My Baby Is Turning 1 - Larkspur,CO

I made a scrapbook sign-in page for her visitors. Best thing ever! I also had a basket with scraps of paper and pens next to it for people to write her well-wishes. We ordered her a smash cake of her own to go along with her Elmo themed cake. So cute to see her dig in!
Other than the cuteness, my baby girl had a double ear infection, was teething and 15 minutes before her party, we found out that her temp. was 102.9!!! She was a trooper though and held out until at least the middle of her party. Poor kid. She was also sick for her 2nd birthday. Gotta love October! Lol.

Baby is just turning one, so unless you're having the party for you, have a small family party at home, keep it short and sweet and take lots of pictures as your baby won't remember anything, and you will want to ; )

I just wish someone had warned me that first birthdays could be depressing. I spent the day wondering where my little baby had gone! Now he's 4 and I STILL haven't figured out where the time goes!

I'm pretty much on the same page as the other answerers. This party will really be for the family and friends. You can make it a big get-together, or a small family occasion, whatever you will enjoy most. Your baby isn't going to remember any of it, and will enjoy whatever happens as long as it isn't nap time.

This is really the only party you can decide everything about, because when your child turns two - and older - you're going to be hearing preferences, and even instructions!

When my babies turned one (long, long ago), since we didn't have relatives nearby, we had a little family party at home, and the birthday child got his/her very own cupcake. And Mama was standing by with a camera to see what happened to it.

We had a "Monster party" for our little monster. He tolerated it pretty well. 12 children ranging newborn -10 years old. An equal number of grownups. Activities included "feed the monster" bean bag toss, "Pin the "arm, nose, eyes, fangs, claws" on the monster", a pinata, and the craft was stuff your own monster pillow. Everyone came in monster costumes, "monsters inc." was on in the background. Food included pizza, crudite, fruit, a monster cake, and a monster cupcake for our DS. Drinks were clear beverages only - apple juice, ginger ale, seltzer & white wine. Favors were simply monster lollypops and the monster beanbags. Gifts were opened after the guests left and our DS had had a nap.

What can I say, poor kid has geeky parents. This year, for the 2nd birthday, its going to be Pirate themed, probably with the Gilbert & Sullivan soundtrack in the background. food will be pizza, cheese plate, fruit plate, and chips and dip. The beverages will once again be clear. The craft will be a make your own wooden sail boat. Games will include pin the x on the treasure map, walk the plank, a treasure chest pinata. Some captain hook movie will be on in the background. We'll have a pirate cake. hats, and pirate lolly's for favors.

I will be paring back on the attendees this time.

Our first birthday parties are just with family. And, as a family tradition, we make a small cake (usually about 1 cake mix spread between two pans) and give that one directly to the baby. We let our 1 year old demolish the cake, it usually ends up all over the baby more than inside the baby. But they have a lot of fun with it. We just have them in a diaper and take them straight to the tub afterward. With our last one, we didn't realize we forgot to take his socks off until he was already in the tub. The rest of us eat the other cake. That's our fun tradition and it is always a fun time. Some babies really get into it and others get totally disgusted by touching it.

We just had a small thing at our home with a few decorations and presents and pictures. Nothing too big, they are still pretty little for even opening presents.

Something I wished I did was order the cake sooner. I ordered it a week prior all set to go. Went to pick it up day of, they couldn't find it! So frustrating! They tried to whip out a new one but it looked awful so I said forget it and had to go somewhere else to get one. So order it soon!

Pretty much any party between 1-3 years old for a kiddo is actually for the family - cause the little ones don't really get or care about what's going on. They just enjoy what's going on. So plan what will make you happy and enjoy yourself instead of stressing. You can make lovely memories without going crazy :)