Have you seen the toys produced by a company called, folksily enough, “Melissa and Doug”? They're adorable. If they ever test positive for lead, our family is hosed. Our boy has the three-pronged stacking puzzle, a musical-instrument puzzle that sings the first line of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” whenever you place a puzzle piece, and then on Saturday one of our bachelor friends brought over a chunky, creatures-of-the-sea puzzle. Oh, and my father sent us a cobbler's bench for Christmas, because what every two-year-old needs is a wooden mallet. All of their toys are wooden, painted, and so cute you want to put 'em in your china hutch. Highly, highly recommended.
Even better, they replace broken stuff for FREE, no questions asked. I've had them give two different items because I called the help line. (One of which was the cobbler's bench because the red side came off.)
–Julie
Wow — I didn't know that! Thanks for the 4-1-1.
Some of my fondest early-childhood memories involve wooden mallets.
ps Guess I should've said “fonder,” not “fondest.” It's been too long since my editing days.
We also had the red side come off! I just glued it back on. But I still love M & D. The best thing we have is the easel. It has an easel companion pack and stuff. That is the best dang product ever. –Anne
I had glued ours back on, but it came off again so I called them up. And we also own the easel and it's been great.