I heart LEGO DUPLO...

Recently I saw some Lego Duplo's in Toys R'US and I really wanted to get a set for Z. Since I am trying to be budget conscience I decided they would have to wait. Christmas was over, I had already bought his birthday gifts, and Easter was too far away. Fortunately Z got some cash and gift cards (Thanks Grandma Alice and Great Grandma Helen) at his birthday party last week, and I put them immediately to use. Originally I only intended to pick up one Duplo set, since they are pretty pricey, but there was a sale, Buy One Get One 50% off. Wayne and I just couldn't resist. We ended up purchasing the Fire Station and the Zoo sets. I was sure that Z was going to like the Fire station set more, but I was wrong. He immediately has taken to the Zoo. Don't get me wrong he likes the fire station set, we played with it for almost 40 minutes the other day(For those of you who don't have toddlers, that is a toddler eternity!) and we both had a blast! Just look at how pretty it all looks when it is set up:However most of the time when we play with the set it looks a lot more like this:

You'll notice in the picture above that Z has gravitated to the zoo set. What is the magic that these little pieces of plastic hold?

Well you can round up a family of lions (the baby tiger too):

Coral them just for fun: The elephant was "too big" according to Z, otherwise he would have been in the fence too:

You can even bring nature to life, look at how ferociously the alligator is attacking the giraffe:

And when you get tired of attacking the animals in the zoo, you can use the alligator to bite the paparazzi:

It is the cutest thing when Z says, "Alligator bite you"!, did I mention he roars when the alligator attacks as well...I am pretty sure that is not exactly accurate to nature, but hey it makes him happy.

I must say that in the three days that we've had these sets he has played with them for hours a day. He really enjoys the little animals, and that he can manipulate them easily. What I like is that they will grow with him too allowing his imagination to soar, as well as helping expand his hand eye coordination skills. (Did I mention that the parts are bigger so I don't have to worry about chocking hazards for either of my little men!) I am totally hooked on Lego Duplo. I already have a wish list started for upcoming holidays, I just have to share a few:

This is my absolute favorite set, since what little boy doesn't love dinosaurs(I can just imagine Z roaring away for hours and chasing me around with the T-Rex!):

This circus set would be great for any little boy or girl. I just love all of the accessories with this set:

And I am totally itching to add this Arctic polar zoo to our set: I just love the penguins and bears:And finally, I think Z would really like the baby animal Duplo set since he is fascinated with Mommies and Daddies these days. He loves grouping them together and lining them up, and then telling me who is the Mommy, Daddy and baby.

Can you tell I am a bit obsessed? If you own any Lego Duplo's feel free to leave your suggestions on the must haves. Also if you've never seen or experienced a set, let me know which one you would want to have. You can check out all of the sets at Lego's website, but I should warn you that if you so, you might end up with a wish list of your own.