It is holiday gift guide season. I thought we’d start with the tiniest amongst us: babies. From all the baby things and toys we got this year, these have been our favorites. And they definitely make for great gifts.
Personally, I wish people gave more money as a baby gift instead of an endless amount of clothes and toys (money we would put in a bank account for her for when she is older). But I learned from Rich that that just doesn’t seem to be the U.S. American way.
This Christmas Josephine is going to receive the toy truck and the activity cube from us. Rich also wants to buy a set of wooden blocks for her. That will most likely be everything as 1) she will just be overwhelmed by too many presents, and 2) her birthday is already in February. We might even give her a first toy already for St. Nicholas Day on 6 December to spread it out a bit more. In general, we try to purchase wooden over plastic toys, although that is not always possible.
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Toys for Babies
Right now everything is a toy for Josephine, including the cat water fountain and my socks. But the “Never Touch A …” book series is still very popular. We have four different of these sensory books by now. She also loves her stuffed animals now more than before and carries them happily around. I chose the Steiff cat for her just before she was born.
When she was younger, the tummy time water mat was a big hit. So was the baby bouncer.
Clothes for Babies
Pajamas are always in demand and we love the fleece ones from Carter’s the most. Else, we realized a few weeks ago that we needed more winter clothes. So I ordered a lot from Old Navy and, now that it has finally cooled off a lot here in NYC, we really need them. The bear suit is an old and new favorite – it keeps Josephine warm and she looks just super adorable in it.
When gifting baby clothes, I would definitely ask the parents beforehand for the right size.
Other Cute and Convenient Things for Babies
The long bibs have been an absolute life saver for us (or rather for our sanity). We put them on Josephine for every meal and then we don’t need to immediately bathe her afterwards. While self-feeding has a lot of advantages, spreading the food everywhere isn’t one of them.
Else, we still try to go with our dinosaur theme (mostly because I love dinosaurs) and love the suction plate and the sippy cup.
We also have a personalized Josephine blanket and love it because it is just that little bit more special.