DDs 1st birthday and need gift ideas

[mtrattner]

Hi all!

DD is about to turn one and the family is all starting to ask what she would like. I have no idea what the next generation of toys are. She isn't pulling up yet and isn't near walking so when I searched previous posts, many gifts didn't fit in with her.

It seems that she is just so curious with crawling that I don't know what she is supposed to sit still and play with or what we will need in the next few months for her.

Sorry to be so clueless but this first year has really flown by and I can't believe we are already here!

TIA!
Melanie

[jhaud]

my dd just turned one (last friday!) we ended up getting her a wagon, books and i dyed a set of playsilks for her. she also received an outdoor swing, fisher price little people toys, several dolls, lots of books, and clothes, and a rocking chair. on my list for other people i included bath toys (we have only a duckie set) and bath accessories we still need (non slip spots, spout cover, mesh toy bag), music toys, and stacking/sorting toys.

there have been several threads on this lately - (in the around the house section) you may want to do a search. i understand completely how it sneaks up - we wanted to get dd a schoenhut piano but the one we wanted is out of stock until mid september (so we know what she is getting for her big christmas present!)


hope you enjoy your little one's birthday!
jennifer

[dules]

My DD was also not standing or walking for her first birthday. She walked just a week before 18 months! For her birthday/holiday (late November birthday so Christmas was shortly afer) the gifts that she got the most use out of were:

- Little People House and Barn
- Fisher price Laugh & Learn Learning Home
- Haba Big Voyage set
- Hammer Ball set from Brio
- Baby doll (Madame Alexander Baby Huggums)
- Leapfrog Learning Table (started with 2 legs removed so she could sit and look, then added the legs so she'd want to stand and look).
- Radio Flyer Walker Wagon (nice when she was starting to learn to cruise. We'd walk up and down the street with it and she was so proud to be "walking" not holding my fingers).

Hope this helps!

Best,
Mary

ETA: I got a lot of junk from people both IRL and online that she was a late walker. If your DD is also a late walker, keep in mind that it's within the range of "normal" to walk from 9 - 18 months. Some kids will walk at 9 months with little encouragement and some will not walk until 18 months, regardless of how you encourage, stimulate, etc...don't let anyone push you/her on this - she will when she's ready, and as long as you and your pediatrician are happy, it's all good. (smiles)

[holliam]

My daughter will be 1 in less than a month now (eep!). She is crawling but is cruising on furniture, pulling up, etc. She just starting practicing standing on her own, unassisted so I am thinking we *may* have a walker by then, but who knows!

I honestly think she's interested in standing because we have some toys that are more interesting if you're standing. We have the Radio Flyer walker wagon that she has been able to walk with since about 8 months. We have this cool wood little activity table that she likes to stand at and bang blocks together. Then we have one of those activity blocks. Those are the only "big" toys we have in the house. We have them placed strategically in the living room so she basically has a loop that she can cruise up and down furniture and these toys. It entertains her for so long!

Her other favorite toys right now are musical instruments, balls, and blocks.

For her birthday, we got her another walker/rider toy.. a wooden duck from Babystyle (she has a bizarre duck interest and I found a great sale! :)) and a little table and chairs. I have some other odd assortment of wooden toys, like a car, etc. Oh! She loves the top we have. She can't do it but she crawls so fast wherever she is when she hears us spinning it. It's one of those metal ones.

Holli

[MarisaSF]

Happy almost Birthday!

For DD's 1st, *my* favorite gifts were zoo and aquarium memberships.

As far as toys:
water table (that might help her with standing/cruising if it will be warm enough for her to use)
shape sorter
stacking rings
touch and feel books

Other:
frozen peas (!, I insisted my friend not bring ANYTHING to the party, but DD was thrilled about the peas)

Since your DD is not pulling up, I strongly rec a "Learning Table"-type thing. It really helped DD stand/cruise starting at 6-7 months and she still loves hers. We like this one: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000062XQ8/qid=1123731845/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_sbs_1/102-0013456-4200973?v=glance&n=507846&s=imaginarium

Or a push- walker-type thing. No recs here; we use a rolling ottoman. :)