Hey, I'm a first time mom too and my daughter will be turning 1 in Jan. so I have both Christmas and her birthday coming up soon. For Christmas my husband and I are thinking we will buy her some new bath toys (she loves bath time) and a Spin & Learn Top by Vtech. Also, she has a little Fisher Price cell phone that speaks in Slovak (my husband is from Slovakia). My daughter just loves it and my husband wants to buy her two more; one in English and one in Spanish. For her birthday I haven't decided yet, but I was thinking about a baby doll. I do know that I am going to celebrate with a fairy theme and dress her up. She has four girl cousins right around her age too and they are going to dress up as well. I am going to make all of the foods small for little fairies and have games that she likes to play (like turning on music for a minute and letting her do a fairy dance, coloring a fairy pict. etc.)
For your son you might think of doing something like fire trucks, boats, veggietales, zoo animals, or something like that. I suggest that next time you are out shopping with your son that you take a little time to go through the toy department and show him some different things. Watch for the ones that hold his interest. This will give you ideas of what to buy for him when you go Christmas and Birthday shopping. Hope this helps.