1St B-day Tips

Keep it simple! Put a silly hat on her (if she'll let you!) let her get REAL messing eating her own cupcake, get lots of pics and just have fun! As you know, you can never predict how a 1-year-old will behave, so just go with the flow and make it a great memory!

We have always limited 1st birthdays to family and a close friend or to. Both times we did a back yard cook out with a back up plan for some pizza if the weather didn't cooperate. This last time (youngest is 14 months) I made cupcakes and the baby got one of her own. In other words we kept it simple. However, I like to keep all of our birthdays fairly simple. My 5 year old loves the family picnic in the park each year for her. We go by the rule of one guest for each year of age. I think last year we had a pinata. I guess my point is that we have been to my complicated, fancy birthday parties and we have been to many simple ones and the kids have just as good a time when you keep it simple. The adults are able to enjoy themselves and socialize when you keep it simple. So I plan to have simple, low key birthdays for as long as my girls will let me get away with it.

I went all out! I feel like every birthday - especially t he first is a huge deal! I love to celebrate! We had two horses - one for the big kids and a pony for the young ones. We did a pull string pinata for the kids. We did hamburgers and hotdogs and a birthday cake that was decorated EXACTLY like his invitations! We had a great time and he still loves looking at his birthday pics all the time! My second child is 8 months old and I am already starting to plan his big day! Have fun whatever you do - I do recommend food that you don't have to prepare yourself! Remember to delegate responsibilities to others so that you can actually enjoy the festivities!

We only had our family over. It's mostly for them and us as parents anyways. We made it almost like a family potluck to spend time together and celebrate our son.

We made a nice cake, and a little personal cake for our son to destroy all by himself, and we made a little time capsule for him, with letters from all the family in attendance giving him advice for the future. It's really fun to get little decorations for photos for the baby book, but if not many children are going to be in attendance, then you really don't have to worry about goodie bags or games or anything.

For the first kid, we had family over for burgers/hot dogs on the grill, then cupcakes.

For the second kid, we had family a couple close friends, then ordered pizza and had cake, with a separate cake for the birthday boy.

I definitely recommend the pizza thing just because it was no stress for preparation and I was able to enjoy myself visiting with family and friends without having to worry about serving guests.

Schedule it when you know your kid will be happy! Both times, we scheduled guests to arrive just before we knew the baby would wake up. They woke up to a house full of people, but we had a longer time with a happy kid.

I know it's hard to pick some people to come and others not to, but we had a huge mass of people for our daughter's 1 year party (she's almost three now) and it was INSANE and so stressful. I'd suggest just family and maybe one little friend. I've heard of one child per year and I think that's actually good advice. Have a great time!

Well- considering they won't remember a thing, the party is really more about your friends' & family's memories than hers. Make it fun, but keep it simple!! A cake, some balloons, a few relatives, a cute hat. Simple.

Have fun!
D.

For my daughter's first birthday we went to a local park and had a cook-out with friends and family. I did the whole separate cake for her to dig into which she seemed to enjoy. It may have been a bit much, but I think it is more for everyone else at that point than for the child. My daughter seemed to enjoy it and it wasn't too overwhelming for her. My biggest bit of advice is that whatever you do, make sure you schedule the time around your child's nap schedule. For us, it meant having it later in the afternoon than we generally would plan something like this, but definitely didn't want to deal with a cranky baby!