Baby's 1St Christmas

Wow. Well congrats! I wishi could give advice. I will have a 4 month old and am going to go ALL out christmas tree stocking presents and christmas morning im going to have him open them all with me by his side! i would suggest the same. Good luck! :)

We get the kids new pajamas on Christmas Eve. They get to open their PJs and put them on and we all have hot chocolate together and read books before bed time. Sometimes we've done Christmas-theme PJs, other times it's something the kids are into. This year my 3 yr old is getting PJs with ballerinas on them. My 19 month old will likely get dinosaurs or cars...maybe Elmo. This way, they're in something cute and new for pictures on Christmas morning.
We also made the decision to start when they're young by helping them understand that Christmas isn't a "gimmie" fest. Because it's SOOOOoooo easy to go overboard on gobs of gifts, we decided to limit the kids gifts to 3 each. Honestly, one cool new toy is enough for a young toddler or preschooler. Both of ours spent more time playing in the discarded tissue paper their first Christmas (one was 7 mo and the other 9 mo) than with anything else. And to this day my daughter (age 3) plays with used gift bags.
Also, the gift limit helps us stick to the budget, and helps us choose toys that aren't just a bunch of junk. And, the main reason, it helps us tie-in the story of Jesus birth and the gifts from the wise men.
Stocking stuffers are usually things like candy, markers, play-doh, bath toys, hat & mittens, fun character underwear, etc. We get those down last, or wait a while to open them. Our daughter is too excited about the big gifts to even notice the stockings.
Have fun!

I wouldn't do alot for her since she won't really remember it. With my older daughter she was 11 months at her 1st Christmas & we didn't even buy her gifts bec. she got so much from everyone else. She really only enjoyed the wrapping paper & boxes & trying to get ornaments off the tree.

For traditions, we make appetizers that we all eat before bedtime after coming home from church. Each child also gets new Christmas P.J.s and a book they get to open Christmas Eve (my grandmother started this tradition when I was a baby & we continued it with our family). Last year (when my daughter was almost 3) we started leaving a plate of cookies for Santa & reindeer dust outside. Each child also gets to pick an ornament & they have their very own tree (3 feet tall) that they can decorate all by themselves. Make sure to mark the year on the bottom of each. We try to make it very down to earth & all about our family.

Enjoy!

For as long as I can remember my dad read 'twas the night before christmas' to us each christmas eve. I was in high school when we finally stopped. Every Christmas Eve since my oldest was born Dad would call and read the story over the phone. This year he will be visiting on Christmas Eve so the kids can sit on his lap while he reads. I will be videoing that! We also have a special Santa Plate that we put Santa's Milk and Cookies on and we leave carrots by the fire place for the reindeer. I usually leave bits of carrots in the fire place so the kids will see that the reindeer were messy eaters. We also make a pressed butter cookies like my mom did. As life goes on you will make traditions. We only got a couple toys for our kids first christmas' and mostly out of guilt. They got a lot of grandparents and had the most fun with the boxes and paper. Enjoy your holidays!

Don't go overboard, your child may enjoy playing with all the torn wrapping paper more than all the toys. That's what my son did.

http://www.labsandsoccer.com/kaifirstxmas.html

To be honest, we're still figuring out what traditions we want to do. This is our son's 2nd Christmas and he's not going to remember a thing, so we're not stressing the whole thing yet.

We did the pic with Santa thing and our parents each bought a Christmas type outfit. I like the Christmas PJ idea someeone else suggested... I might steal that. :)

Keep it simple for now. You'll find that traditions will naturally evolve over time. Don't force them.

You have gotten so many great suggestions, hope these help too! My husband's family had a tradition of opening presents Christmas Eve that were from family and then when he woke up Christmas morning there were presents from Santa under the tree. Santa's presents were never wrapped; but were always already put together and had batteries ready for play. He remembers running to the tree and just being so excited to see everything at once and diving in to play. I'm guessing his mom remembers not having to pick up a bunch of boxes after two boys and his dad was spared reading directions to put stuff together all morning while they anxiously waited looking over his shoulder. They got to sit back and watch them enjoy everything! Also, we received a photo album that was made for 10 years of Christmas pictures. You put a picture on one side, write a note on the other and there is a recorder button for each year to record a message. Hope your family has a wonderful holiday!

One tradition we started was everyone gets to open 1 gift Christmas Eve -- and it's always new pajamas! (I even buy and wrap for myself). Then we all cozy up in our new jammies, read Luke chapter 2 from the Bible and drink hot chocolate in front of the fireplace.

As for Christmas morning -- my theory is start small. Until about age 4 kids don't even understand the concept of new or big, so sometimes I look around at consignment stores, to find adorable, clean toys for my kids to unwrap for christmas. I've also been known to do a toy/book exchange with a friend.

With a 9 month old-- put sticky bows on everything. You're going to want that picture of the bow stuck to the top of her head and the bows are really the funnest thing to unwrap at that age. She might love playing with all the wrapping paer laying around after presents are opened, so don't stuff it into a garbage bag too fast. :)

About me:
Mom to 5 year old beautiful girl & 2 year old adorable twin boys.
Wife to highschool sweetheart.
Photographer of children. www.momentsbyjody.com

If you are going to keep a baby book, photo album or scrapbook, I think you have to have some pictures of the tree with presents, or even better, her first Santa Claus gifts! That is what we did, so my son will always be able to look back and see what Santa got him his first Christmas. We'll do that again this year, and every other year until he gets too old. Also, don't feel bad about filling her stocking with safety supplies (outlet covers, etc) or baby food & crackers.

You have had lots of great ideas, but one simple thing that we have done, is for the kids first christmas my mom bought the little people nativity set. It is something that we still bring out each year, and she has continued to either get us a new kids nativity set, or something from the fisher price Christmas line. They come out with something new every year, and the kids recieve this gift the night of Thanksgiving so that they can enjoy it all season. It seems sort of simple but my oldest is 6 and she still enjoys pulling out her Christmas toys. We also have lots of fun Christmas books that they get to bring out and read. Also, my best friend used to let her kids lay under the tree and have cookies and hot chocolate ( I know its early for those things for her, but you might enjoy the cookies, and apparently laying under the tree is amazing because when my kids saw it, they started the same thing and have never stopped.ur 9 month old) I bet your 9 month old would be thrilled. We get the kids in their pjs and drive around looking at christmas lights, listening to Christmas music, on Christmas eve. We actually started this as a way to calm the children and get them to sleep that night, but it has become a tradition that we really enjoy! Have a great time with her this year! You will never get your first Christmas as parents again. ~A.~

Dear C.,

What a wonderful Christmas for you and your family this year! Each year I buy an ornament that symbolizes something about my daughters. As they get older, I will let them pick it out. A baby's first Christmas would be great this year for you. (My 18 month old is getting an Elmo one as she loves him and my 3 year old is getting a Precious Moments Cinderella ornament as she loves to dress up like a princess.) We have a little tree that holds their ornaments. After Christmas, I put all of the ornaments they received this year as gifts and take one picture of all of them. I bought a little cheap one-picture-at-a-time ornament from Walgreens and put the picture in one side pocket, and on the other I make a list of who the ornament was from and any other significance about it. That way, when they grow up, they will have their own set of ornaments and know the history of them.

I am a scrapbooker, so each daughter has a Christmas scrapbook. I just do about 3 2-page layouts each year for them.

I also bake a birthday cake for Jesus with my girls. When I was growing up Santa was what Christmas was all about. It was very magical. I am trying to maintain the magic but minimize the Santa focus, keeping perspective of what Christmas is about.

There is a set from http://www.familylife.com/ where you can order a little box called What God Wants for Christmas. It goes through the Christmas story-- complete with tiny presents to open with each of the nativity characters for childern to place in the nativity as the story is read. We have our little friends over, read the story & place the pieces in the nativity together. THey decorate their own cupcakes, sing happy birthday to Jesus, and then eat them, followed by a little gift exchange. (Last year each child brought a book to trade. This year they are making a little craft for their friends. My girls are making home-made playdough to give to their friends.)

Hope this helps!
A.

My daughter was 8 months old her first Christmas (last year). One thing that I haven't seen the other mommies write about is not focusing on just the 25th. I so enjoyed my daughter's first holiday SEASON, because we put the tree up early, and would put the lights on in the morning when she would say hello to it; play around the tree with toys listening to Christmas music, and read lots of holiday themed books.

My advice would be run to your library or local bookstore and buy a couple of Christmas kid's books about both Santa and Jesus and READ THEM THE WHOLE MONTH LONG! One tradition I started with my daughter is to buy her a new Christmas book to read on Christmas night, while wearing her Christmas jammies. It makes a nice calming end to a busy day, and reading to your child is one of the best gifts that you can give.

Happy Holidays!

This has been great reading everybody's ideas. Here's what we do:
I heard the idea last year to wrap 25 books (can be used or new, or even wrap the ones you already have) and each night before bed let the kids pick a book to unwrap and read together as a family by the Christmas tree. We tweaked this to make it the 12 days of books and just start this 12 days before Christmas, because I actually buy new books since we love reading around here. Some of the books are Christmas related and some aren't, but the idea is just to slow down and get some good family time in. On Christmas Eve we have a bday party for Jesus (I make a coffe-type cake that can double as breakfast the next morning). We sing happy bday, blow out candles and read the Christmas story from the Bible. Then we open our stockings. Then in the morning we open our gifts with just our family of 4 (and we also do the 3 gift per child limit) and after we're done head over to my parents' for the extended family celebration...where my dad will read the Christmas story again before we open presents.

Y'all have such great traditions!! My friend started a wonderful tradition when her first child was a baby. Every year she had a "Santa" picture taken with all of her children together. She puts them away with the Christmas decorations. So when they are putting up the tree and decorations, they can remember Christmas through the years. Those are the things that go on the mantel each year. Of course, as her family grew, it would show up on the "Santa" mantel.

I am trying to go back now and use some pictures from the past to do for my children!!

Thanks everyone for sharing,
H.

Here are some suggestions! I am not sure that a nine month old would enjoy them until later but I thought they were cute.

-buying a big coloring book and each year coloring one page so that you could look back on it later
-put three wise men in different parts of the house and each day move them closer to the manger
-look at christmas lights on christmas eve

Hope this helps!

Babies this age get very overwhelmed if there is too much under the tree, so I would keep it simple. I made the mistake of going crazy on gifts for my oldest daughter on her first Christmas (she was 5 months old)- and even on her second. She only played with the first few gifts she opened the first couple of Christmases. So, with my second daughter, who was 6 months old, we only bought her like 4-5 gifts and they were educational toys that kept her busy (Leapfrog, etc). Much better.

As far as traditions, we buy a new ornament every year for each child, starting with the Baby's First Christmas ornament. We let them pick it out, and the only rule is that it has to have the year written on it somewhere. We write their names on the back so when they're older they'll know who picked out what. If nothing else, when my kids are grown and out of the house, those ornaments will create some pretty special memories - for all of us.

Also - how about buying "Christmas" pajamas and giving them to her every Christmas Eve? You can all spend the evening in your Christmas pajamas, getting ready for Santa. Just adds a little fun spark when she gets older. My mom still does that for us most years - and I'm 32!!

I want info on this too...my daughter will be 4 months old this christmas!