joey turns one soon.
can you believe it?
I thought I’d share what we’re doing to celebrate his big day, in case you’re like me and love peeking into people’s gifts, traditions, and celebrations. ;)
(and since he’s the second child, we already have all his favorite toys, thanks to his sister. so I thought I’d also share a list of the toys he loves, in case you’re looking for gift ideas.)
how we’re celebrating joey’s first birthday:
we do our family’s three birthday traditions:
we give three very specific gifts
we get a dessert from a local bakery or we make something special
and we go on a family adventure
see more about our three birthday traditions here!
we see family at some point, too
we use birthdays as a reason for an informal get together - like meeting for a meal, inviting them on our family adventure, spending quality time together at someone’s house, etc. we’re fortunate that both sides of our family live close by.
here’s the five gifts we love to ask from family.
“wait, no party?”
if throwing big, beautiful birthday parties bring you joy, awesome. but I don’t particularly enjoy them - they’re a strain on our budget, they’re not something I currently have the capacity for, they don’t align with our priorities in this season, and, I repeat, I don’t enjoy them. so we do something special as a family instead - see our three traditions here - and it works really well for us right now.
maybe we’ll do birthday parties when the kids are older and if we do we’ll do them Busy Toddler Style, as I agree with every thing she says in this post. another person I greatly admire lets her kids choose between a party or a family adventure, and I love that.
all that to say, do whatever works best for you. nothing is ever set in stone.
“what big first birthday gifts do you recommend? like, what toys of your daughter’s does joey loveeee? what toys would stand the test of time and be liked more than two seconds?”
joe’s favorite things (aka things I would gift him if we didn’t already have them):
our play kitchen with this metal spoon set + this metal pots and pans set
he beelines for this every single morning.
this awesome walker/bike/ride-on toy thing
this was his sister’s favorite until, like, 2.5. she still loves it at 3.5, actually.
this toy wagon aka one of my top toys forever and ever
for hauling rocks, baby dolls, play food, cars, and everything in between
our nugget couches for building obstacle courses
our climbing triangle and slide
we recently brought this out of storage for Joey, and KK loves it all over again
our balance beam + our balance board
for gross motor play, but also the best bridges and ramps for toy cars
(here's the direct link to the tables, but see the first link for more details)
I introduced sensory bins to his sister at 15 months, and I’m excited to do the same with Joe - I follow this blogpost for guidance!
two sets of our rainbow block set
two sets of our big block set
so really most everything in this list of favorite big toys
and the toys on this list are also enjoyed by his 3.5 year old sister, which is just the kind of longevity I want in a toy.
see the three birthday gifts we give for our family’s birthdays (Brett and me included!) here!
“but haleyyyy! what do you give for first birthday gifts?”
we don’t often get invited to first birthday parties, but when we do, they’re usually for dear, dear friends. So my go-to first birthday gift is this:
a set of our favorite stacking/nesting rainbow buckets
with the tag: “one is buckets of fun! happy birthday!”
these rainbow buckets prove to be one of our go-to toys year after year: for stacking, for nesting, for “smoothie” making, for water play, for bath play, for sand play, for outdoor play, for beach play, for river play, for imaginative play. Basically for all play.
honestly, sometimes I give this for second and third birthdays, too. would be precious with a towel. or bubbles. or a $5 ice cream gift card. or or or.
see my seven things I love to give for birthday parties of all ages here.
happy birthday, sweet joey. i’m so happy you’re here.
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