Okay blog-world friends. Here is my question.Our second son, Alan, will be turning 1 in November. A first birthday is always special, but this day seems especially significant to us as we look back on Alan's first year and forward to what lies ahead for him.
When Alan was 2 months old we discovered he had a rare condition which required immediate surgery and left him with liver disease. He is now on the waiting list for a liver transplant, which could take place soon after his birthday.
We aren't looking to make the birthday celebration reflect on the struggles, though. We want it to be just what it is: a celebration of the wonderful milestone of reaching 1 year.
Dale's first birthday theme was easy - he had already clearly shown a love for cars and trucks and anything with a motor well before his 12th month.
Alan isn't proving so easy. I'm kind of stumped for what to do for themes, etc. Any ideas? What have you done for 1st birthday parties? What Works for You?
16 comments:
HE is ADORABLE!!!
For my youngests 1st birthday party, I did the rubber duck theme. I bought the pink duck party goods through Birthdayexpress.com and then accented the duck them. I did my own cake and topped it with a rubber duck and put "our ducky is one!"
Is he into Elmo?? Baby EInstein??? Farm Animals??
Thomas the Tank Engine theme! I think my nephew would have a heart attack if his next birthday way Thomas. LOL
Or I think trucks/construction theme will always be a winner with 1-year-old boys. :)
We just did a train b'day for my son. BUT about a week before his b'day I came up with THE BEST 1ST BIRTHDAY IDEA EVER! (or so I think!). And it sounds like your little guy deserves a super cool birthday...so I'll share (just don't tell my neighbor who will copy it..okay?) ;-) We are going to do an UNO birthday for our next one. I am going to make a 9x13 cake and frost it like an Uno card. Our dollar store sells decks of Uno cards so I'm going to use those as favors. I love making cards/invitations, so the invites will look like an Uno card too. I am going to buy cheap plates, napkins, etc. in the basic blue, red, yellow and green colors to coordinate. Maybe I'm a total dork, but I'm super psyched about the next 1 year old party we will throw :-)
Thanks for coming by my blog! I totally appreciate your comments!
Our oldest was born 2 days before Christmas so we decided in lieu of a party he wouldn't remember anyway, we had an open house. We served coffee and cake (and juice for the short people) for about 5 hours. The house was never full but someone was always there. Each guest felt like they had gotten to spend time with the birthday boy. He wasn't overwhelmed by the day and enjoyed opening gifts one by one. We had little favors for the short guests to take when they left. It really worked well.
Birthdays are so much fun! We just celebrated one in our home with our own costume party centered around Winny the Pooh. Though our little girl (who turned 3) likely won't remember it I'm sure she'll get a kick out of the pictures someday and hopefully will realize how much she is loved. You can check it out in the September posts on my blog.(sorry I don't know how to link it)
I say, whatever your theme, make it personal and simple. Let your other child participate and bless your little guy. It will make for some really fun memories for all of you at the end of a long year. You have a lot to celebrate!!
I don't think I care for themes - the theme is that he is 1!
You don't need things to match. Just pick decorations in bright primary colors.
This party is about your adorable lil guy and friends and family - the theme won't be remembered.
Don't stress - enjoy!
My son will turn 1 in December, and though the gathering will be simple, I've enjoyed finding some inspiration on this topic. I actually googled "1st birthday party" and was amazed at all the ideas I found. Enjoy the celebration!
Thanks for the comment on my blog! I love a party, so I just had to come here to comment! I have bunches of ideas for you:
--For my son, we did a jungle animal theme. We used jungle animal plates, but you could just use black and white (zebra) or orange and brown (tiger). . . I made a lion cake and cupcakes that were "animal prints." He got the Little People Zoo as a gift. Was fun.
For his second birthday (but it could easily be adapted), we did a construction theme. I made a chocolate cake then used a large serving spoon to put big chunks of it into the back of a giant dump truck I had lined with plastic wrap. Then I poured chocolate icing (microwave it just long enough that it is gooey) over it. Plastic hard hats, a table cloth that was a map of a town, with a bunch of matchbox cars.
But I've also thought it would be cool to do a color as a theme for a one year old. Use a Twister Mat as your tablecloth, buy plain colored plates, napkins, etc. Ice cupcakes in the color of choice (or do them in the Twister colors).
The most important thing, whatever you do, is simply to remember to have fun with your son!
Have a blessed day (and sorry about this crazy long comment!)
We’ve done the Ducky thing for a first birthday- what fun. You can also do circles or balls (shape party) or a favorite color- have a BLUE party. Does he have a nickname? Can you play on that- we had a ladybug party for our daughter who has that nickname. We kept the first birthday to family only- but with our big families it was a pretty big party.
For my oldest this year- our theme is the letter of her first name (got the idea from a Martha Stewart mag).
Noah's Ark would also be a great one. . .
Good Luck!
I remember my son's first birthday. He is my one and only so he didn't have an older brother or sister to bring in the kids. My Dad worked at a condo in Houston. He rented the penthouse and we threw a party for Kelvin. It was mainly adults but as long as there is love the kid doesn't care who is there. Well, Kelvin had one of those little round cakes, you can find them practically anywhere now, but he had his own cake. He sat in his highchair, we sang "Happy Birthday" and blew out his one candle. Once the one candle was removed, Kelvin put his whole face into the cake and came out with a smile! Now what could be better than that!!
For my son's first birthday I did a balloon theme because it was the only thing he showed a strong interest in. I blew up lots of balloons, hung some as decor & the rest he got to play with. The Happy Birthday sign had a balloon for each letter. I added streamers & confetti to the table and that was it. Colorful & balloons - made for good photos and he loved it.
Since one year olds rarely understand what is really going on we did the open house theme too for our last one. It worked out great and our birthday girl wasn't overwhelmed and cranky when it was over!
We did an ocean theme for my oldest first birthday. We had lots of balloons in shapes of dolphins, fish etc. She got a sand box for her gift so we set it up with sand for the kids to play (we actually did this indoor because her birthday is in Feb. but we had the party at my husband's work rec. room) The kids all got beach pails and shovels for favors and a big ocean themed cake, plus little fish cake for her to dig into. The neat part was it was all our friends and family and we served ready made enchiladas and just had a wonderful time visiting and watching the kids play:)
We're actually just doing a regular party for the people who love our daughter... she also turns 1 in November. We'll have good food, a cake (with a little matching cupcake for Love Bug), and our family around to coo and cuddle her. She won't remember the decorations and any "friends" who came. It'll just be a small group of family and friends.
Maybe I'm no fun, but I've been to a few 1st birthday parties where the decorations and a bunch of babies is overwhelming. The birtday baby ends up crying because some kid trampled him to take one of his new toys!
Ok, I had to comment. I love birthdays, they are a big deal at my house. Even if the number of guests is limited to a few family members I always wanted the "party" to be special. My boys were both "in to" something for their first's. We had elmo and little people themes for them. My daughter just turned 1 last month and I didn't have a clue what to do for her, so we did a princess theme. Nothing disney, just princess. So, for a boy maybe Prince? THey have some cute stuff out there for that. OR what about just a simple #1 cake pan? Ever surf wilton's cake site? i'm a huge fan. :) Whatever you do, don't lump his birthday in with Thanksgiving. My parents did that for me (my bday falls on Thanksgiving every few years). I thought I was getting the biggest party EVER. When I realized the guests were not there for me I was heart broken. (I'm over it!) :) Hope you come up with something amazing. I'm sure he'll have fun digging into some cake no matter what it looks like.
We had a music themed birthday for my oldest son. Drum cake (design found somewhere on interent) lots of music games, we even had music time when the kids could play with musical instruments.
Amanda
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