It’s no secret that I love the holiday season.  Decorating the house, baking Christmas cookies, and picking out just the right gifts for my loved ones – that stuff really revs my engine.  This year I’m more excited than ever before to celebrate, because I’ve got a little Peanut who will be experiencing all the joys of her very first holiday season!  And even though she’s too young to remember any of it, I’m still pumped beyond belief.  So it probably comes as no surprise at all that I’ve been shopping for Peanut’s first Christmas gifts pretty much since September.  What can I say?  It’s fun to buy for baby!  If you have a baby coming to your celebrations, and you’re looking for some good ideas too, here are some things that Peanut has that we’ve really enjoyed, or that I’m planning to get for her this year:

Art cards.  Very young babies don’t see too well, but they LOVE looking at bold, high-contrast patterns and designs since those are the easiest for their little eyes to focus on.  The art cards from Wee Gallery feature bold, graphic designs for the babies, but they’re cool enough that mamas will enjoy the pictures too!  Peanut has a set of the Sea Collection cards and they’re so fun and funky that I’m considering framing them when she’s done with them.  (My favorite is the octopus, but Peanut especially loves staring at the stingray.)

BabyLit Board Books.  I first saw these books on the Quirky Bookworm blog when I was newly pregnant and filed the idea away for when Peanut’s arrival got closer.  I ended up going a little crazy and bought her Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre and Romeo + Juliet before she was born, and Alice in Wonderland shortly after she arrived.  She got Dracula as a Halloween present, and I’m planning to give her A Christmas Carol for Christmas, which will complete her collection.  These books are fun counting and color primers and make adorable introductions to classic literature.  Plus, I can’t get enough of the bold illustrations.  (The illustrations in Pride and Prejudice are my favorites.  I love the trees.)  If there’s a baby in your life who happens to hail from a bookworm family, these would be a huge hit.

In My… Board Books.  These board books feature finger puppets!  Let the wilding begin!  The illustrations in these books, which describe the cozy habitats of various animals (In My Tree, In My Pond, In My Meadow etc.), are really unique.  And the finger puppets are too cute.  Santa will be bringing a couple of these to Peanut this year.  Peanut will enjoy the pictures, and Mommy will have fun with the puppet.  Don’t judge.

Sophie the Giraffe.  Okay, you might feel a little silly buying baby an expensive status teether.  In fact, you might feel silly just for knowing that there is such a thing as a status teether.  And yes, I feel like an indescribably ridiculous yuppie when I hand Peanut her Sophie and wheel her around in her BOB stroller.  But… whatever, Sophie is magnifique.  This is one of the few toys that is appropriate for brand-new infants as well as older babies.  Peanut isn’t teething yet, but she likes to practice her grip on Sophie’s neck (poor Sophie), and Mommy encourages strangling Sophie instead of the alternative (generally, pulling Mommy’s hair).  And, bonus, when Peanut does start to teethe I can feel good about Sophie going in her mouth, because she’s made with food-safe dyes.  C’est delicieux.

Fabric ball.  Another gift that’s appropriate for tiny newborns on up, fabric balls are fab.  Babies love the different textures and colors (and some balls come with tags to grab too – fun!), and moms can feel okay knowing that if baby uses this to smack herself in the face (just my kid?) she won’t get hurt.  I like this one from Haba, because the bright colors are baby-friendly but the rainbow design is also kind of sophisticated.

Clutching toys.  Young babies love to clutch and grab things, and it’s good for them to practice their fine motor skills.  But if you’re like most moms, you’d rather baby clutched and grabbed at an age appropriate toy, instead of your hair or your jewelry.  Peanut has a few clutching toys from Haba (can you tell I like this company? they use food-safe dyes and earth-friendly materials; good for baby and good for the planet!) and I think this one is particularly cute.

Plan Toys.  Okay, most of the toys from this company are a little too advanced and not really appropriate for Peanut yet, but if you’re looking to shop for an older baby or young toddler, I’m obsessed with the Earth-friendly wooden toys from Plan Toys.  I love the green Stacking Tree, and I’m planning to get it for Peanut this Christmas and just play with it myself until she’s ready.  (What?  It’s cute!)  She already has the Lacing Sheep, another toy which is rather beyond her at the moment, and we just look at it together – she’ll take it apart and put it together under my watchful eye when she’s a bit bigger.  (Parents, note: there are some small parts to these toys.  They’re super cute and hard to resist, but if you do buy them for a younger baby, make sure you supervise baby’s play.  I’m sure you would anyway, but I’m a lawyer and we like to state the obvious.)

(All images sourced from Google Images.)

By the way, I should mention that this post isn’t paid for or perked.  Everything that I mentioned Peanut owns was bought for her by hubby and me or by our family and friends.  None of these companies has any idea who I am.  Nor, for that matter, do most of my neighbors.  Ten-four.

Are there any babies on your holiday shopping list?  What are you planning to get for them?  Share in the comments so I can shamelessly steal your ideas.