Em is the oldest in a circle of friends. The little girl next door is a year younger. And a friend of ours has a little girl a year younger too. So, when it comes time for holiday + birthday giving, I usually gift them something that Em loved when she was their age.

I thought I’d share with you some of Em’s favorites + my go tos for gift giving. First up, her newborn favorites.

Aden + Anais Swaddlers - I’ve blogged about these before. We love the big 47″ square ones. In the early days, we used them as swaddlers. Then nursing covers. Now with Em 2.5 years old, we use them as sheets.

Manhattan Toy Winkel - This was the first toy she could use on her own. Thanks to the loops, she was able to grasp it easily.

On the Night You Were Born - Hands down, my favorite book. It was given to us my Em’s aunt. It’s such a sweet, sweet story. I’ve teared up many a time reading it to Em.

Vulli Sophie the Giraffe Teether - A classic teething toy. I’ve gifted Sophie many times including this variation.

Continuing with my series on registry favorites, here were Em’s favorite first toys.

1] Winkel – Lots of loops with a rattle in the middle. Seems silly + overpriced, but it was her absolute first + favorite toy as an itty bitty baby. Its design allows infants to easily grip it. Em’s hand + fingers would get caught in it so that she could easily hold on to it. It’s lightweight enough so it wouldn’t hurt if she accidently bopped herself with it. Also handy as a teether.

2] Sophie the Giraffe – A classic for a reason. Em loved chomping on Sophie.

3] Oball – Not as easy to grasp, so Em caught onto this ball after the Winkel. However, unlike the Winkel, this rolls. Lots of fun for her once she got a little more mobile. But an early favorite due to it’s lightweight, flexible design.

4] Rink O’ Links – We got these links a little late in the early baby stage. However, she still loved them + we wish we would have gotten them sooner. They are nubby for teething. Easy + small for her to carry around. The linking ability is awesome. We would link them to her stroller or carseat and attach a soft toy at the end. That way, she always had something to play with and the ability to toss or drop the toy was greatly reduced.

5] Go Go Bugs - Rattle + crinkle toys with a velcro strap on the end. Great for attaching to stroller or carseat. Mostly, we attached one to her wrist so she could play with it without losing it. Like the name implies, a great toy for on the go.

Today we’re featuring our favorite splurge items for newborns. See our non-splurge registry favorites for newborns here.

1] Arm’s Reach Co-sleeper – We went back and forth between the co-sleeper and a regular pack n’ play. We’re so happy we chose the co-sleeper. It does all that a pack n’ play does + more. The bonus? It snuggles up against our bed. At night, I could glance over at Em and see her without getting out of bed. During the first couple of somewhat paranoid months, this eased my mind. Also, it rocks for nursing at night because I didn’t have to get out of bed. At all. I stashed diapers, wipes, changing pad, burp cloth + a change of clothes in the side pocket so that I could also change her in the middle of the night without getting out of bed. Em is about 10 months old and we still use this as our travel bed since it folds up nicely. I’m also glad we got the original size because we get more use out of it since Em would have outgrown the mini one by now.

2] Video Monitor – Originally, we intended to just get a sound monitor but after I kept reading how valuable video was, we changed our minds and put this monitor on our list. So happy we did. When we hear her, we can pop on the monitor to evaluate if we indeed need to go into her room. She never really left my side as a newborn, and I use this more now than I did when she was just born, but definitely great to have at the beginning.

3] Soothing Center – At first, we thought when Em was born that she was too small for it. However, we realized we could tilt it back a bit for her not to be slumped in it. The center comes with an awesome swaddle blanket that lets you swaddle the infant AND strap them in once they are swaddled. On the blanket, there’s holes for the straps to go through. It swings a couple of ways + has lots of sound options including a place to put your ipod to listen to your own music. The first few weeks, Em slept solely in this swing.

4] Not Rational Hansel Diaper Bag – Not really a registry item but truly a total splurge, nevertheless. I looked forever for a diaper bag that didn’t scream diaper bag. I knew I wanted to have a bag that made me feel fashionable. This leather bag is perfect. Not only is it gorgeous, squishy leather, it’s actually meant to be a diaper bag. So, the interior is wipeable. It also has snaps to hang it on the back of the stroller and snaps to hook stuff to it. It has four deep, outside pockets for easy access and bottles fit in them. And yes, that long strap is removable. Its squishy leather means that it isn’t rigid and heavy. And let’s face it, with all that you are toting around you don’t want the bag to be heavy. Plus, it’s a bag I can use long after I no longer need a diaper bag.

I’ve been wanting to share with you our favorite registry items. I remember how overwhelming it was when I first started the registry process. I stalked forums, read books + blogs and chatted with online friends who had just given birth to get their recommendations. I finally felt I got a handle on it all and hunkered down to start our wish list. I learned a ton along the way and even more once Em was born. So, I thought I’d highlight my favorites things. I’ll do a series of these starting with the newborn stage.

Today’s favorites are all inexpensive items we found essential when Em was a newborn.

1] Puj Tub – Fantastic because you can place it in the sink. No bending over a tub postpartum. Lots of great features including drain holes. This means the baby stays warmer because you can keep the water flowing while giving them a bath. The water stays at a constant level as the excess drains.

2] Aden + Anais Swaddlers – These are the large 47″ swaddle blankets. Made of muslin so they are breathable. Super soft. There are lots of swaddle blankets out there, and we tried a bunch. We could get these tight so that she wouldn’t break through. Their large size allowed us to use them until she was three/four months old when we transitioned her out of the swaddle. I also used these as nursing covers thanks to their large size + breathability.

3] Gerber 6-ply Cloth Diapers – Love these as burp cloths. Generously sized, thick + absorbent. We had twelve of these, and I always had one with me. One also stayed in my diaper bag. Plus, we had one that we laid flat behind her head in her swing and one behind her head in her bed to catch spit-up. That way, we only had to wash the burp cloths instead of striping the sheets or washing the swing cover constantly.

4] Gerber Kimonos – Before the baby came, I was clueless about newborn clothes. I thought that she would need pants. However, at the hospital, they just used a long sleeve kimono and a diaper. Then, they swaddled her up in a blanket and put a little hat on her. This made changing her a breeze. No pants to fuss with. The sleeves on the long sleeve kimonos have fold-over mitts so that she didn’t scratch herself. Plus, kimonos are so much easier to put on a baby since it doesn’t have to go over a wobbly head. Super awesome. As a newborn, she stayed in these all day and all night.

5] Bath Sponge – I used this instead of a washcloth. Since it’s a sponge, it holds water and you can squeeze it out to rinse the baby. Also, very gentle. I still use this at bathtime.

6] Lap Pads – Perfect for changing her all over the house. One stays in my diaper bag for changes on the go.

7] Itzbeen – Wasn’t sure how this would work prior to her being born, but I love it and still use it everyday. It has 4 buttons – one for diaper, feeding, sleeping and a miscellaneous button. When you diaper the baby, you push the diaper icon. That starts the timer. That way, when you go to change the baby again, you can see how long it’s been since you last did a diaper change. Same with feeding. I used the feeding button for one side of the breast and the sleep button for the other. That way, when she was a newborn, I could time how long she nursed on each side. I use the misc. button to time my medicine. Every 4 hours I needed to take medicine. So when I did, I pushed the misc. button and it started the timer. There is also a clock, and you can set an alarm on each icon. Plus, it has a nightlight button and a button you can push for the display to be back lit for night feedings. Love this thing. Today, I use it to time how long it’s been between feedings and to time her naps.

8] White Noise App – This was magic. I used it to help her to sleep. Also, for us, a must have for roadtrips. As a newborn, she’d fuss + cry before falling asleep. I’d put on the white noise and she’s drift off to sleep. Convenient + always handy.