Special 1st Christmas Ideas?

[mommyw]

My son will be 6 months on Christmas Eve, and I'm trying to come up with something really special for his first Christmas. I don't necessarily want to just spend a bunch of money on him and buy him big toys. I know he's too young to understand, I guess it's more for me and my husband. I'm just wondering what are some things that others have done for first Christmases!

[lizzywednesday]

My parents had an 8mm camera and they filmed me opening my gifts ... but I was 9 months old at my first Christmas, so was a bit more aware of the whole spectacle!

I still have fond memories of my Jaymar mini piano ... and still have my Steif teddy bear put away so he is "safe." (You can bet that he won't be handed down to any of my DC's, though because I am too emotionally attached!)

[vonfirmath]

The babies I know of all slept through their first Christmas. (or most of it anyway)

[sunshine873]

My DD will be 11 months old on Christmas and I am so excited. We waited so long for her, and now that she's here, every ordinary day is wonderful. Christmas is going to be absolutely magical!

So, just like you...I'd like to make it as special as possible. I'm buying a Haba nativity set. I think this 1st year I'll put out the stable, Mary, Joseph, baby, angel and star. Then every year I'm going to give her one piece to add. Other than that, I'm going to take a kazillion pictures and videos of each new experience. Think baby in box filled with wrapping paper...stuff like that.

We'll be incorporating her into our traditions, but I would like to give her something special to mark this 1st year...I'll be watching this thread.

[zag95]

How about getting your baby a special ornament? My mom bought me one every year,and when I got married, I got a whole box of ornaments! I am doing the same thing with my DD, 22 mos!

Enjoy- this year we are actually aware of Christmas!!!

[ourbabygirl]

Yeah, also how about a trip to see Santa (and photo taken w/him)? If your DC is not in stranger anxiety mode, this would be a good activity, and you can have each Santa picture posted on the wall every Christmas. :)

[charm247]

I love the ornament idea as well. My parents have given me an angel ornament every year and now I have a collection of 35 beautiful angels. I am planning to do something similar with my daughter who will be celebrating her first x-mas and will be only 2 months old. I am also going to take her to see Santa for a picture.

[Seitvonzu]

my baby was 2 days old on her first christmas! she was 3 weeks early! (2 weeks from when they told me i was having a "certain induction" so a HUGE surprise)

the best present under the tree that year and we have the pictures to prove it ;)

since she was supposed to be lu's 2008 first christmas, i didn't do any of my normal "first" preparations-- first outfit, stocking, ornament, gifts. nothing! i had my husband out on christmas eve looking for these things!!!! he did find a first christmas outfit (at old navy, sorta generic but she always was SO cozy in it) and my mother found/sent an ornament (but noone could find the winnie the pooh one i wanted --sold out everywhere!). dh also ran out to pier one for me and bought lucy a PONY from santa (the old fashioned rocking horse i'd been eyeing for years). my family had sent some things for lucy just for fun, so she had some gifts (and the pony) :)

so we had a really "mellow" first christmas. this meant that the next year's focus could be on lucy's 1st birthday, so it worked out pretty well. she is just starting to get holidays at 23 months, so i'm really looking forward to this year. she knows about santa claus and today we went out to the tree farm to get our tree (2nd time for her, and it's really a fiasco, but i think it's a memorable tradition!).

focus on what means something to you. your baby will love it no matter what!

[mommyp]

You could also make a handprint ornament, they have air-drying clay kits that you can buy for that.

[wellyes]

For baby, we did not much.
For us, it was special just because.
For grandparents, we made a hardcover photobook by MyPublisher of her newborn pictures & photos of her first few weeks. Much better gift than the stuff you can get at a store.

[Jen841]

Christmas ornament collection - Grandma buys the boys whatever they were for halloween. Before to put the year on it somewhere (Sharpie works great.) She puts them in a nice box, and I have a container to store them separate from the rest of the family ornaments.

Nativity Set - again, Grandma. For their first Christmas they get a baby Jesus and the stable. She got them each the child set from Fontaini (sp) which is hard to find. Each year they get a piece of the set, and as they get older she buys pieces for the set.

Stocking - get their stocking to add to your family collection. We did LandsEnd for all of us so we could add to it as our family would grow. I am a freak and wanted a matching set for all of us, and holders too.

I always get an ornament with the year on it that holds a picture and put in a current picture of each child. Some day I will give it to their wives. I also help them make one now each Christmas. I think for Year 1 I made a footprint on a piece of cardstock and put it on the tree. Nothing fancy, just their foot inked and stamped.

Have a fun Christmas! Enjoy a Christmas Eve of not rushing around like a crazy person with sets of directions in your hands. Last Christmas Eve was DH and I with cocktails and lots of Playmobile directions!

[MamaKath]

Ornaments are a great tradition.

If you have a fake tree, taking a picture of the little one in front each year with something to show the year will give you a chance to see how much your LO grows in comparison to the tree. New PJs on Christmas Eve are perfect for this (and look great in the AM for pics).

Also the nativity is a nice tradition to start; our family always had the youngest member add Jesus on Christmas morning.

An annual day trip is also fun. We go each year to a Christmas Market and to see the Putz at the Moravian College in PA. Friends go to a specific church in their area that hosts a Christmas Around the World display. Visiting certain family members for specific events is important to our family tradition.

Enjoy, having kids really forced dh and I to prioritize our own holiday traditions! We had to think about what we *wanted* to pass on vs. what we felt *obligated to attend* as a couple with no kids. ;)