Life size lion cub stuffed animal by Melissa & Doug is a big hit
http://www.melissaanddoug.com/stuffed-lion
Reinventing and Remembering Holidays: 1st Birthday
The Party: With his 1st birthday coming up I began to think a lot about the birthday parties that I had and went to ask a kid. I remember a lot of great times, themes and activities, but also a lot of forced times, themes and activities too. So as I planned my son’s the thing that was most important (to me) was to make sure he would enjoy it, and secondly that we and our guest would as well.
Luckily for me, at the age of 1 it’s pretty easy to keep the little guy happy with food, toys and people (check, check, check). The fact that he probably will not remember any of it took off a lot of the pressure as well and in the end we just invited people that we care about and made some yummy food.
The Cake: I have to admit that I got a little obsessed over the cake. My wife’s Mother always made great birthday cakes, from what I’ve heard and seen in pictures, and since she is no longer with us I wanted to pick up the torch. The only complication is the fact that I’m not much of a baker despite loving to cook. So I spent about a month looking at cakes, making a board on Pintrest and looking at books about cakes. And I found some great cakes.. just none that I felt comfortable trying to pull off.
So I made a few test cakes, much to my pregnant wife’s delight, and they all seemed OK, but nothing as amazing as what I had been looking at. And then it hit me on the day before his birthday, it’s about him eating the cake at this point not what the cake looks like to the rest of us. So I abandon all my plans of fancy fondant balloons and inedible decorations and just made a simple yummy cake. And thankfully he, and the other kids, seem to really like it. So I guess I will wait until next year to start on my themed cakes.
The After: As someone that loves to entertain and throw parties I was surprised by the fact that I REALLY enjoyed his birthday much more than other parties and how important it was that things be enjoyable for my little guy. This was despite the fact that many other parents told me that after the first one or two birthday parties that they threw that they were calling it quits until the kid(s) got older and really wanted the parties. This seems like a real shame, since not only do I have some great memories at my birthday parties, but also at my friends.
