1St Year B-day Party

My name is M. and I am a mother of 3 and step mom to 4. First birthdays have always been very important to us and we have tried to make them the best. Really, any theme is great as long as the child enjoys the party. Lots of bright colors work well. We have done everything from Teletubbies to Precious Moments. The children really dont care what the themes are, it's just a parent thing. Like I said as long as the child enjoys the party is really all that matters.

28 year old stay at home mom.

Hi A.!
We had a cookout on the lake for my daughters 1st birthday. We cooked out with family and friends, played at the park and swam on the beach. She loved it. This is the theme we used:
http://www.birthdayexpress.com/bexpress/Product.asp?SKU=E...
You can find lots of other great themes at www.birthdayexpress.com. Have fun!

Depending on interest - I did my little pony - walmart does a cute cake for that

I also considered -
Baby Looney Toons
Elmo
Ducks

You can get great ideas from visiting birthdayexpess.com

All of the party places are so expensive around here especially for a child turning one that may not even remember! I put up lots of colorful balloons all over the house, we had cake, ice cream (those little serving size cups), snack size chips, fruit snacks, and sugar filled juicy juice (most of his cousins are older)!!! My mother brought a blow up bouncer type thing full of those colorful plastic balls, and with a kitchen timer set to 5 minutes per child, within an hour all the sugar was burned off and they had a blast! Very simple, fun and affordable (you can keep the blow up toy for the next b-day too). If you are a member of a church, sometimes they will let you set up a rented bouncer to use indoors where it's warm. Good luck & Happy Birthday baby girl!

For my daughter's first birthday we just had a cookout and invited close family and friends. She had a ball with her presents and cake (it was her first time having any). I would not stress too much about it or plan anything too big. The last thing you want is for her to get overwhelmed and not be able to have fun at all.

I stressed over my daughter's first birthday for 4 months. Then I realized she isn't going to know what is going on. She loved the cake just for her and adored the balloons. I kept it real simple with it mostly being family and not children (that came later). We used Mylar balloons so she wouldn't choke and decorated in whites, browns and pinks. The cakes turned out beautiful and Teensy had more fun with the wrapping paper. I suggest you keep it simple the first year. The second year is when all the themes start to make sense to them and fun really begins.

My son still had so many toys from Christmas, I did a book party. For his first birthday I invited close friends and family. In the invitation I asked everyone to bring a book of their favorite story. My son is almost 5 and still loves reading all the books.

A.,

My daughter turned one in November and it was a blast. We used Winnie the Pooh as her theme and I ordered her a pooh cake from publix with hot air balloons and her outfit was absolutely adorable. We ordered it online off of Ebay. Her family was here as well as neighbors and close friends. Close to 50 people in all including kids. I had a inflatable spongebob jumper in the front yard and the kids loved it. If you want yu can email me and I can give you more tips. I have heard from a lot of my family and friends it was the best 1st birthday party they had ever attended. My daughter seemed to love it!!! We also videoed and took lots and lots of pictures. I have also been to some parties where there was a cake walk and different activites and prizes for give aways. You just have to make it about the child :)and of course you. As you are in the lime light as well opening gifts and entertaining your guests. Hope this helps!!!

I am currently planning my daughters 1st bday. Since she is so young and does not have a favorite character, I am having her pic put on the cake and doing different colored balloons and streamers. That is pretty much it since she is young and will have more fun getting dressed up and being the cnter of attention.

My son is now 21 months. For his first B-day we went with something he showed interest in. He has a Doodle Bop colored cake and balloons. Friends ans family, people he knew. He has a blast.

When my 2 year old turned one last year, we had a Care Bears birthday party. We didn't really do anything as far as games, because she was too young to really understand. But, she had her own cake at her chair and that kept her busy forever. At Wal-Mart, if you order the cake from them, they give you a free individual cake for the one year old.
At that age, I think they get more fun out of the balloons and the cake than they do anything else! :)

When my son was turning one. We had a small gathering at our home and had only family over that is because our family is huge. We had a sesame street theme because he loved it then. So we did the Elmo face cake and Cookie monster cupcakes. we also did sandwiches. He had a lot of fun and was just happy to be with his family. It doesn't take much to please them at that age. Just remember to enjoy the day because in the end it is worth all the stress for just one thing the smile on their face.

My son's birthday is in April so I was lucky enough to be able to have his first birthday outside. I found a local park and reserved a shelter just in case it rained. We did the hotdog/hamburg thing and decorated with the basic boy theme of trucks, cars and balls. All of the kids could make a mess and run back and forth between the shelter and the little playground area. It was fantastic!

I have the perfect gift that you can give her, a crystal birthstone bracelet. I started making these for my daughter and it has led to a side business. My daughter loves her bracelets! Check out our website and let me know if i can do anything for you! http://www.freewebs.com/eadesignsbracelets/

My daughter is 10-months. Her favorite color is red and she loves watching Baby Einstein videos and listening to the CDs. So... we're having a Baby Einstein themed party. It's funny because I wanted Hugs & Stitches theme (pink, purple, flowers, and butterflies)... but when I held up Baby Einstein and Hugs & Stitches, she could care less about the latter. My mom had to remind me that it was her party and not mine!! :-) We are going to invite family and close friends over, cook out, and play games. The games we're going to play are things that will last, she can look at later on in her life and the memories of her first year will be preserved. The party is more for everyone else than it is her. They recommend that you keep it at 1 1/2-2 hours so that the child won't get over stimulated. Just be sure to cater to your babies' needs; "it is her party and not your's" :-)

Hi~ I have two boys and both of them just had a party they are 3 and 1. I would suggest a small party with just family and a few friends. So as not to overwhelm her. The party is really for us parents and not the 1 yr old she will not remember it. Plus the party will most likely fall onto her nap time, so she could get cranky. For my 1st sons 1st birthday we did a "1st birthday theme". You can get the plates and decorations at party city or somewhere like that. Also at Bsbies R Us they have a 1 yr birthday shirt that is really cute I was just there and the new ones are sooooo cute. I made a small cake in additon to the big cake so that my one yr old could tear into(it makes for cute scrapbooking pics and good entertainment) Good luck!!!! Let me know what you think. Maybe I can help some more~~~~C.

my son's 1st b-day party is here in a few hour and i wanted something different than what party city carries so i went to 1st wishes.com that is for the 1st birthday themes from birthday express. i lokked the john deere which no one around me carries. they have everything.

hope you have fun.T.

Hey A.,
Well the bad thing is that she will like the paper and boxes more then anything at that age!! but anyway, where do you live? does she have any favorite toys or characters? If you live where it will be warm on her birthday and you are going to have other little kids there then a small pool and a slip and slide that the water sprays up is real fun for young kids. they don't do so good on the slip and slide like older kids would but they love running on it with the water under their feet and the water spraying up on them!!! also get a pinata (sp) with someone or something she will recognise and she will have fun hitting it and laughing when it starts to break open with all that candy, parents or an older child will have to break it but let her finish it off! after all it is her birthday!!! lots of balloons and let the kids play with them and try to sit on them and pop them!! silly string is also a great favorite!! mine always loved it but again it's a parent assisted game but it's fun for you too. How many kids are going to be there? I will try to give you more if you send me some answers of my questions..ok??