Birthday gift for the 2 yr old that has everything??

[karice2]

I know it is a little sarcastic but how about the proverbial silver spoon. They have a cute fork and spoon set at Tiffany's.

http://www.tiffany.com/Shopping/Ite...ms=s+5-p+10-c+288202-r+-x+-n+6-ri+-ni+0-t+-k+

I know it isn't budget but I would laugh if I got something like this for my future kid.

 

[staciepm]

For my cousin's babies 1rst birthday I made a shutterfly book using family pictures. Mine was Luca's Book of ABC's and I had things like " A is for Aunt, lots and lots of Aunts." and put pictures of all the aunts. B was for baby boys, C for Cousins, D was for dogs (picture of their two dogs) E was for everyone, F was for family, G was for Grandparents, H was for Horses ( mom has two horses) etc. Turned out really cute.

 

[CandleontheWater]

If they are animal lovers, what about "adopting" him an animal from the World Wildlife fund. He would get a certificate and a picture of the animal, and could brag to all his friends about his pet shark or tiger or whatever.

Here is the link http://www.worldwildlife.org/gift-center/gifts/Species-Adoptions.aspx

 

[Ephany]

I like the idea of experiences, maybe tickets to see Thomas the Train or another show in your area for something he likes (Elmo, Yo Gabba Gabba). My mom gives DD a yearly membership to the local puppetry center, it's kind of the gift that keeps giving. MIL likes to give tickets to shows also, it's nice 'cause we get memories instead of more stuff. Do you have an aquarium or children's museum locally?

Otherwise, I'd do bubbles or chalk, things that can be consumed and disappear. Not colored bubbles though, trust me, they're NOT washable no matter what the bottle says!

 

[crashbb]

I got my nephew swimming lessons. He's the first child (his younger sister is scheduled to arrive in a couple of weeks), so he doesn't have *everything* but he has a lot. He loves water, but his parents were having trouble taking him to "parent and me" swimming (the whole being 8 months pregnant makes things difficult for my SIL). I figured that the present worked on a few levels - he gets to swim (loves the water), he gets to spend time with auntie crashbb (I figured that this would be especially important with the new baby), it gives his parents a break while I take him to swimming, and it isn't something that will clutter up there house.

I should note that I live about a 10 minute walk away from their house and the pool is about a 5 minute walk away from their house, so this works well. It would not work if I lived far away.

 

[pyrxtc]

stocks

 

[Suz D]

These are great ideas, but between him and his brother, they have these things. No need for tub toys, they are drowning in stuffed animals, and they have a huge assortment of old halloween costumes from clearance for dress up.

Seriously, they have everything.

Not being judgemental, but realistic (and knowing there isn't anything you can do about it anyway)...they need to clean out some of the old toys, books, animals etc. We have a 15 year old and a 5 year old and were in the same boat. We cleaned out a lot of the hand-me-downs and donated them to Goodwill. This made room for gifts for our youngest.

Like a PP said, there are lots of new books out. I think that older books are great, but we had a lot of books that we got just because they were cheap. I cleaned out the older, non-exciting titles and kept the classics and ones our oldest absolutely loved (Dr. Suess, If you give a Mouse, etc).

I know this wasn't the most helpful of posts, but if the boy's mother is your sister and you have a good relationship, you might tell her that it's hard for people at gift giving occasions and has she ever thought of donating some of the excess to charity.

It will get easier as the boy gets older, but at two years old, the choices are pretty limited.

 

[duffy]

Time. Spend time with him. Even if it's just making cookies. Let him lick the spoon, crack the eggs into the bowl, pick out the shells....

Or go fishing.

Or take a hike. Obviously an easy one, but one with cool things like a waterfall as the destination, or lots of rocks to climb over. Let him get dirty.

Spend a day making crafts. Gather your supplies for easy projects. Make homemade play-dough, homemade bubbles, goop, make a volcano with baking soda and vinegar.

Spend time reading all those books aloud.

Sprawl on the floor and color with crayons with him.

I guarantee, those days spent doing things with him will be the days he will love. I remember once, years ago, when I was oh, about 14. We had family visiting, and my 4-year old niece was too young to play with the many cousins. I frankly pitied her, so I played some stupid kid game with her for about half an hour. She WORSHIPED me from then on!

Although looking back, as a teenager, having a 4-year old tagging after you whenever you see her isn't as cool as it sounds. Maybe I should not have felt so sorry for her?