November 23, 2007

IN around 3 months or so Andrea will be turning 1. People have already been giving their ideas and suggestions on Andrea’s birthday party. Everyone’s just assuming that we will be throwing a party for her.  Ruy and I have talked about this before and we agreed that we don’t want to throw a party for her. 

Don’t get us wrong, it’s not that we don’t want to celebrate Andrea’s birthday. We just prefer to celebrate it in such a way that Andrea would really enjoy.  95% of the birthday parties I’ve attended for 1 year olds were attended by a cranky and irritable if not crying and scared celebrant. The parties seem to be more for adults than for the kid. There is of course absolutely nothing wrong with that, it’s just that I’d rather make that day 100% for Andrea.

We want to start a tradition wherein every year we would talk about what she wants to do for her birthday, and we’ll do it. A trip to the zoo? Lunch at Jollibee? EK? Toy Shopping? Swimming? Beach? Party? She can do whatever she wants (within reason of course) as long as we get to have a quiet dinner at the end of the day.  The day before or the day after her birthday she can spend that with either of her grandparents. 

Now that Andrea’s too young to tell us what she wants, we can assume the things she’ll want. Here are our options:

1. Swimming

2. Trip to the toy store (where she can pick the toy she wants for her gift)

3. Play Gym or Fun Ranch

4. Running somewhere, maybe in a park or in a playground.

Then at the end of the day, we’ll buy her cake and have a quiet dinner. =) Can’t wait.

I am not a Christmas lover but I am sooo excited about the fact that this is going to be Andrea’s first Christmas. I’ve been looking around for a gift for her and just today I got her one already….woohoo.

I chose this for the following reason.

1. It’s big enough that she won’t put it inside her mouth.

2.  The other toys within this price range are aides for walking. She doesn’t need that as she’s already walking.

3. It shows cause and effect. Andrea already knows how to switch on the light and then she’ll immediately look up to watch the light turn on. I’m sure she’ll appreciate the buttons here.

4. I got it for 50% off

5. It’s not in the list of toys with LEAD.

6.  She can use it for a long long time (by that I mean a year or two)

7. Andrea’s in a spanking mode. She hits objects to see how they sound, the on/off button is that giant red button you can see.  She just needs to hit it and it would activate music and motion.

8. It’s not fully automatic, most of the parts are there for her to explore manually.  I think manual toys are so much better than automatic toys.

9. There are a variety of animals, I can use this to teach her about animals.

Now, my only problem is this. Can I wait until Christmas before I  give it to her?