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Hawaii Babies
Married2MrWright
member
Christmas Presents For LO
Married2MrWright
member
I just ordered Libby's gifts last night and it got me to thinking...what is everyone getting for their LO's this year? Also, are you incorporating any traditions into your holiday gift giving? Let's share ideas!
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Re: Christmas Presents For LO
Okay, I'll go first. For Libby's First Christmas, we've gotten her a few gifts.
Our plan is to go with three gifts under the tree from mommy and daddy each year (a nod to the three magi's gifts) and one from Santa Claus. We'll also do filled stockings with little things...in my household it was always small toys (like jacks, high bounce balls, jump rope, etc.) and an orange, nuts, and some wrapped candies (obviously we were older for the nuts and candies). Also, we were allowed to chose one gift to unwrap on Christmas Eve. The rest had to wait until Christmas morning, once EVERYONE was awake. Gifts from family and friends went under the tree as they were received or bought/wrapped and then Santa's gift was there on Christmas morning.
For Santa's gift, I am thinking of using my friend's idea of having special "Santa" wrapping paper for those gifts. She buys a big supply of those super wrap rolls and stores them away and uses it only to wrap the gift(s) from Santa. I need to talk DH into this because in his household, gifts from Santa were unwrapped and "presented"...i.e. "set up" near the tree, etc. So we shall see how that goes...
This year, our budget was $125 for Libby's Christmas Gifts. We got:
1. Several new board books (they came in sets of 3-5) $35 (they were on 50% off at the time!)
My First Board Books
Don't Forget Your Manners!: Thank You / Please / Excuse Me / Sorry
Learning With Animals Board Books-5
2.Trendy Wendy Dress Me Doll - $35 - This will be the gift from Santa
3. Plush Princess Tiana 14" Doll $7
4. 12 Imaginitive Play Scarves $22
5.Twirly Whirly Rainmaker for her stocking $9
Total: $108.00, the rest was spent on S/H.
I got several things on sale, so I am happy that I was able to shop smart and get some things I've been wanting for her. Her birthday is one month after Christmas, so we'll have to be sure to budget well in the years to come. In our home, we want birthday gifts to be the "big to-do" every year, rather than Christmas. This year, we plan to get her a Kettler Bike.
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I've kinda been wrapping random stuff that we bought for her that weren't necessarily meant to be Christmas gifts. Just so that we can have more presents under the tree.
I got her the Fisher Price Music Table for $20 on black friday at Target. (I hope it's as good as the Leapfrog one!) I also bought a set of cloth books on BabySteals that I'm wrapping for her. We also got her pop links and wood blocks. Aaaand, I had to get her these pajamas because Daddy LOVES donuts and I have a pair of donut pajamas from VS.
We made her a play kitchen out of an old entertainment center. It turned out SO cute, there's still a few things we need to do and then I'll post the progression pics. I've been making her felt food so we'll be giving her that. I also got a puzzle and a plate/bowl/spoon/fork set that's really cute.
As far as traditions, we usually open one on Christmas Eve but I don't think I'll start that with her until she's older. We usually stuff stockings with random small things. This year I'm thinking granola bars and other small snack stuff that she likes. So far that's it.
We're trying to come up with our own tradition for Christmas. I'm thinking a BIG breakfast and munching all day long... although right now she's too little for that...
Wow, I am so impressed with Sarah's handiwork. Sounds awesome!
Since A's so young and not yet asking for specific things, I'm just wrapping up stuff I bought for him throughout the year.
He's getting the Earlyears baby farm friends bowling set, a Green Toys tugboat and Byron Barton board book on boats, and a reindeer puppet book in his stocking. I got all this on sale throughout the year, so it only cost about $35.
Also, since we saved a lot on his gifts, we're putting money into his 529 college savings plan.
I grew up opening gifts at midnight on Xmas eve after a huge family party, then spending Xmas day at the movies. Now, we do things differently. We do an extended family party on the eve, then open gifts in the morning at home by ourselves, then spend the day with the immediate family just hanging out and playing board games.
We spent more than I planned to.
BUT I had set a fairly low budget, and other than clothes and books, we don't generally buy them much stuff throughout the year - and they genuinely needed some more developmentally appropriate toys. I'm sure they'll be getting lots of clothes and electronic stuff from the grandparents, so we went with wooden blocks - we figure they can teethe on them and bang them together now and stack them later.
We ended up getting three different block sets, all of which will be from Santa (I'm not going to bother linking since they're all at Australian websites lol - I'm sure you can find them at USA stores if you want):
Alphabet blocks
Boikido building blocks (more expensive than plain or solid color blocks, but look how pretty! and I got them for 35% off)
Boikido musical blocks (they have rattles, bells, etc inside them - also on sale)
We also got them 4 toys - the first two I don't have photos of, but they're stuffed animals (a frog and a turtle) with soft books sewn to their underside. Sounds weird but they're really pretty cool - they'll be from us. These are the other two - both open up and there's a "baby" fruit inside:
Tiny Love Fruity Pals Anna Banana
Tiny Fruity Love Pals Ozzie Orange
We decided to forgo books just because they have a zillion already, and because I'm going to take advantage of post-Christmas sales for them.
We plan on doing one gift on Christmas Eve and the rest on Christmas morning (and like you Lori, it's an ALL family members thing - in my family, it didn't matter how much earlier you were up than everyone else, you had to wait until everyone was awake to open gifts). When the boys are older, we'll let one play "Santa" each year and pass out presents.
As far as stockings go, this is a little weird, but in my family we never really did them. We did have them, but they were only used for decorations and gifts always went under the tree. It's just how we roll, and I always thought it was odd that other people actually got stuff shoved in their stockings.
Ben's family doesn't really use them either, so we'll see if we'll do them in the future (we're not bothering this year because at 8 months old there's really no point). If we do decide to do them, it will more likely be about size and not the type of gift - i.e., does this fit in the stocking? I wouldn't buy random stuff specifically to put in a stocking. *shrug*
We were going to get E a radio flyer wagon, but since it's winter (nor can I walk) I thought we wouldn't be able to use it till the spring anyway. So it'll probably be her b-day present.
We have hard wood floors and she has a tendency to sit and spin on her bottom saying "wheeeeeee", so I thought buying her a Sit & Spin was appropriate
We also got her a sled that her dad can pull her on, a couple of new books and one of those retro fisher price phones.
A "tradition" that we want to start w/ E is when she gets presents, she has to donate some of her toys. One reason is completely selfish, I get antsy when there's excessive "stuff" everywhere. And the second is so she hopefully learns to value things and learns generosity (crosses fingers).
Cerclage placed @ 21w6d due to CI (IC)
I can't wait to see the play kitchen sara! I plan to do something similar for next year.
Santa is brining a PBK anywhere chair with a personalized cover, a Very Hungry Caterpillar Zoobie blanket:
a little people set and some books and other small things like books and clothes and replacement tiny diner (we recently left ours at a restaurant).
DH was in charge of his stocking he bought a toothbrush, training unders, and a wooden letter train of his name.
Santa brings all the gifts and we will open them christmas morning. We will buy one gift (christmas PJs) that can be opened after midnight mass.
RE: santa wrapping paper. my parents (mom) did something similar. Our santa presents were always wrapped in the same paper (theme, design) but different colors, since santa brings almost all the presents she never would have been able to stock up for all the years. This helped us not get them mixed up. I plan to do the same, but it won't matter until there is more than one child...
From grandparents/great great grandparents - a cozy coupe, a radio flyer wagon, a pirate activity table (not sure what that is) a sit and spin (I think he's probably too young for that but my (real) dad picked it out and I can tell they usually just buy Jack the same item they buy for his GF's grandson that is 6mo older), personalized PBK luggage, a north face denali jacket, a klean kanteen sippy, and a box full of hanna andersson PJ's in the next 2 sizes (me and MIL hit up the outlet this weekend).
We got Henry a Jumperoo, some books, and a few small toys (as well as some clothes he needs that I had already bought anyway):
Santa got him a huge giraffe and a huge monkey for his room:
Santa also comes to my Grandma's (Henry's Great-Grandparents) on Christmas Eve to hand out the first gifts of the evening. You have to sit on Santa's lap in order to get your first gift....this is the tradition since I was a child. Santa's first gift for Henry this year (usually something small, so they can all fit in Santa's pack, and also something mama and daddy help Santa out for this) is:
I cannot wait to see what my Grandpa is making for Henry this year. He always makes his Great-Grandchildren something himself. He's a woodworker and in the past had make beautiful kid-sized table and chairs with the alphabet carved in the edges, pirate treasure chests which he fills with pirate booty like eye patches, etc., and kids kitchens. I have no idea what he's working on for Henry, but I can't wait to find out!
Santa is bringing the FP Laugh and Learn house:
and we got him the FP Farm sounds:
https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/81okPbVj0uL._AA1500_.jpg
a Melissa & Doug puzzle with knobs on the pieces, the FP Little People Nativity Set, LeapFrog's My Pal Scout:
and FP's Sesame St Silly Sounds remote (this thing is SO fun to play with!):
Grandparents are getting him clothes,
We have this and Libby LOVES it! My mom got it for her when she was 6 months old and just barely crawling. Now she's standing, holding onto it...so fun to see her development and enjoy this toy at every stage. I like that for a bigger toy it still store easily and has many choices for activities so you get a lot out of it.
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We have this and started using it with Libby when she was about 4.5-5 months. She still LOVES the thing! She has about one more pound to go before she's met the weight limit (25 lbs) but we've gotten GREAT use out of it! Daddy used to use it when he needed to cook and contain her...he'd park her in the jumperoo for 15-20 minutes just outside the kitchen doorway so he could see and talk to her while he was at the stove.
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OMG can you adopt me?!? I want a giant giraffe!
I got him 3 long-sleeve onesies from CafePress. It ended up being a bit more than I wanted to spend cuz they're kinda pricey (~$20/ea incl tax & shipping) so I wanted to just get 1 or 2. But MH liked 3 of them a lot and wouldn't let me scrap one of them, so I ended up ordering 3. Two of them is personalized just for B, the other one is a Christmas one (it says "Merry Christmas" in binary b/c MH and I like geeky stuff like that =P).
I also got him the Fisher Price Little Super Star Classical Stacker.
I had my eyes on the Pottery Barn Kids Wooden Alphabet Blocks, but I'm on the fence about it because I prefer one with numbers too since we already have alphabet play mats (with no numbers).
I'm also thinking about the Chicco Smart Driver (he played with one of these at church and absolutely LOVED it and couldn't get away from it!) or the Baby Einstein Count & Compose Piano (to make up for the lack of numbers if I get the PBK blocks).
I also got him a little stocking and wrote his name on it with fabric paint (MH and I already had ours that I customized with fabric paint also, so we wanted a mini one for him as a "baby's 1st stocking thing). I think I'll be stuffing the Christmas onesie in that one
and we'll open it Christmas Eve.
wow reading this post makes me feel really cheap and scroogie! we haven't gotten much for her this christmas... i guess that's for several reasons.... (a) her birthday was just a month ago and she got several books/toys for that (b) she is easily entertained so we don't want (or need) to have too much "stuff" around (c) she's too young to really understand if she is getting a few vs a lot of gifts
we've gotten her this play kitchen for christmas, got it on clearance for $50 at target (i know she's a bit young for this but from what i've read waiting until her 2nd birthday/next christmas would be a little late and she wouldn't get as much use out of it)
the grandparents (my ILs) gave us a check to get her some play food and kitchen pots/pans and I'll be ordering a few things but otherwise we plan to put the rest of the money in her college fund. not sure what my parents plan to do for her for christmas but they will probably get her something small and then contribute to her college fund as well.
other than that, i got her a pink sock monkey hat, a christmas dress (the one that was less than $2 after my mystery shopping assignment) and a new pair of shoes and that's it.
we're traveling to CA for the holidays so she won't have a stocking this year but in the future we might stuff one. not sure b/c like lisa, my stocking was purely decorative growing up and never filled w/anything. i'm not sure what DH's family did either.
I love this idea and we may have to start this tradition too!
Jaime & Brent
Oahu, Hawaii | Sept. 9, 2005
My Food Blog - Good Eats 'n Sweet Treats
LOL hey I feel the same way! For two kids, we only got 7 things (so it's only 3.5 toys each, really), and most of them were relatively inexpensive. But we figure that it's not like they're going to know what's going on anyway...
FWIW, I love that kitchen and I think she'll get a ton of use out of it. Plus you can always accessorize it with pots and pans, food, etc., throughout the year and for upcoming events, so really it's the gift that keeps on giving.
Me too
The kitchen is a HUGE gift, she'll love it 
Cerclage placed @ 21w6d due to CI (IC)
Alexa has this and she loves it! But she can't figure out if it's a remote or a big cell phone, so sometimes she answers it. !!!
Malia & Dave & Alexa
Happily married since 2-17-08! Three since 9-9-09!
Baby Blog
I HATE having excessive stuff too and actually LOVE purging! I think the donation tradition is a great thing! Problem for us with having other ones is currently she'll be passing down what she has to the new baby... so MAYBE each new toy she gets, she can "pass on" a toy to her brother and then he can donate a toy of his choice... so then they both learn!
You ladies have some really great ideas. I don't feel bad for Bella not getting much, I don't want Christmas time to seem "excessive" now because then she'll continue each year to grow to expect it. My parents went ALL OUT for Christmas and then each year we expected to get a big gift and LOTS of smaller gifts. For us, I don't think you teach the kids much by doing that. I think we'll end up each year with one "big" gift, an outfit and a couple of other "small" gifts. So maybe 5-6 gifts each total... I'm not sure on the # yet...
With Hanukkah so early this year, we've already done 1/2 of Alexa's gifts! With 8 days of gifts, we are doing some themes, plus some days are gifts from relatives.... And since Hanukkah is over.. Here's what she got!
1. Clothes (holiday dresses, socks, mittens, fleece)
2. Books (From her grandma, and some from us)
3. Religious (Noah's Arc shape sorter, wooden dreidels)
4. Charity (Tzedekah box, plus she'll donate a toy and/or book to chairty)
5. Music (piano from grandma, book/cds from great aunt)
6. Toy (shopping cart from aunt)
7. Toy (wooden M&D blocks)
8. Random (Dog purse from my mom)
Leftover gifts (purchased on sale during the past few months) will be wrapped for Christmas:
-- M&D puzzle $7
-- Tadoodles $5
-- Step2 guitar $10
-- Step2 drum $10
-- Play Town wooden figures $20
-- Her main gift from us is a rocking giraffe from Rockabye, which I got on sale on Zulily for $45 shipped. But we gave it to her already, like a month ago, and she LOVES it... Haha, so much for waiting for Christmas!
As for how we celebrate... We celebrate both Christmas and Hanukkah. But this year, we won't be home for Christmas, so she's getting her gifts spread out this month, not on one day. We might open the ones above on New Year's Eve when we get home from AZ. Or this weekend. Whatever!
And FWIW, we don't plan on having any of her gifts come from Santa, who is not real. Yes, she'll be the smart ass Jewish kid at school who tells all the other kids that there is no Santa! (Hee hee hee!)
Malia & Dave & Alexa
Happily married since 2-17-08! Three since 9-9-09!
Baby Blog
this is me too. I have started putting some of jack's toys away but I'm not planning to donate any until we are done having kids. Unless it's junky or NMS - but everything he has now is worth keeping.
BUT, I think it's a great idea as kids get older, we did it all the time as children and even know I have an ongoing goodwill donation pile, crazy how much stuff I thrift-cycle each year.
Thanks! I heard it's a toy that really gets a lot of use and the kids enjoy it, so I was ok with shelling out the money for it, er, Santa was happy to
That's ok! He seems to want the phone, the remote, the computer, so whatever he decides it is, I just hope it'll keep him from stealing our stuff!