- Buying Christmas presents for babies can be more fun than getting gifts yourself.baby image by Yvonne Bogdanski from Fotolia.com
Be a little more imaginative than the person who gives a "baby's first Christmas" bib. Instead, give a holiday gift that will last for many seasons to come. A picture is a long-lasting keepsake and classic books become treasured traditions. You can even enhance the holiday spirit by giving him his very own real tree. Celebrate the baby--and Christmas--with a thoughtful gift. - Give a hand-tinted photograph of a baby as a fallen pine cone, a mischievous elf with her hat askew, a pair of chubby cheeks and saucer eyes upturned in wonder at falling snow. Parents never have enough time to take those art shots that capture a mood as well as a moment. Hunt for a creative photographer within hailing distance and present the baby with a gift certificate for a photo-session that everyone will love. Have the certificate hand-lettered and deliver it wrapped in a beautiful frame that can display the memorable and original photograph once it is taken.
- A baby can never have too many books. Give the gift of picture books to read aloud and you give the beginning of a love affair with reading. "A Pussy Cat's Christmas" by Margaret Wise Brown is a gentle and charming holiday story with a soothing and magical cadence. "The Snowman" is a beautiful story and Caldecott winner "The Polar Express" is a classic. "Charlie Brown's Christmas" is fun---so is "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." Add stories about Kwanzaa, Chanukah and the winter solstice to give baby the multicultural flavor of the season. Some books to treasure should top the list but tuck in a chewable cardboard board book because the grown-ups shouldn't have all the fun.
- Get creative and make baby a ceramic ornament personalized with a name and year---the first of an annual ornament collection that will decorate his tree with memories when he reaches adulthood. You don't have to be a great sculptor to sketch, trace and carve a shape like a teddy bear or a candy cane in wet clay. But, if that seems daunting, check out the local pottery shop for a bisqueware ornament that you can paint and personalize. If you do make the ornament from wet clay, poke a hole in the top with a pencil point so you can string a ribbon or ornament hanger through it after firing. Give the gift on Christmas Eve and it can go right on the tree.
- You can give a baby a small evergreen tree to plant on the property. The tree will grow right along with the child, who will proudly claim it as "my tree" and have something green and wonderful to string berries on every Christmas for many years. If this baby belongs to a family that is likely to change locations, buy a rainforest tree in the baby's name. That's a way to give something that will connect the child to a sense of stewardship of the planet as she grows up and learns about her world.
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