Give the Kid a Camera {the best Christmas gift ever}

Christmas will be here before we know it, so today we wanted to give you a little gift-giving tip with the single. best. gift. we've ever given our son. Ever.

Baby ducks by the pier at Lake Michigan.

Two years ago, when m1 was just four years old, we gave him a digital camera (more details on the one we chose in a minute). That's it. It sounds so simple. But I'm here to tell you, we were completely unprepared for both how much he would treasure that gift, and the sweet peek into his little heart it would give us. And an added bonus for us has been all the sweet little moments he's captured that have completely escaped the rest of us. Like his dozens of attempted selfies with his baby brother.

He loved this camera so much, he took it everywhere we went for weeks. Going to the store? Hey, I'll take pictures of everything we pass in case you forget!

He even took it when we went house hunting and captured this first shot of our future pantry.

His camera is full of pictures of his brothers.

And his sweet little cousins.

And tons of photos of baby brother in his carseat. He loves taking pictures while we drive, and is especially proud whenever he gets a photo of a sunset. 

So let's talk about this camera. We actually ordered a "kid's camera" at first and were so deeply disappointed in it (hardly kid-proof - we actually broke it the first day, tiny screen, poor photo quality, and very limited photo storage space). We changed route and found a real digital camera with everything we were looking for:

• small
• easy to use
• waterproof (one of his favorite features because he can take it in the pool or lake!)
• shock proof
• can handle a large SD card
• larger screen
• high quality photos

Husband is the electronics guy, so I (happily) left the searching to him and he settled on a Nikon Coolpix camera that fit the bill just perfectly. It was a little pricier than some other cameras, but knowing it was for a four-year-old it was worth the investment for a more durable camera that's still going strong two years later. Despite being dropped so. many. times. 

It also came with a handful of bonus features (that I didn't even know about and still don't know how to use) that he has had an absolute blast with. He set it two "cheep cheep!" every time he takes a picture. And he loves using this neon light effect:

And setting the photo frame to look like a polaroid. He can also make it play music and put together slide shows of the photos he's taken. I have no idea how he figures this stuff out. He must get it from his dad.

Now he asks to try our nicer camera sometimes, too.

This is his favorite dishtowel drying on the clothesline.

He also passes me the camera and asks me to take pictures of his latest ninja moves and Mario jumps.

Now go give you kid a camera.

P.S. If you need a few more great ideas for your Christmas gift list, my sister is an amazing screen print artist! She made the whale dishtowel M1 loves so much. Watch out for goodies on her etsy page! And say a prayer for her daughter Ramona (read her story here).