I started writing this post months ago but, alas, life got in the way. I thought I would share some of the things we bought Ember for her first birthday. This may prove useful to anyone with a one-year-old to buy for this Christmas.
When it was Ebony’s first birthday, we were skint. So skint. And I took great pride in the fact that we hadn’t bought her a single new gift. Every single thing came from charity shops, though I can’t really remember what it was we bought her now. But, whatever it was, I felt proud that we weren’t contributing to landfill or waste and had instead chosen second-hand items.
We’ve got some second-hand things for Ember, too. I was planning on spending £45 on the gorgeous wooden ride-along toy featured above, but in the end, I happened across one in my local charity shop so got it for the bargain price of £8. I’d also picked up other little bits from charity shops, because all I do is wander around charity shops looking for bargain wooden toys.
And, because she’s the second born and we are now less impoverished than we were in our mid-twenties, she even gets a few brand new gifts, too. Oh, the luxury of being the youngest sibling. And we already have the basic stuff this time, the train sets and the toy boxes, so she gets real treats rather than the essentials (not that train sets and toy boxes are ‘essentials’, but, you know).
I actually ended up buying this second-hand from a charity shop, but I would otherwise have bought one new. I wanted the bumblebee really, but you can’t argue with £8 so I am pretty happy with the ladybird. And it’s already had plenty of use, Ember has finally got the hang of using it (mostly to stand on so she can reach the door handle. Terrifying much?) and Ebony keeps whizzing past me on it (apparently she keeps forgetting that I have already told her it’s not really designed for five-year-olds).
This is my absolute favourite thing ever. It has bunny ears! It is, quite simply, the most beautiful thing ever and Ember looks so sweet in it after her bath. Worth every penny.
We have a box of Duplo that my parents saved (along with everything else me or my sister touched in our childhoods) and it gets played with most mornings. It’s the perfect way of keeping two children entertained so that I can attempt to doze off a little after a sleepless night. I wouldn’t usually buy something like this brand new because you can get them easily enough secondhand on eBay and I loathe buying plastic (because it will exist forever and end up in landfill), but Ebony begged to buy this as a birthday present for Ember when we were shopping in Manchester and I didn’t know how to say no (sorry, the environment).
I have had this book on my Amazon wishlist since Ebony was born, but I’ve never gotten around to getting it (my wishlist is out of control, I’d have to win the lottery to actually buy all the stuff on there). I am so pleased that we have a finally have a copy of this board book, it is everything I hoped it would be.
I bought this so we could have a party which we haven’t yet gotten around to having. I took Ebony to a few sessions of a fancy baby group where they had flashing lights and all kinds of props. She loved it. But she was also way bigger and more mobile than the other babies and I got the impression that the woman leading the session would prefer it if my baby didn’t keep walking away with the flashing lights and hiding them in the corner of the room, so I bought her a flashing light all of her own.
I am a children's’ book fiend. We have thousands. Literally. I can’t help myself. Most of them are second hand, but occasionally I buy them new. This is another long-standing member of my wishlist recommended to me by a friend who knows lots about books, so I decided to finally buy it for Ember’s birthday. I bought the board book and I’m glad I did because it turns out one-year-olds love tearing paperbacks.