Waffle

Getting away from the grim stuff of the past few weeks, my nephew will turn one year old this week! I won't be going to his party because of work (he's in England with his parents) but I do want to buy him a prezzie that my parents can deliver to him. So I spent part of this morning in various toy and baby shops looking for stuff to buy.
I like toy shops. I get to look at a lot of things that I don't normally see, and it's fun to try and see the goods through the eyes of a small child. Last time I needed to buy a gift, at the time of my nephew's christening, he was 5 months old and mostly interested in purely tactile things. Now, it seems, he's expected to have moved beyond that towards sorting games and other things that pose more of a challenge to his mind. And looking at those toys, and the hammering sets that he's still slightly too young for, actually triggered some memories that may be of myself whacking wooden shapes into a board with a little mallet, or of watching my brother do the same — it's hard to tell.
I visited Asbran, an alternative toy shop best known for its impressive selection of wooden toys (last time, I bought a tactile picture book there that my nephew loved). These are great, but very expensive. For older kids - up to the age of 33 - they also have a great selection of figurines: animals, knights, Egyptian gods, dinosaurs. If I had money to spare for that sort of stuff, I'd have walked off with my hands full of them.
I also went to Prenatal, Toys'R'Us and a kids' clothing store. I'm quite happy to buy my nephew a winter jacket, but would need to check with his parents for his measurements and his needs first. At Toys'R'Us, I found something that my nephew would enjoy: a walker/pushchair with wood blocks in it. Last time I saw him, two months ago, he was constantly trying to push himself up on chairs, coffee tables, people, anything that could support him. He's a stout little fellow but his balance is not so good yet.
I've got until Wednesday to decide yet, so there's still time to lend my ear to those of you who are parents, uncles, aunts, grandparents or nosy neighbours: what would you advise for a boy who's turning one?