Baby girl

Baby Holy showing off her tongue-twirling technique (please, turn a blind eye to the dust under the TV)

LAST week Shae from Yay For Home posted about the things she “didn’t know’’. Actually, I could write a book on that subject. But anyway, I digress. So, this week, because I have a burning question I need you all to help me answer, I thought I’d turn the Things I Know post on its head too to try and solve the mystery of what to buy Baby Holly for her first birthday next month.

So, here goes:

  • I don’t know what to buy a girl for her first birthday when her sister got it all the first time around. Her big sister, Ella, suggested a beach towel yesterday. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that.
  • I don’t know what to then buy her for Christmas, which is only two months later.
  • I don’t know if just going for the ol’ books and clothes thing will cut it. Maybe also one of those walker-come-bike contraptions considering she’s yearning to learn to walk at the moment. I’m not so crazy on the walking idea!
  • I don’t know why it’s so easy to come up with a million ideas for Ella’s fourth birthday, but just one for Baby Holly’s first year celebration is doing my head in. In fact, Ella’s shopping is all done and her birthday is a month later.

So, any help would be gratefully appreciated. Feel free to add links to sites you know and love as well.

I’m linking up Shae from Yay for Home’s Things I Know.

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51 Responses to What to buy a girl for her first birthday

  1. Belinda says:

    I don’t know either, but I’ll be closely watching for ideas for my girls 🙂
    Emily’s fourth and Jessica’s first birthday are both less than two weeks after Christmas!! Might have to get some Zhu Zhu pets for Emily 😉 Feel free to share your ideas for Ella lol

    • Belinda says:

      Actually, I just remembered that I’ve got a gorgeous fabric hobby horse put away for Emily, from Little Old Nags! You can find her on facebook 🙂

    • Kel says:

      Hey Belinda, there’s quite a few great suggestions here now, plus a couple on the Facebook page!
      As far as Ella, her “big” present will be a doll’s house, alng with some dress up costumes, a scooter, the usual top up of play dough, books and some board games (Trouble, Connect 4, UNO). We thought she might be ready to play some of these types of games now, considering how much she loves card games.(Go Fish, Snap). Hope that helps. x

  2. Lisa Fairbridge says:

    For Kara’s first birthday I bought her a special dolly, pushchair and baby bed for her. She played mummy with it. She was also given a block set by nanny and a little bike to ride on. (you know the ones that you sit on and push with your feet, no peddles or anything)

  3. She is a baby, she doesn’t need anything for her first birthday or Christmas. Don’t stress, she wont know. I don’t think I bought anything other than a token gift for any of my children or grandchildren for their first birthdays or Christmas.

    But, Amy is 5 next week and when I asked her what she wanted, she very solemnly asked me for a purple unicorn that barbie could ride. So I found a purple unicorn that barbie can ride. Thank the [insert deity of choice] for ebay.

    • Kel says:

      Hehe!! I love that she was so specific, Kim. Fantastic!
      And thanks. You’re quite right. She won’t know any different. I think maybe I’m worried more about how Ella will react to Baby Holly’s lack of presents!! Silly, I know! 🙂

  4. No suggestions but I’m loving that photo of Holly. She is too cute!!

  5. tiff says:

    I know it’s really hard to buy gifts for the next child, especially if they are the same sex. We bought Lily a special doll for her first because Immy and Maddy had lots of things from their birthday just 10 days (and 2 years) before.

    • Kel says:

      I really love all the suggestions of a special doll, Tiff. Everyone seems to be on the same wave length, so I’m definitely sold on that idea. Thank you. It’s really appreciated. x

  6. Glowless says:

    She’ll like the wrapping and the box more than the pressie anyway so don’t stress

  7. ‘I think’* i bought miss 7 a baby doll, some bath books and some more bath toys for her 1st birthday.
    I’m sure she will be happy with whatever you get her, that’s the bonus that comes with a 1st birthday, their to young to complain, that its not what they wanted or it was the wrong colour. hehe

    xx

    • Kel says:

      Oh, so true!! Hehe!! That is definitely the best bit. I like the bath books idea, because we don’t actually have any of those. Not sure how we got this far without one!! LOL!
      And definitely the doll – that seems to be the unviersal suggestion! So thank you! x

  8. Nee says:

    I agree with all comments re: she’ll never know!! I had the same problem with Bam Bam. I found that until his little personality had completely emerged it was hard to find something that was special just for him not just more generic baby stuff of which we already had an abundance.

    You’ve got plenty of years ahead to buy special gifts for your littliest princess so don’t stress 🙂

    • Kel says:

      Thanks Nee. You’re right. As I just said on Kim’s comment, I think I’m stressing more about what Ella’s going to think about Baby Holly’s lack of presents. Silly? Yes!! LOL! 😉

  9. Sif says:

    I have four boys so I can related to this! I found I topped up shared cl
    Ollections for younger brothers’ birthday, so more duplo/lego, more Thomas train set stuff. The top up pressies were more expensive but less in quantity (eg. My eldest got a lot of track and trains, but younger ones got stuff like the round house, or musical mountail) – which helped make their collections kind of cool. Also, we have a tradition that each boy gets the newest version of Buzz Lightyear, because every couple of years a new version of the same toy lands on the toy shelf; that means this Christmas is sorted for our #4 :).

    • Kel says:

      I like the idea of topping up collections. Ella has some blocks, which both girls are loving playing with at the moment. We don’t quite have enough to build a castle, so that might be a good idea. Thank you! Brilliant! 🙂
      I love the Buzz Lightyear tradition. How fabulous, Sif! x

  10. Jessie Boan says:

    A tea set (tin or plastic) is a favourite of my little girl’s (now 18 months), also a special doll or softie to treasure. I love handmade; so often buy from madeit and Aus facebook sellers. Good luck!

    • Kel says:

      The special doll is definitely a winner, Jessie. Ella already has a tea set, but I’m sure it wouldn’t hurt if Holly had her own. Bigger tea parties, hey!! Hehe!! 🙂
      Will be checking out MadeIt on Facebook too. Thank you. x

  11. There are these great wooden puzzles that are the child’s name that you can buy. I will come back later with link when I’m not on my phone if you’re interested. I think one of those trike thingies sounds like a great idea though. Or a baby swing maybe?

  12. rachel says:

    I felt the same stress leading up the smiling tiger’s birthday… the little emp had already been given everything and more and smiling tiger is happy to play with that stuff. still more stuff came despite my insistance that he didn’t need to much (the in laws never listen to me…)
    My SIL gave him an awesome beanbag which was nice cause neither of them had one… is there something functional but pretty like that, that you could get her?
    I went with some new books plus some puzzles (form board ones) and one of those tracking games (its a giraffe, you put shapes into its mouth and watch them go click, clack down the zig zag track – he loves it and its not boyish…)
    good luck! agree with others though not to stress too much cause she won’t remember it but also understand that it adds to the second child guilt because you know you didn’t think that way about Ella’s first birthday xx

    • Kel says:

      That’s great, Rachel. Ella has a beanbag, which she loves. So it might be nice to get Holly one to match, maybe.
      The tracking games sound interesting. I might look into that.
      Puzzles and books are always a winner here! 🙂

  13. I bought both of mine necklaces for their first birthdays. Takes up hardly any room and is a sentimental gift. Love stamp has great stuff, can record theur details on it – I got it for my son, wasn’t around when the 8yo turned 1.

    • Kel says:

      What a beautiful idea, Leah. My mum bought Ella a bracelet, because she bought me one as a child. So it would be nice for Holly to have one too. Although, mum will probably have that covered! 🙂

  14. pixie says:

    I used to get my girls a porcelain doll(to keep) and one of those walking/push me thingos.

    happy shopping!!!

  15. This is something I can totally relate to having 3 girls. You want to treat them all the same!
    My youngest just turned one last month and we bought her a personalised wooden puzzle that was made in her name, also a giant doll embroided with her name. She carries/drags it every where because it is hers and not her sisters.
    We also got her a giant rocking caterpillar much like a rocking horse but a caterpillar……she loves it! You can’t go past a beautiful party dress for the special birthday girl!
    Good luck! xx

    • Kel says:

      I’m loving the suggestions of personalised wooden puzzles and the doll. They seem to be the two popular picks. Thank you for these, Janice. Fabulous! x

  16. I love the suggestions of a personalised puzzle. Or you can also get a personalised wall print or design. Or you can now maybe get personalised cd’s or a book that you can do a voiceover… o saw them advertaised for fathers day actually.

    Gorgeous photo too 🙂 xx

  17. Laughing at this one… I wrote some advice for you (inadvertently) on Tuesday… DON’T buy anything that doesn’t have an off switch. Trust me!

  18. nellbe says:

    I know everyone says she won’t know but her sister will. That’s what I found with my 2. Maybe a keepsake gift, like a special jewelry box or hairbrush/com set? Has she got her own dolly yet? Maybe a special one of those. (even if it sits on a special shelf for the moment until she is old enough to play with it) Santa got my youngest a walker push thing last year and he loves it. He has used it nearly every day since.

    You could also get a personalised story/book, they are brilliant.

    • Kel says:

      That’s exactly what’s been going through my mind, Nellbe. It really is Ella that I’m most concerned about.
      The special jewelry box is a lovely idea. I like that. And the special doll seems to be a popular choice, so we’ll definitely be going with that. We’ll be looking into the walker/push toys too. We only have a wooden trolley with blocks in it that was never very stable. She’s already trying to use that, so I’d love to get something more sturdy.
      Thank you. x

  19. I bought Miss A a really nice teddy. She loves him.

  20. Shae says:

    Like reading these comments- have NFI what to get any of my kids for xmas

  21. Some great ideas here. I might have go steal some for when my girl turns 1 or for Christmas. So far, because she’s the second girl, she’s living with hand-me-downs from big sis. I realise that will have to stop soon, but it works for now. Personally, I do like the idea of a keep-sake that hopefully she will treasure when she’s older. Otherwise we got books, puzzles mostly when our girl turned 1.

    • Kel says:

      Steal away, Veronica. There’s some great ideas here. I’m with you on the keepsake item.
      I’m in the same boat – I can’t see the point in buying lots of new things when there are perfectly good toys and books that were her sisters. But the first birthday is different. She needs something that will be “hers”! Good luck with your shopping. xx

  22. Tania says:

    My little Olive is 1 tomorrow! Which I can scarcely believe. We’ve bought her a tent set. How odd does that sound? By that I mean – two little tents which have a tunnel that connect them. You can have it as three separate bits or join whatever you like together. The older two are giving her a wooden puzzle of her name. Mainly because they also have them so she’d get one at some stage anyway and I wanted something for them to give her. They chose the colours and the picture on it (from The Puzzle People at Salamanca) and think it is great! All other rellies have asked what she’d like and I’ve said nothing but if they’d like to get her something, because of course they would, then get her some clothes! Practical at least…
    As for Christmas. Who knows?!

    • Kel says:

      I love those tents, Tania. That’s actually a really good idea. Especially now the weather’s starting to warm up. It would be nice for them to have something to take outside and play with.
      The puzzles have been a real winner. We’re heading South soon, so we might have to make plans for Salmanca so we can hunt down The Puzzle People. Thanks. x

    • Kel says:

      OH, and a HUGE Happy Birthday for Olive tomorrow!! How exciting!!! I hope she has a fabulous day!!!! x

  23. […] to my wonderful online friends, I now know what to buy a girl for her first birthday when her sister got it all the first time around. It’s been even more important since discovering the Kmart Christmas layby, which included a few […]

  24. […] finally figuring out what to buy a girl for her first birthday, I thought I would share a small sample of the gifts Holly ended up with. Thanks for all the […]

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