Alexander in the recession

This kid is drowning in high-quality toys. Grandparents and doting aunts and uncles load him up. I browse the catalogs that come through the door. Attention, everyone! Please don't bother. Let's explore what's high on the Alexander hit parade these days.

1) VAN! The provenance of this Matchbox van is quite astonishing. I think our old nanny literally dug it out of the yard at the house she rented. It's missing most of its paint. It was Jonathan's favorite for a long time, but he's graciously ceded it to Alex. When Alex is getting ready to ride to preschool, he delays until he's found the van. I tried to buy him a new one (with less lead paint, I assume) for Christmas. That's been lost, but I had to pick the old van out of his blankets the other day. He'd insisted on sleeping with it.

2) Lella (or letter.) This is a purple rectangle of plastic, two by three inches, that came with the big Fisher Price house. Alex doesn't play much with the house, but he sure does love the letter. He tells us it's purple. He holds it to do the "Letter dance" from Blue's Clues. He shouts "Friends!" until we say, "Yes, Alex, it's a letter from our friends!"

3) Sofa pillows. This is the big treat of the week, when Chris builds the boys a fort from the sofa cushions. Besides a fort, Alex likes building a bed and tucking in his van, And when Blue's Clues did "What time is it now?" the clues were a blanket, book, and pillow. Alex lit up, made a bed, laid down and said "Night night!" He just figured out Blues Clues!

Cue the dance!