First Birthday Gift?

You could start a collection of magazines published at the time of her birthday every year. It would be neat for her to look back at publications throughout the years...things like Time, People, maybe some teen magazines. Wouldn't it be funny for her to look back at a bridal magazine from 2010? Or a parenting magazine?

That idea isn't particularly sentimental. However, you could couple it with a letter where you summarize the year and things you did together, milestones, etc. I have a letter my Dad wrote to me when I was 13...he passed when I was 17 and I value it as if it were diamonds. I wish I had something like that from my grandparents.

Have fun coming up with a great gift!

I would start her a collection of something meaningful, but small since hopefully you have many more birthdays to come...

I already saw the charm bracelet mentioned. This is what we're doing with my daughter. By the time she is old enough to wear it it should be full.

I did a time capsule concept for my daughter's first birthday. I plan on doing it again each decade, so the next will be when she turns 10. People wrap gifts and we are putting them away in a trunk for her to open when she is a teen-ager. All my friends and family contributed something of meaning for her, a memory they had of her or a bit of wisdom or heirloom to share. I don't know myself what is in there yet.

My daughter turns one next month and I plan to get her ceramic plate (from the web site I'm getting her birthday party supplies from, if you would like it you can email me) that everyone signs at her first birthday and then you bake it. Each year after that she will eat off it on her birthday. Another woman said her and her son looks at it and talks about all the people that were at his first birthday.
Something my grandma did with me (and my siblings and cousins) on our birthdays, which we thought was SO cool, was took us out to lunch (we generally got to cut school to do this) and then to buy shoes. It's kind of random, but I've already asked my mom to do that with our daughter.
Lastly, something I wanted to do for my daughter, but I never did...was make a quilt (which I see you did one before she was born) of all my favorite baby clothes she wore during her first year. I then planned to make a scrapbook that had pictures of her in all these clothes.
Enjoy...She's a lucky girl to have a special grandma like you!

Hi D.,

Little girls love tea parties---what about giving her a tea party each year-just the two of you. I know she is only one, but you could modify it until shes a little older. Or have your pictures taken together each year. Good luck!

Molly

I bought Cherished Teddies figurines for my niece when she was born. One for each year (and a few extras, because they were so cute!) and while at first it didn't mean a whole lot to her.... just a pretty that went up on her "special" shelf, she is now 8 and ASKS if I got her another bear. (She doesn't know I have them all, you see...) She likes to show them off and to talk about them... and it became a very special thing between the two of us.

charms for a bracelet? won't mean much to her now, but by 4 it will.

D.-When I was growing up a friend of mine had a tradition that was started for her on her first birthday. On each birthday her grandmother gave her a single pearl (to be kept safe by mom of course.) Near her 18th birthday her grandmother was going to take the pearls accumulated during the years to a jeweler and have them made into a necklace or bracelet that she could present her with on her birthday. I always thought it was a really wonderful and meaningful tradition that I couldn't wait to start when I had kids. Good luck and Happy Mother's Day!

I think a nice tradition, which I plan to do with my own child (I am 6 months pregnant right now) is to donate to a charity in their name. Once the child gets older, they can participate by helping to choose the organization the donation is made to.

If that doesn't agree with you then I can honestly say that giving money into a savings account, purchasing bonds or something, is also a great gift. I guess that is not necessarily meaningful and sentimental though. Good Luck!

I have 4 daughters and I tried to start a similar theme. For each girl I chose a special something, and each year I try to find one special item, to follow the trend. For one it is fairies, another is bells, another angels and the for youngest it is bears. Sometimes we buy things from different locations, like pottery from the southwest, but we keep them small, so the collection is manageable. Each girl knows it is something special only for them. One of my favorite gifts from my mom was a sterling charm bracelet, which I rarely wore but I have charms from all over the world, they are small and fit neatly away, but I can remember where each one was from, what trip or which birthday. Mostly your grandaughter will remember that it was an important tradition, created soley for her, by you, out of love. And that is the greatest gift of all. Have a Happy birthday celebration!
-C., mom of 4 amazing girls, new to petaluma

Hi D.,

My grandmother gave me a book for each of my birthdays. But only books that were special to her... Ones that she had read to my mother when my mother was young, books that she and I read together and books that she loved when she was a girl. In each book she wrote the date (of the birthday she gave it to me) and a little note about why she was giving it to me.

I have loved and cherished that collection for over 30 years now and some day it will go to my daughter to add to the collection that my mother started for her. I intend to start a collection for my daughter's child some day.

Those books are some of my most meaningful possessions.

Hope this helps.

N

Since you are a quilter, maybe her mom can give you one piece of meaningful clothing/or blanket etc that you can turn into a finished square each year with her favorite colors/animals etc with backing. Then every few years you can piece the squares together to make one larger blanket and continue adding on to it as the years progress.

Do you celebrate Christmas? If you do what about a special Christmas ornament. You can start giving them to her and when she is 18 she will have 18 of her own to take with her to collage or to her first apartment. Then when she has kids she can tell them which one came from grandma etc. I know it's not anywhere near christmas right now but I knew someone who did this for her grandkids and I always thought it was a special tradition.

With my three nieces (ages 9,6,2) I give them a book for every birthday or gift giving holiday. I write who it is to, the occation, and sign it in the front cover. The girls love books and always enjoy getting new ones. It is a fun tradition for me as well. I pick books that have great illustrations, one of my favorites or a series I know they enjoy. It is something I look for all year (book clubs at school) and save them for the holidays.

In our family, we love to read...so our traditions involve books. My husband and I give books for birthdays with an inscription (date and maybe a little note to remind us of that birthday). We still go back and look at these books all the time and from the dates, we know which birthdays they received them. It brings back wonderful memories for the kids and us.

Hope that helps... A.

You could do a charm bracelet in gold or silver or even platinum $ that she can have when she turns 16. Each year you can pick a charm that fits a major event in her life, like ballet shoes, or a vacation the family goes on. For her first one you could do a little rattle or maybe the family has a special pet.
My mom did a charm bracelet for us and I love it.

Also for christmas you can buy her an ornament each year so when she moves out she has something to decorate her tree with.

Have fun.

Hi

When my brother had his kids (he had them much earlier than I) my folks began giving them savings bonds along w/ a present each year. The present was something they would like (whatever they were into at that moment or would need) (and they didn't spend too much) but the bonds were to help build their college funds and to teach them the value of saving (once they understand that they got a bond they began to learn that it's never too early to save and what it means to savee).

I thought this was a great idea for them. When our daughter was born we opened a 529. We knew my folks were going to do the same for us (they gave us a bond when our daughter was born) so we asked my folks that in the future, if they were going to do that to contribute to her 529 (it just depends on what you think would have more value).

Anyway; just a thought. And, your grandgirl is lucky to have a grandma who is so thoughtful and loving.

A.

I think a charm bracelet and charms every year to signify something special and important is a wonderful tradition!

Hi D.,

This doesn't sound very sentimental, but if you give her a savings bond every year it will be a nice start for college, a wedding, down payment on a house, etc.

Happy Mother's Day!

My mom started this with my two girls. At Hallmark stores there are porcelain figurines that start at a baby in a cradle, then age one, then age two , and so on until they are 16. There is an expensive series and the cheaper one, My mom chose to do the less expensive ones and I like those better anyway. Go check them out. Oakridge has them at their Hallmark store.
My girls look forward to seeing their porcelain dolls from my mom every year.

Is there any hobby your family is into? Our family rodeos and I remember having Breyer horses as a child so for my daughter's first birthday we began giving her a new Breyer horse every year. For my son, it was "to scale" tractors.

Or...you mentioned that you quilt. How about a square every year representing something special from her previous year with the year embroidered in and on her eighteenth birthday sewing it into a quilt.

You could get a very large birthday candle which you bring to light at each birthday. As your grandchild grows the candle melts...

My mom has bought my daughter the Precious Moments "Growing in Grace" figurines. I put the figurines in my curio cabinet for my daighter (to keep safe) until she is older. My daughter loves that she has 'very special' things that need to be kept safe. I have them on the bottom shelf so she can admire the figures. My dauhter loves to look online to see what figure she will get tfor the next year. Good luck!

Every year my grandmother would give her grandkids (12 of us) a $2 bill and a Gold $1 coin with the current year on it. With so many of us she wanted to be fair but meaningful. It's not much but I still have them all, with the years on them. The $2 bills she would write a little note on. Because it was a $2 we would never spend it. :)

Hi D.,

You sound like a lovely Granny! When my niece was born I bought her a charm bracelet. Every year on her birthday, I bought her a charm that symbolized something about that year. (ballet shoes for the year of her first recital, a little Australia charm for the year they traveled there to see me, etc) It has been lovely and it will have 18 charms on it when I'm finished and she won't get it until about then, I'm not sure. Good luck!

My grandmother gave me a porcelin birthday doll every year until I was 18. I still have them and I'm now 33. I used to see them at stores like Hallmark.

Perhaps you or her mother are gardeners? If so, select a different perennial each year and create a garden in her honour!
K. in EC

My aunt and uncle started a neat tradition with their daughters--they began with a thin gold chain and one single pearl on it (strung, not like a pendant). Each year they added a pearl to that strand. You could even do one for her birthday and one for Christmas, if you celebrate it, so that it grows twice as fast. If you use an 18" chain and do two pearls a year (I would use 5-6 mm pearls) it shouldn't take long before it was a nice strand she can wear at her wedding. :)

Start a scrap book each year add a page. It can be part of your present.

For our son's first birthday we're opening a 529 account for his college education. By the time these kids grow up they will have to go to college and the cost will be ridiculous. We have purchased a piggy bank and for the year we're collecting all of our spare change. Then we will match it again at the end of the year and open the account. This is going to become a tradition for us... and it could be one for you as well. Whatever spare change she can collect you match at the end of the year and put in to the account.

The best gift I believe is a savings bond. Your granddaughter will have something to show for in the long run!!

Hi there,
My grandmother used to give me a nice christmas ornament every year so that when I moved out on my own, I would have a whole collection of ornaments that were all unique and special. Of course, through the years (I am 40) some have broken, but it is really cool to have them and I loved that I had a collection when I was on my own. If my mom had taken better care to store them, I'm sure I would have more, but it was a really nice thing.

K.

Give her a book every year.

My mother has also been doing the "Add-A-Pearl" necklace a poster mentioned, for my daughter. It will be a great keepsake one day and I love that she's not getting stuff that she won't remember in years to come.

Precious Moments has two types of collectible figurines specifically for birthdays. One is a birthday circus train line. The other is called Growing in Grace. Each is a different figurine for each birthday. The birthday train has a different animal marked with the age. The growing in grace is a little girl marked with the age. Both are very cute lines. And they go to about the age of 16.

My grandmother started an awesome tradition with me when I was little. She started an add a pearl necklace. Every birthday, Christmas, Easter, graduation, etc.. I got a new pearl. They have three different sizes, since I was so petite my grandmother did the size 3.5 pearl. You can buy them at Gary Long's in Stockton (Lincoln Center). I am now 32 and have tons of pearls on it. I love it. It is very feminine and absolutely beautiful! I was the first granddaughter. Now there are three granddaughters and two great- greatdaughters all of us have them in different sizes. It is really neat when we get together for the holidays and dress up. We can see how long everyones necklace is getting. You can always get her a gift along with it that she will enjoy that year. I like it when she buys them for my girls because they get so many toys. It is something they can wear on their wedding day. If I was going to a one year old birthday party I would buy a babydoll. Enjoy her turning one! They grow up way too fast :)

I think that a "Special Day with Grandma" would be fun. Just you and her pick a day and go to the zoo, park, shopping, rollerskating, or stay home and make cookies all day. Oh, and always take a picture!!!!

how about doing a blog for each birthday? scrapbook of the year. total of 18 years. continue thereafter as well.

Hi D.,

I know I am late in the response. I apologize. I haven't had much time to look at mail lately. I just bought a house and have been moving. But as to your question, I too have a 1-year-old grand-daughter, well almost 2 now, in July, and am also a mom who also loves starting and maintaining traditions.

For my own daughters, I started charm bracelets. I did this rather late in their lives, but even so, I marked every event, even the small ones with a charm. As for your grand-daughter, you could get a bracelet for her to wear when she is older and fill it with everything from her birth to all the milestones in her life. On her birthday you could give her a special charm to save for when she is older and then suprise her with the full bracelet on a special birthday, like sweet 16 or maybe 18 at graduation. Just a thought.

Also, a bigger thing that I do is a yearly scrapbook for my grand-daughter. It is to her from me. I love photography and have a digital camera. I keep all the photos in a special file on my computer and then pick the ones I want to place in the scrapbook, print them out and put them together at the end of the year. I keep notes of what happens during the year. Special things she says and does and then write a note only to her from myself. It is a gift for her, but mom gets it to save for her when she is grown. Someday she will have it for herself to see how much her Grandma loved her when she was little and all throughout her life. It is a big undertaking, but something, in my opinion, well worth it.

I am also a mom who does the Christmas ornanment tradition. I tried to buy only 1 ornament per year. That special one that said what they were into or about that year, but always found more than one each year that I loved. And the kids loved it too. Then at the Christmas of their 18th year, I would gift them with all the collected ornaments, along with a new one representing their new life on their own, so they could have their first set of special ornaments and memories to go along with them. I know that doesn't help with the birthday idea, just blabbin now. Sorry. I just love doing things for my kids and now my grand-daughter.

These are just some of my thoughts and things that I do. I saw many responses here and hope you find the one that suits you best.

Good luck and God bless. And continue enjoying your little one. Their is nothing in the world like being a grandparent!

Sincerely,

B. T
Yuba City, CA

You could start a charm bracelet & add a new charm each year to mark certain milestones - like a bike when she learns to pedal & a little baby shoe for her first birthday, maybe a tiny car when she learns to drive....
I don't know any girl that doesn't like jewelry that jingles and sparkles.
By the way - I don't work for a jeweler. I just had one when I was little & I loved it.
Just a thought...

Hi D.~

Precious Moments has "year" figurines for each year up until 18 (I think). My sister gives these to her daughter every year and they are very cute.

I started giving my granddaughter a Madam Alexander doll each birthday and Christmas. This is a gift her mom puts HIGH on the shelf and says it's to look at and not play with. I also get her the usual toys to play with (that are broken or lost in a short time)and clothes (she grows out of)but, when I visit - I always see the Madam Alexander dolls up there looking beautiful - and hopefully she does too (and thinks of me?) Also, when you give books, be sure to write something personal in the front of them - since they are more difficult to "put out and sell" at a garage sale if they have loving words in them!! Sometimes it depends on whether your grandchild's mom is your daughter or daughter-in-law as to the sentimentality of your gifts.

I opened a savings account for my granddaughter's first car. It's amazing how fast dollars saved for a special occasion can add up. She's eight now and fully aware that together we are saving up for something very special for her when she is older.

Every year I give a hard cover book to my children that represents the past year. For example this year I gave my daughter "Corduroy" because she is never far from her bear. Inside the cover I write them a letter telling them about the past year. I taught third grade and got this idea from one of my students after she brought one of her special books to show and tell. I love the idea that they will have a special collection of books with notes to read when I may no longer be around or when they need a little reminder of how much they mean to me.

Dear D.,
My daughter will be 22 in October.
She was my mother's first grandchild.
My mom, of course went crazy with buying her stuff all the time. But, her tradition became buying my daughter a doll every year. She gave her all kinds of "play dolls" but the other ones were "special" dolls. My daughter has quite a collection.

One year...I think my daughter was about 15 and going through a phaze, my mom got her one but set it aside for Christmas instead of her birthday and didn't think she would notice. Believe me, my daughter's heart was just broken thinking that her tradition had been dropped.
It doesn't have to be a doll, it can be a snow globe or bracelet with little charms you add every year.
It will be valued and treasured even though a one year old will not understand. She will when she gets older.

Blessings to you!

Hi,
One of my friends gives this to her niece every year and I always think it is such a nice idea. When she turned 1, she gave her a pearl bracelet which fit her then. It is a bracelet which you can add on to, so each year she gets her an extension so she can continue to wear the bracelet year after year.

Hi D. ~ I have a little girl - and I think that it would be a great gift to start the add on pearl necklace. It can be something that you do for her and each year on her birthday you add another pearl. By the time she is 20 or so - she would have a full pearl necklace. They are really neat! Just one idea! Good Luck, I hope that you find something that works for you!

HI! As a mother of a little guy who just turned one, we got 2 things that meant a lot to me. One was a “you are special today" Red plate (redplatestore.com). I got one of these for my third birthday from my grandma and she got him the same pate for his first birthday. You write on the back messages or milestones. The last thing my grandma wrote on my plate before it was full was my wedding day. The other thing that we started was a birthday figurine set. When I was young I had the Growing up Girls set from Enesco, we started the Precious Moments train for my son. There are many sets out there. I still have all 16 of my girls and hope to pass them to a daughter someday. Another thing is to have everyone at the party sign a wide mat then frame a first birthday picture of your granddaughter. Hope this helps. Just remember, being a grandma is the best gift of all.

Hi D.. A family friend of ours has 4 daughters and gives each of them a necklace with a single pearl on their 1st birthday, then a pearl every year after that. By the time the girls are 18, they have a nice string of pearls (you could probably continue on past that). It may turn into something special to wear at their weddings? I have 2 sons, but may start this tradition for my neice, or if I have a daughter in the future. I'm sure you've gotten many great ideas, but thought I'd share. Congrats on your grandaughter (and Happy Mother's Day!).
- N.

How about a special outing, just her and granny? It won't mean much now, but will be a fun tradition and it is changeable as her tastes change.

my girls receive birthday angels from their nana. they are collectables and have a pretty angel and the number for the birthday. i think they can be found at hallmark stores.