First birthday - need great gift ideas!

[HonkyTonka]

My cousin's little girl is turning one and I'd like to send a gift.
Anyone have some great suggestions?

[Kelly1101]

Books-- especially board books-- are usually very cool at a year old. My daughter was all about books at that age.

[Dena]

I second the board books - always welcome.

Another thought is something for when she is a little bigger - a keepsake type thing, like a piggy bank or a music box.

If you want to do a toy, unit blocks are the awesomest toy ever.

[OkiMom]

Books are awesome. My girls liked soft dolls around that point. My first started coloring around 16 months, my second around 13 months so crayons/coloring books would have worked well as well. Wooden blocks are great, mine started playing with them around 9-10 months. A couple of my friends swear by sensory balls, their kids loved them around the year mark.

[Biscuits & Gravy]

Another vote for books! At that age my kids loved board books with flaps, and simple photos of things.

First 100 Words

Dear Zoo

Bathtime Peekaboo (any in this series)

Animal Hide & Seek (Usborne)

[aramat]

I was going to say books, too! We love Good Night Moon, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, and Dr Seuss' ABCs. Also books with baby faces. And baby will love all of these books for many years to come.

Age-appropriate musical toys are also great: Kitty Keyboard, musical stacker, etc.

[cristeen]

We had our first bday party yesterday, and the best thing we got were books! There are all sorts of great board books, we got collections of Sandra Boynton, world snacks, urban babies wear black, all highly recommended series. We also got bath books, a beautiful ABC book (by Charley Harper), and our first Richard Scarry.

Beyond books, mommys fave prezzie was the Green Toys "First Blocks" set, which look like giant legos, but are made of recycled plastic. We also got Melissa & Doug 1yr puzzles (w the big knobs), and some that were a touch older (18 mos?), and the M&D alphabet blocks, which hes not quite ready for.

[Tway]

DD is about to turn 1, and we're overloaded with toys! Seriously--where do I put these things??

When people ask what to get for her bday, I'm tending towards winter-wear: jeans, courdoroys, little sweaters, socks, etc. We also need a snow suit, hat with velcro, mitts and boots--would these help your cousin?

I also second books--the ones where a baby can "pet" the animals' fur are DD's favourite. Also--boring but true--a gift certificate to anywhere one can buy diapers, wipes, detergent, creams, and so on--like a pharmacy or a health-food store. Those things really add up!

[tzs]

we got a riding toy....might not be in the price range but dd already has so many toys that i didn't want more (and potentially crappy ones at that.)
it's awesome, dd is pretty small but she gets on it all by herself and pushes, even though she has to ride "side saddle" to reach the floor with one foot. she uses it as a pushing toy, and she likes to send it careening back and forth across the living room. last night she just kept "crashing" into a chair over and over again. she also uses it as a step-stool to climb up on the coffee table but that's not a use i'm all that into.
i figure it's one thing that she'll be able to use for a long time.