonderful for children.

I 2nd the Kindermusic suggestion. My daughter LOVES music & we have a ball in her music class. It also gives them a chance to be around other babies! Classical music CD's are also great. One of my daughters favorite toys (& mine too!) is made by Baby Einstein,it's Vivaldi duck. You press his foot it plays the violin part, the other foot plays the xylophone part, a wing plays the drum part, the other wing plays the tuba part, you press his belly & it's puts all 4 parts together & plays the ensemble! Love it!!
Good luck & God bless!
H. B

For the music...try Walt Disney Records Children's Favorite Songs (Volumes 1-4). Volume 1 has Mickey on the cover, Volume 2 has Pluto, Volume 3 has Donald, and Volume 4 has Goofy. I found Vols. 1 & 2 at Target when my guy was a baby and loved them, and then I ordered Vols 3 & 4 on Amazon. He's 6 now, and he and the 4-year-old twins still love them. The singer(Larry Groce...don't know who he is) has a nice voice, and the songs aren't Disney (except for It's a Small World and the Mickey Mouse March). Goofy & Mickey sing in some of the songs(Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone? and There's a Hole in the Bucket), but they are not annoying like a complete CD full of them would be. They contain all the children's songs your heart desires: Wheels on the Bus, I'm a Little Teapot, You are my Sunshine, If You're Happy and You Know It, Alphabet Song, The Bear Went Over the Mountain, The Farmer in the Dell, London Bridge, Row, Row, Row Your Boat, This Old Man, Mary Had a Little Lamb, Dry Bones, etc. etc. etc. They also have some that I had never heard before that my kids LOVE. ie, Carrot Stew, Camping, The Green Grass Grew All Around & With Apologies to Mother Goose.

Also nice is Laurie Berkner's Whaddaya Think of That? She has a lovely voice, and kids can't help stomping around the house and singing "We are the dinosaurs marching, marching..."

Have you looked into taking a Kindermusik class with him?

***Edit: I was just at Target last night, and looked for the Disney CD's...it looks like they've combined the 4 into 2. Sad b/c it looks like you lost some good songs, but they had all the most popular kid songs that you can stand.