How many toys does a kid need?
Surprisingly, not that many. Though it's super-fun to see Jack's eyes light up at the sight of a new toy, he can only really play with two or three at once. And, like most kids, he goes in cycles with his toys — a week filled with Lego, followed by a stretch of Cars 2, followed by Batman and Superman.
Because of that, we don't really buy him many toys. Christmas and his birthday are a few months apart, and that usually sets him up. I'm sure he'd like more toys, but he's content with what he has and doesn't know what he's missing. Our parents approached things much the same way. Though I lusted after Optimus Prime, I had plenty of toys to keep me entertained.
One thing I did usually have, however, was a nice bike. Not a top-of-the-line model, but something solid — something durable. My first real bike was a Ross, which had chrome fenders. It was not cool, but it survived both me and my brother. I think it's still at my parents' house.
I had a Diamondback Viper dirt bike next. Before Diamondback got bad, it had some cool bikes. The Viper was a fun bike. It got stolen out of our shed one summer, though, and was gone for about a year and a half. My dad saw it at the next homecoming parade, of all places, and yanked it out from under whichever town hooligan was riding it at the time.
I got a road bike after that — a Centurion. It was red and white and pretty cool. I rode the hell out of that thing. It had 10 speeds, or maybe 12, and I had no idea what to do with any of them. But it was a nice bike. Not the best, but better than what almost everybody else had.
When we bought Jack's first bike — even at shop-guy pricing — we wondered why on earth we spent so much on a bike for a 2-year-old. It was, of course, completely worth it. And now he's outgrown that one and ready to move on to the next size.
We have no problem with getting him a new bike. He loves to ride — it makes him happy. But because I'm a bike guy, sometimes I just can't resist going one step farther. We need to do this thing up.

Yep. Top-tube stickers for a 4-year-old. One hundred percent unnecessary, but 100% awesome. He's going to love it. He's been obsessed with
Cars 2, in which the cars hail from different countries. Most of the race cars have their numbers and homeland flags on their side panels. He took note and recites them faithfully every time they race.
He'll get his new bike tomorrow, assuming he doesn't burn down daycare today. I may be just as excited as he is.