I want to add as I go some kind of 'work in progress' for a wishlist of gift items for christmas.

('wip' famous words I should have on my tombstone just after 'I don't have time' or better still 'now he has the time')

Note to family - this is in no particular order !

What : Headphones

Why do I want it ? : I watch more and more content on my laptop or now tablet and am fed up with using in ear speakers ! If you want me to look stylish then pick up the not cheap but well designed and made Beats Solo 2 's in red or black pls santa.

Yeterday attempted to make a significant start to 2013's Christmas Shopping and came acoss these cool items. Firstly a very cheap wicker heart shape from dunelm. Not really sure where I would put it but for 1.99 how can you go wrong ?

So then this also led to a walk through the related stores such as Staples (UK) and B and Q (a uk DIY place)..

Office Chairs (slight digression but I need something for my derriere) The following office chairs all fitted my needs which were leather or faux leather and decent price. Spending 8 hours a day on it I needed also a firm support - I recommend sitting on the chair you end up buying. A lot (not pictured here) seemed to rock or roll on the central pivot and I wondered if this was due to the demo models or indeed if they were broken which in the latter case would also signify a weakness. The follwoing seemed very comfortable, and I also wanted more than just and up down control. Some tilt was desirable.

The Leap Pad 2 and Leap Pad Ultra

The Leap Pad Ultra [review]
It's around 129 pounds exclusive to John Lewis in the UK however we saw Argos also advertising it for much less we think they may be confusing the models so check ! Of note the Ultra has the following feature set:
Strong enough for a toddler.
11 apps out of the box with access to 500 more online to buy.
Child friendly controls (our 2 year old has some grasp of an iphone but lets face it you want something a little easier)
Headphones
Up to 9 hours battery life.
7 inch screen with a good 1024x600 resolution
Safe ring fenced internet and chat apps that are limited to set dialogues to choose from.