Without a doubt this year has gone faster than any other. I cannot believe that my son is about to turn one. It seems like I was pregnant just yesterday. It’s amazing to watch our little guy develop and grow and I am unbelievably happy that I’ve been able to stay at home with him this first year.
As his birthday approaches I wonder if I should buy him a special birthday gift. For the time being he seems perfectly content with the toys he owns. They consist of a random assortment of hand-me-downs from former coworkers and family members. I’ve only purchased one or two toys since the little tike made his way in our world. It’s been absolutely fabulous to get so many free toys and books for him.
As he gets older some toys go into the not-so-little anymore box and new toys make their way into his play space. It’s crazy how fast children outgrow things. He’s moved away from stuffed animals and rattles to cause-and-effect toys and loves to push and pull on buttons and gears to make them move and sing.
Of course, he’s also more than happy to play with a cardboard box, a set of old pots and pans and a large wooden spoon. He also loves exploring the yard, crawling though the grass and discovering leaves and flowers along his way.
As his birthday approaches I wonder if I should buy him a special gift. I thought about buying him a child sized kitchen or a tricycle that I can use to push him around the neighborhood. Then again I know he’s pretty content with the toys he already owns. I also know he’ll get a ton of toys from his grandparents and aunts and uncles. Actually I’m hoping his aunt and uncle will provide him with a savings bond. That’s what we used to do when their children were young.
So what do you think? Did you buy a special gift for your little one’s first birthday? Do you think I should buy something for our little guy?
Happy Birthday to your little one! If your son already has a lot of toys that he is content with, I’d forgo buying yet another toy for him. He won’t know the difference. The extra TLC you bestow on him while at home is the best gift you could ever give to your child. I envy you. Are you throwing a big birthday party for him? My daughter’s first birthday is coming up in a few weeks and I have to start planning for her party. I think she’s a bit young to understand what’s going on so the party’s more for me and my husband to celebrate the milestone (yay, we survived our first year with our baby!)
If he’s content now hold off on buying something big. I got my daughter a play kitchen when she turned 2 because I could see thy she loved playing with them at other places. But if I had gotten it for her when she was 1 she might have already lost interest in it
Happy birthday to your son! First birthdays are a big deal for the parents and relatives, but at this age the child mostly is attracted to balloons and cake. I don’t think we bought our twins anything particularly special for their first birthdays. They received tons from their relatives. For the second birthday, we bought them a play kitchen, but they are only just now really getting into it (age almost 4). I wish we had held off awhile. I think the push-along tricycle would also be premature — he probably won’t be ready for that for another 12-18 months. The girls’ favorite gifts at age 1 were a pop-up crawling tunnel, among other gross motor skill toys like ride-on and push-along toys. At my niece’s 1st birthday in August, her favorite gift was a Melissa and Doug toy piano. All the little kids went crazy for that!
Thanks for your comments ladies. I thought it over and decided not to buy him anything big right now. I figured A) I’d wait to see what the rest of the family buys for him, B) he’s perfectly content with the toys he already owns and C) he might tire of the gift if I give it to him at such an early age.
Instead of buying him something big I bought him some organic finger paints for less than $10. We haven’t tried to paint with him yet and I think he’ll love it!
Thanks for the comments and the advice!