Wow, that is incredibly awesome, I wish I was here for that… I haven’t been a member very long, and I missed all of that. It explains why GWC is the place that it is. It’s not simply a cause for celebration for Armando and his lovely family, it’s an occasion for the whole community! Three cheers for Elena!
Oh no. Don’t blame ME for that. 
Just kidding. Once again, I need a teary emoticon.
Just wait till you have your own kids. It’s really amazing how you really stop caring about your own comfort, perhaps even your very survival in order to guarantee a better life for them.
As far as good gifts for one year olds: books. Lot’s of 'em. I’m a big fan of encouraging literacy on an early age (can you tell what Elena got from me for her birthday?). It certainly worked to get our oldest into reading. She’s in first grade and reads above grade level and has her nose constantly in a book, in no small part because we read to her and gave her books from a very young age.
By the way, how do you get to be a 'bot terminator? That has got to be the coolest desgination on here.
teary, happy emoticons seem a rare breed. does this express it?
I’ll echo Armando’s books are always a great present suggestion - I’ve given books to many of my friends with children (particularly bilingual books) and they are some of the gifts that are used the most. Besides which, it’s really just an extension of what I do with adults, too - think about the person, think about books I like or would like to read, and fir the two together, voila, a present. 
Ironically. Which is fine by me.