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I'm a first time mom and my daughter will be about 10 months old at Christmas. My husband is SO excited about Christmas and when we go to the toy store, he sees all kinds of things he wants to buy for our daughter for Christmas, which is fine.

But I think Daddy has the "fun" stuff covered and I would like to get her things that are more geared toward helping her development, creativity, and learning while still being fun. She loves books, she is really curious about anything that makes noise (she wants to figure out where the noise is coming from and how it works), she likes to scribble on paper (with mommy helping so she doesn't poke herself in the eye), and she's curious about everything.

Any suggestions on what to get?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Ferseyn,

I won't be much help but my son will be 7 months at Christmas. We're getting him a Radio Flyer wagon (more to help us haul him and his stuff down the street to our friends/the pool, etc) and some little things. It's a tight year here and we're moving to Phoenix December 12th, yikes.

I don't know if you have any Peek-a-block sets yet, but my son loved them! They are clear plastic blocks that have shapes/animals/vehicles inside. My son used to have a giraffe that made noise every time you dropped a block in. There is also a shape sorter that makes noise when you drop the blocks in.

Definitely lots of books, puzzles with big pieces, stacking blocks, and maybe something that she can use when she starts to walk. My 1-year-old has one toy that converts back and forth between a walker and a little push bike -- he loves it.

These are all great ideas! Thanks so much!

I think we kinda overdid it for Macy's first Christmas, but she was our fist baby and times were better financially so it didn't seem so over the top then. She got the peek-A-blocks, an activity table that went from floor use to standing, a ride-on/walk behind toy, the little touch system from Leap Frog, man the list was huge - and she didn't play with most of it for a few months (she was 7 mos at Christmas then) but she did like the press a button to make a noise things a lot. Zane's first Chirstmas he was only 3 months old so he got the activity mat, some Lamaze toys with all the textures and sounds and a Bumbo chair.

I kinda think the first Christmas was more for us than them, both seemed overwhelmed to be honest! The best thing we did was to take tons of pics and those were the most fun!

My son was 7 months old on his first Christmas. We knew the many family members would go overboard. We only got him a few books that had been my childhood favorites as well as some really nice wooden blocks. My daughter was only 2 months old on her first Christmas. We bought her a gold bracelet w/ her name engraved on it (we already had so many first year toys at that point). She still wears the bracelet! We usually buy just a few special things for them. We do not want to go overboard and have to keep topping it each year. Now that they are a little bigger, we also adopt a family for Christmas (w/ kids close to my kids ages) and buy them things on their lists. We also make a point of donating used toys to make room for all the new stuff they get. I really do not want it to be all about what they get, more about what they give. Have fun! What an exciting time .

We definitely went overboard with the first Christmas! It was 2005. This was with only one third of the gifts opened! The picture says it all!

I would really recommend the Leap Frog Little Leaps game. It is a video game that hooks up to the television. Your baby can use the "baby mode" for now, and the game can later convert to "toddler mode." It's great! You can buy so many different video games, all of which are fun and educational at the same time. All your daughter would have to do now is pretty much push a button when it says to push the button. My daughter got it as a gift around the same age. She loved it then and still plays with it now.

Here is a link about it. Click here.

I like Baby's first christmas ornaments so you can have one to put on the tree every year and think about when it was your baby's first xmas.

My son's "big gift" last year was the Leap Frog Learn Around Playground. They were on sale at Toys R Us the day after Thanksgiving. Normally they are $60, but they were on sale for $30. My son and neice both got them and they LOVE them! Even our friends 3 year old plays with it. It's great and not too huge.

Of course, his favorite gift of all was tissue and wrapping paper. I'm thinking about just wrapping empty boxes this year and letting him "open" them and then play in the box!

The biggest thing we learned is not to go overboard. Save that for the years when they'll actually remember it!

I love Leapfrog products! You could also get a family membership for somewhere - a theme park or museum or something. We did that when we lived in CA and got L.A. zoo memberships and Disneyland passes.

That's a great idea. We've had some theme park passes given to us as gifts, and we love having them. We just always make sure to pack lunches and snacks so we don't have to buy anything.

Honestly, I don't remember what we got them for first Christmases....It wouldn't have been much I'm sure. My MIL and FIL always go overboard so we don't have to

I really need to tone myself down....I am getting really psyched for Christmas and its not even Halloween Yet!