Hellobee Boards

Our guy was 15 months at his first Christmas and had no clue what was going on, even though he loved all the wrapping paper and boxes! We did a long distance road trip at 11 months with him and it went pretty well. I made sure to create a "play" bag ahead of time with different toys, snacks, activities to keep him occupied (something new for every 15 min of awake time, including snacks as an option). I think it really helped! Hopefully G will nap some on the plane!

We just had L's 1st birthday party and he pretty much cried at his presents...so don't expect much (except for funny pictures to show him later. )

At 10 months, DD had No clue what was going on. She was sick, which may have contributed to her lack of excitement but she didn't even care about unwrapping or boxes. It was slightly better at her 1st bday but not much! Just don't have expectations for a big reaction! It's still fun though.

At 13m, DD2 let her older sister (3.5y) open most of her presents She would occasionally help and/or occasionally play with stuff that really interested her. I'd suggest not going overboard with presents -- especially with a birthday right around then too, it's easy to get a ton of stuff (even if you don't buy that much, it seems like other people always will!). We ended up hiding some stuff away and bringing it out a couple months later when she was growing out of the baby toys.

As far as travel, I think having a separate seat will help a lot. I think that 9-15ish months is one of the harder times to fly because they likely won't just nurse/nap (too much excitement!) but they are super-active and wiggly. At least by the end of that age-range, you can have more solid food snacks in your arsenal. I'd use their carseat if you can (if they don't mind it), since mine were always more likely to get sleepy in that and bring lots of things to ration out slowly (puffs/cheerios, etc). Stacking the plastic cups on the plane was always a big hit with my girls at that age too!

We did a quiet/low key Christmas. T was 9 months. She loved the paper. We did and will continue to do want/need/wear/read. It helps me regin in what comes into our house and be reasonable about spending. Even at her first birthday she was pretty obvious. You could ship a couple small gifts ahead of time. Would you parents be willing to ship things back? Her favorite gift was the little people whale and monkey I got for $6 at Target that was in her stocking.