What to ask for for Christmas? - Page 2

[hakeber]

Tell them what you need and let them pitch in together to get that one thing.  Tell your mom to organize it and they can all give her the 20 or 30 bucks they would have spent on XYZ and put in towards the things you need.

The truth is though most people really love the idea of a toy or an outfit that they can see it pictures of your child down the road.  They think they are sending joy. 

So...

12 months to 36 months clothing

Spring and Summer clothes

Robeez (they have so many cute styles, your folks will love to splurge on these cuties)

Towels (can you ever really have enough towels?)

Bibs...OMG bibs!  These will save all the cute outfits they buy!

Sippy cups or cups with handles if you don't do sippies

Stuffed animals

Puzzles and toys made of wood (a wooden shape sorter is awesome, or a wooden rocking animal for 9 months and up, or wooden puzzles with big pieces)

Board Books

Lace up puzzles

Cloth books

Play silks

felt toys

A wooden kitchen with wooden vegetables and fruits and foods and wooden knives. (just because she can't use it now doesn't mean it wouldn't make a lovely addition to the play area.  You'd be surprised how fast she'll go from sitting there drooling and being cute to into everything and it would be good for her to have a safe place where she can get into stuff)

Plastic things I love:

Cookies cutters, they make fun toys and have an enourmous amount of applications for a long long time.

Bath toys (soon she will be sitting up and wanting to splash.  These can be so fun and they even have bath books which were huge with DS)

Balls

Pop up tents (my mom got us about a mile of these tents and tubes for DS and we used them all the time.  I thought it was really silly at the time, but it was great for him to crawl through, explore and they packed up really small so we could take them with us on vacation to the beach and he had a safe shady place to play and nap while we spent the day in the sand)

People love buying babies stuff!  I don't really know why, but they do.

Oh mayb a gift certificate for a play area like Gymboree or something similar?

[nilatti]

Oh goodness.. My FIL is totally going to fill our house with plastic crap. He thinks it's funny that I'm such an econerd, so he does it just to irritate me.

Glad I'm not the only one.

::trying not to dread Christmas::

[SpuglyRoo]

Originally Posted by nilatti 

Oh goodness.. My FIL is totally going to fill our house with plastic crap. He thinks it's funny that I'm such an econerd, so he does it just to irritate me.

Glad I'm not the only one.

::trying not to dread Christmas::

Donate it all unopended to one of those toys for tots centers or something, it would probably drive FIL nuts to boot!

And my suggestion to OP is, what about those baby books called indestructibles?  They are made to act like paper, but not tear or get soggy like a paper or cardboard book would.  They are all pictures, no words so that Mommy/Daddy can just talk about the pictures and point things out or make up their own story.  I think they are like $5 a piece, I don't have any but I've heard a lot of good things about them so that is what I've asked people to get DD (4 months)

[HappyHelpmate]

Originally Posted by crystal_buffaloe 
 

What's a good resource for non-plastic plates, cups, utensils for her when she starts eating?

I got a flatware set from Oneida.com for my LO last Christmas. They have several sets to choose from, and they're marked way down from retail price, surprisingly (3pc baby set for $14.99, or a 3 pc child set for $16.99, or get both for $21.99, plus you get 4 additional feeding spoons when you get the baby & child sets together)(No I don't work for them, I just really like bargains!). We do use plastic plates and cups for our children, but I recently bought a set of glass ramekins to make custard, and they are perfect for little portions if you are feeding just one food, and very sturdy. We've also found some little glass dessert plates with a lip from Wal-Mart that are great.

I second the idea of finding a couple of plastic items you wouldn't hate (while also listing numerous other non-plastic items you'd really like). Every child I've met (regardless of age) is intrigued with the Playskool Busy Ball Popper. Air blows and pops the balls up in the air, then they land in this collar, and the balls circle around, fall through a hole to another collar, then roll down into the blower again, and pop back up again. There are 5 balls, and often they fall out, but a big part of the fun is chasing them and putting them back in before the blower cycle stops. I'm not big into plastic junk, but this was one toy my kids love and I don't mind.

[mamakaikai]

Pop-up tent with tunnels. They are ''big and loud'' and not plastic (or noisy)...but come from the type of stores you can buy the mainstream big and loud plastic toys from. I asked my mom for one for our dds. I think it will satisfy her need to give a 'big oooh ahhh' gift that isn't from a specialty gift shop. I think dd2 will love it when she starts crawling and playing peak a boo. I also have hopes that the 2.5 yr old will enjoy playing with her sister a bit more if they can share delight in this toy. I also think it fosters creativity (it can be anything from a spaceship to a bear cave to a medical theater). And it folds up neatly.

[hakeber]

This album has pictures of Benjamin in his pop up tents in the backyard on a summer's day.  They were also a big hit in the house in the winter.  He played in them until he was almost 4.

http://s180.photobucket.com/albums/x291/r_hommel/Ben%2017-18%20months/?action=view&current=1c41scd.jpg

Edited by hakeber - 11/26/10 at 2:41am