I need advice.
My daughter is turning 1 on September 20. I want to get her something that she can have her whole life and know that her daddy gave her on her first birthday.
Any ideas?
My kids got one big 'ol share of Disney stock for their first b-days, along with a stuffed Micky Mouse. One to play with now, one for later to do with as they wish.
Of course, they liked the box better.
Hm.
Maybe get her something she’ll appreciate now (a stuffed animal?) and something heirloom-quality (jewelry?) that you can put away and give to her when she is older, telling her you gave it to her on her first birthday.
I didn’t do this, but it sounds nice, and it’s inexpensive.
Get a plaster cast made of her handprint and your handprint together, date for her birthday or as near as possible.
It’s something I wish I’d thought of before CRB turned 1 last March.
Instead, I hired a petting zoo with many cute animals that freaked her out and she wouldn’t go near. :rolleyes:
Jewelery is a nice thought, but I would suggest something she’s less likely to lose, because someday she’ll be 13 and insist on wearing her First Birthday Gift to school on Field Day. My parents got me a lovely silver-plated bank on one of my early birthdays. I recognized it as something special and beautiful when I was small, and I still use it for loose change today. And it’s hard to misplace, which is a plus.
See! This is what I need! Keep it up!
Get a really nice portrait done together. I got China Bambina a little wooden rocking horse, but she won’t be able to use that her whole life.
Slightly off topic, I kept one of my old mechanical cameras, and take an unstaged black and white photo every week. I hope I can keep doing that until she moves away. The first year’s set of photo’s is really nice to have.
Two suggestions:
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Take her somewhere…a special place…and take her picture. Repeat each year. I’ve done this with my son, and I really value those pictures.
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Set her in a high chair. Place her cake in front of her, and let her have at it. Record with photos or movies. I love the photo I have of my son with frosting all over his mug.
Okay…these suggestions may be more for your benefit than hers, but you’ll trasure them.
And those Suggestion 2 pictures make great tconversation pics for the dates she brings home to meet you in 15 or so years 
I’ll second Arden Ranger’s idea to give stock. That is truly the gift that keeps on giving.
You might also consider a baby spoon, cup, and/or porringer in silver, engraved with her name.
(I still have my little Stieff cup, which I use as a bathroom cup.)
My grandmother gave me a teddy bear when I turned one. His name is Chubby.
When I was 6, his eye fell out. My dad used epoxy to put it back in, but epoxy can’t be touched for 24 hours. So Dad put Chubby in my closet, and told me that he had to recover from the eye surgery, and that if any light hit his eye in the 24 hours after the surgery, that he would be blinded. Even gave the bear an eye patch. It’s the only thing that kept me away from him for 24 hours. I sat a vigil outside my closet door that day.
So I say get her a teddy bear. So does Chubby, who I STILL sleep with every night. Shut up. I love that bear. And not an expensive one that isn’t soft and huggable, get her one that hugs back, that is soft and can double as a pillow if need be. She’ll thank you for it.
This isn’t really an idea for a first birthday present, I think you’ve got a few good ideas on that already. Recently I decided I wanted to give my kids a special bottle with the year of their birth on their 21st birthdays. I decided on port because it will only get better with time and it’s something they probably won’t drink all in one night. I’d suggest looking for a nice $20 of port soon for your daughter if this sounds like something you’d like to do. I also with this was something my own mom or dad had done for me, and I would have kept the empty bottle after the liquor was gone. Just a thought.
These are some awesome ideas.
You might also sit down and write her a letter. Plan on writing her one every year on her birthday. Reflect on the past year, and what she means to you, and how much you love her and how great your life is with her in it. It will be some time before she can read or understand this or future letters, but boy will she treasure it.
I have a letter from my dad that he sent me once in college. it was mostly lighthearted advice sent when I was in the midst of a personal crisis, but I still carry that thing around with me everywhere.
I bought a Longaberger basket (very expensive shit!) for each of my kids with a liner, protector, and a baby tie-on that has the year of their birth on it. I put little things in the basket that I want to keep for them. Our first picture taken together after they were born, my son’s circumcision ring, the first bow my daughter ever wore in her hair… things like that. The basket’s value increases every year and it’s a good way to hold on to little keep sakes. I don’t know if that would be much of a 1st birthday present though.
My mom made me a life-size doll when I was 5. The doll had brown hair and blue eyes like me and she bought me a dress that matched the one the doll wore. I still have that doll. She’s also made one for each of her grand daughters (she has 3) and my daughter will be getting hers for Christmas this year. I think that’s kind of a neat gift for a little girl.
Thanks for the great ideas, all. I plan to use several of them.
I know this may sound silly, but what about a special ornament or collectible doll? My co-workers children were given ornaments by their grandmother. Over time they have been given enough that when they got married and moved away, they had enough for their own tree.
A collectible doll is nice because it adds decoration [sub]and one more thing for dusting[/sub] to a room. I would stay away from jewelry until she’s a little older. I have a diamond necklace that was given to me by my god-parents for my high school graduation. I know if I’d been given it earlier, I would’ve lost it.
When my daughter was born, a friend of our family gave us a collector set of coins from that year. I thought it was wonderful.
Something else you might consider, even though the headlines are pretty crappy right now–saving a few newspapers with the date on them. So she can look back and know what was going on on her first birthday.