1st Birthday

[Newyearbaby08]

Hello,
My son will turn 1 on 1/1/09 and I was wondering if anyone could give me b-day party ideas. We live in Florida so we were thinking of having it at a park. Most of the kids attending range in age from 2-9.

I would love to know what you did to celebrate your little ones 1st birthday.

Thanks in advance.

[sunshinejune]

On both my daughters 1st birthdays we did a memory box for them and invited friends and family but instead of bringing gifts for a 1 year old they brought cards and things for an 18 year old and we did a video that they will watch on their 18th birthday. They got some really neat things(they don't know it yet) and the people who know them at 1 got to say some things to them for when they are heading into life. Some of my favorite things in there that people brought are savings bonds(which will be matured by then), a penny for their shoe on their wedding day, a locket from a great great grandmother who won't be living in 17 years, pictures of the house and town we were living in at the time, I put in a nice set of makeup brushes for each of them. the best part is having on video the special things that people had to say.

[Misunderstood]

thats a good idea Sunshinejune i wish i had thought of that. My daughter just turned one years old and we had two parties kinda because my mother wanted to just do one with family. So we had just a small cake and dinner. then later we did a bigger party with little kids ages 2-6 and played outside and had food,cake and ice cream and opened presents. It was fun my daughter had a good time and by the end of the day she was so tired she just wanted to go to bed which was good for me

[Disco Lemonade]

Hey there! I live in the Miami area, I too was going to do it in the park, but being October I was afraid of rain falls. Her bday is on Oct.19 here is what I have planed. She loves to watch Ni Hao Kai Lan from nickJr so I focused on that. The bad thing is that they have noooo party supplies for this character so I have made everything custom! I bought a bunch of Chinese decor im making the cake which will be a lantern, im hanging lanterns all over. The favors for the kids are a Chinese take out box which will contain Chinese toys inside. The color theme is going to be red, black, and gold. The piñata will also be custom. I advice you to check out Orientaltrading.com it helped me allot! I also got her a little red and gold kimono! lol...just stick to a theme and go all the way with it, it will look really nice. Oyea, I almost forgot to tell you, I also made the invites. I did them through shutterfly, they are great quality! ;)

[CLS]

This is a great post by the way, and I love the idea sunshinejune! I watched a Rachael Ray show where this mom spend $12,000 on her daughter's 1st b-day party. (ponies, clowns, petting zoo, the works) That just seems obscene to me. My favorite parts on my son's 1st birthday were 1.) Watching him eat his cake 2.) Watching him try to open his presents, and then proceded to stand on them and dance instead 3.) Reflecting afterwards on how different he was at age 1 compared to the day he was born.

So, I guess if I had it all to do over I would focus more on making memories than on having the perfect theme, decorations, cake, etc. Although, I have to admit picking the theme/decorations/cake is always so fun.

Good luck, and you'll have to let us know what you end up doing.

[Disco Lemonade]

Oyea def have that camara ready!! Thats an obvious one! I agree with cls I cant wait to see my baby trying to open those gifts and dig into that cake! lol, but really themes are what make a party "fun" for the kids. If your not into that and just want to focus on the memories than you really don have to worry about a party, you could just do something with the family :)

[charliesmommy]

Charlie will be 1 October 18th. His party is planned for the 11th. We are in the Cleveland, Ohio area and I'm hoping to get better weather by planning it early. Our house is big but not big enough. We really need to be able to go outside.

The party is an open house that starts at 4 and will go until our friends leave. :) My hubby is a graphic artist and he made the invites with Elmo on them. Yea, the theme is Elmo but I'm not going overboard. I'll be getting a few Elmo decorations and to keep the cost down I'm getting the napkins, utensils and table covers in Seasame Street colors rather than Elmo.

I can't wait to see what he does with his cake. It's tradition in our family that the baby has his or her own little cake shaped like the number 1. Boys cakes are blue and white and girls are pink and white.

I'm also looking forward to seeing me try to open his presents and then procede to play with the boxes that they came in. ;)

On his actual birthday we're taking him to either Chuck E. Cheese or one of those indoor blowup playgrounds. That day will be just for us. :)

[ktejmommy]

I just went small for DD's first b-day. We had a small gathering of family and it was done within a couple hours so she could still get her nap in before she got cranky.
The one thing I did though was to sit her down with a piece of paper and some markers and had her draw, then I got it copied and put on her cake... so she got to decorate her first birthday cake (without the mess) and her drawing is framed in her bedroom as a keepsake from b-day #1.
DS will do the same. His b-day is 12/13... in OH... yay. So we'll prob be in the midst of a snow storm like we were the day he was born. No chance to do anything fancy anyway.

[Disco Lemonade]

I notice that most people tend to do something small for a first birthday. Not only on here but so have my cousins and friends. I dont think Im being "obscene" just because I want a birthday bash for my baby girl. This tends to run in the family, I guess its just the mix of loud Central/south american Italian family...??? We throw a huge party for anything. Why do most chose to keep a first birthday private? Its just a question

[charliesmommy]

I notice that most people tend to do something small for a first birthday. Not only on here but so have my cousins and friends. I dont think Im being "obscene" just because I want a birthday bash for my baby girl. This tends to run in the family, I guess its just the mix of loud Central/south american Italian family...??? We throw a huge party for anything. Why do most chose to keep a first birthday private? Its just a question

Charlie's birthday may sound small but it won't be. My husband comes from a huge Irish family and I am Italian. That's why we are having an open house. This way people can come anytime after 4. Our friends will more than likely come about 7 and stay until the weeeeeee hours partying in Charlie's honor. :) The family will probably show up between 4 & 5 to see Charlie bust into his #1 cake.

I see nothing at all wrong with giving a birtday bash for your baby girl. How else will all of your friends and family see how much she's grown and how beautiful your one year old little baby girl is? :D

[Disco Lemonade]

Thanx Charliesmommy. I see we have the same planning going on here lol. I put a certain time on the invites but its also an "open house party." Im glad to see that Im not a nut. lol

[sunshinejune]

We invited all our friends and family to our memory box birthday. I do however agree that 12K is obscene, you should do what will be special for your child.

[madyryn]

We had a bbq with family for both of my kids 1st birthdays! It was fun and easy! My husband dealt with the food and bbq while i dealt with the kids and party games. we only 7 kids total so it went pretty well!

[craftyashley]

The only extravagance we had at the first birthday party was a specially made cake in the shape of a 1 with two matching cupcakes for the twins.
The girls birthday is in early Jan. I'm worried about this because it seems really soon after all the chaos of holidays. Plus, I have a summer birthday and am used to doing pool parties. What do you do with kids in the winter? Seems boring!
I'm already trying to come up with fun ideas for #2!

[lindseyh911]

I notice that most people tend to do something small for a first birthday. Not only on here but so have my cousins and friends. I dont think Im being "obscene" just because I want a birthday bash for my baby girl. This tends to run in the family, I guess its just the mix of loud Central/south american Italian family...??? We throw a huge party for anything. Why do most chose to keep a first birthday private? Its just a question

I think most people keep it small because really the child isn't completely aware of what's going on and really won't remember it. Sure they'll have pictures, keep-sakes, and presents, but no real memory of the party. I think the party is more for the guests and parents than the kid at this age. If you want to have a big party and you can afford it, I say go for it. Take tons of pictures and have fun!

[charliesmommy]

Thanx Charliesmommy. I see we have the same planning going on here lol. I put a certain time on the invites but its also an "open house party." Im glad to see that Im not a nut. lol

hehe...nope, you're not a nut at all. :)
First birthdays are a BIG deal in my family. Especially for those who don't see the baby too often like aunts and uncles. It'll be a thrill for them to see how much he's grown since they saw him last. And for us Italians, there's never a bad excuse to eat!!! I'm serving rigatoni, meatballs, pizza, sausage, chicken, augrotten potatoes, salad and whatever else anyone brings.

[CLS]

Disco Lemonade:

I think I owe you an appology. I didn't mean to offend you by saying that big parties are obscene. To me, $12,000 is a lot to spend on a party that the child won't remember. But, I can't afford to spend that much on a birthday party anyway, so maybe I'd feel differently if I could. As far as the party you are planning, the way you've described it here sounds great. I think it is awesome that you spent so much time and effort making/picking out decorations etc. so that you could use your DD's favorite show as the theme. That shows how much you love your daughter and how much you want her to have a party that she enjoys. My comment about spending more time on making memories and not on planning themes just meant that I got so worked up about making my son's 1st party so "perfect" that I forgot what it was really about. Once I seen him dancing on his presents I realized that he would have been happy with blue plates, a white cake, and some bright wrapping paper. Anyway, good luck with your daughter's party. It really does sound like it will be fun for her and your friends/family!

[ktejmommy]

I had a small birthday sort of out of respect for my birthday girl. At a year old, they still need naps and can still get over whelmed with noise and a bunch of people and comotion. I'm sure a big bash (hind-sight) wouldn't have been a problem, but I don't regret having something small. Not having done any of that before, I didn't want to end up playing host AND trying to deal with a cranky baby.

[War_Eagle]

On both my daughters 1st birthdays we did a memory box for them and invited friends and family but instead of bringing gifts for a 1 year old they brought cards and things for an 18 year old and we did a video that they will watch on their 18th birthday. They got some really neat things(they don't know it yet) and the people who know them at 1 got to say some things to them for when they are heading into life. Some of my favorite things in there that people brought are savings bonds(which will be matured by then), a penny for their shoe on their wedding day, a locket from a great great grandmother who won't be living in 17 years, pictures of the house and town we were living in at the time, I put in a nice set of makeup brushes for each of them. the best part is having on video the special things that people had to say.

That's a great idea.

[Disco Lemonade]

Disco Lemonade:

I think I owe you an appology. I didn't mean to offend you by saying that big parties are obscene. To me, $12,000 is a lot to spend on a party that the child won't remember. But, I can't afford to spend that much on a birthday party anyway, so maybe I'd feel differently if I could. As far as the party you are planning, the way you've described it here sounds great. I think it is awesome that you spent so much time and effort making/picking out decorations etc. so that you could use your DD's favorite show as the theme. That shows how much you love your daughter and how much you want her to have a party that she enjoys. My comment about spending more time on making memories and not on planning themes just meant that I got so worked up about making my son's 1st party so "perfect" that I forgot what it was really about. Once I seen him dancing on his presents I realized that he would have been happy with blue plates, a white cake, and some bright wrapping paper. Anyway, good luck with your daughter's party. It really does sound like it will be fun for her and your friends/family!


No need for an apology cls :) I know exactly what you were saying, I was just wondering if I was going over board. I really don’t think so...everything has thankfully been inexpensive. With me putting together the decor and baking the cake its saved us so much money. It was planned to be at Dave & Busters private room and we were going to have magicians and clowns...the whole shebang! Unfortunately I ended up unemployed, so now I feel I have to do the best with what is at my economical reach. It was a big bummer to know I couldn’t do what I truly wanted for her
:(

[charliesmommy]

No need for an apology cls :) I know exactly what you were saying, I was just wondering if I was going over board. I really don’t think so...everything has thankfully been inexpensive. With me putting together the decor and baking the cake its saved us so much money. It was planned to be at Dave & Busters private room and we were going to have magicians and clowns...the whole shebang! Unfortunately I ended up unemployed, so now I feel I have to do the best with what is at my economical reach. It was a big bummer to know I couldn’t do what I truly wanted for her
:(


I'm sure you already know this but if anyone asks if they can bring something always say yes. I would never offer if I didn't want to and I think most people are the same. This is why I'm having so much food. The only things I'm making are the pasta, sausage and meatballs. I'm buying the chicken, Elmo and Cookie Monster cookies and the cake. Everything else I'm serving other people are bringing.

And don't sweat what you can't do on your baby's birthday. Be proud of what you are doing and that you are doing it yourself for your little sweetie. :)