Babies First Birthday Party - Questions

[vikivoly]

DD will be turning 1 at the end of this month. For her party I'm only inviting immediate family. There will be 2-19 month old girls and 2-6 year old boys. The rest are ages 8, 9, 10 and up. Should I do favors and games with this mix of ages? I know the 3 youngest (DD included) will be clueless. If I do have favors, should I get something different for the 6 yr olds vs. the toddlers?

I'm also debating on a theme. It's between Elmo and Ladybugs/Bees. DD loves Elmo, he is her favorite character. But, her nursery theme is ladybugs and bees, so I thought I could go with that. The bug theme would be prettier for a little girl, but would it be too summer looking? After all it will be around Thanksgiving.

Last, how did you dress your baby for the party? Should I wear a dressy dress since it's a special occasion? Or should I wear something related to whatever theme I choose? I would like her to look special for pictures.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. After seeing all of your halloween costumes I have high expectations for ideas!! :)

[cdlamis]

I can't help you with the favors question since I have never had a party yet with other children- except babies.

I would say go with the Ladybugs/bees theme. Its cute and timeless. You can always throw her an Elmo party later when she can help pick out the stuff.

Julia wore a cute flowered shirt with capri pants for her luau birthday. A fancy dress would have looked out of place and she would have been unconforable. I think an outfit that is related to the theme or any cute outift is best. Just my opinion though. If you want cute pictures, maybe dress her up for the beginning of the party (or during presents) and then change her after that.

have fun party planning!

Daniella
Mom to Julia 6-13-02
http://www.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=67b0de21b32dc745c42b

[brubeck]

For Amy's first birthday I did have favors, I just gave them out as porizes to party games. For her second party I had separate favor bags for each child and gave older and younger children different things. I did not have a theme at either party. (Other than fun!)

For her first birthday Amy wore a brand new playsuit that was slightly dressy. Since it was pants it worked for activities too. For her second she wore a playdress and leggings (like the kind Land's End makes). But frankly since it is your child you can dress her how YOU would like. If you want to put her in a frilly dress, by all means go ahead!

This year Amy's 3rd birthday party will be combined with Andrew's 1st. I am getting a bounce house for the older kids and we will be having hot dogs and hamburgers outside so it is a backyard party. The kids will all be dressed in jackets and pants and mine will be no exception!

[KUvsOU]

Since my son's birthday was in the summer, we dressed him casually for both the family parties. Plus, I didn't want to have to worry about him messing up a really nice outfit with cake and frosting. Even though we had a birthday bib on him, the cake and frosting still managed to get on his clothes.

Shawna
Mom of Cade 6/16/02

[heidi_timms]

If you decide to do butterflies or ladybugs, Martha Stewart has some great cupcake ideas. In this issue of Martha Kids, she has a whole year of cupcakes and one is a butterfly. Also, in one of her old issues of Martha Stewart baby, she did ladybug cupcakes. I can't remember which issue, but it was a year or so ago.

I vote for pretty party dress for the first half of the party until the messy cake. Then I would put in her in comfies in case she smashes the cake everywhere. Then, the cake won't ruin her dress.


~Heidi
Mom to Kailey Ashlin
4/27/03

[kransden]

This is what I did. I had 3 babies and a 4 yr old. I happened to find stacking cups at the dollar store for the babies. I found them by accident when I was getting the balloons. The babies loved them! They could chew on them and knock them over for mom. Since they were so small compared to regular sets, they are a great travel set. I also put gold fish cracker bags and a soft ball in the bags. The 4 yr old got his own cars to drive around.

For clothes, dd wore slightly dressy clothes until it was cake time. She then got stripped down to her diaper and was given her cake. What a mess! lol While everyone was eating cake, I cleaned the cake up (I should have used a tarp), DH and Auntie gave dd a quick bath. By the time the cake was eaten, everything was clean and she opened her presents.

Lastly, this will probably be the last time you will get to choose a birthday theme. So go with what you want. Have a great time. We had a blast!


Karin and Katie 10/24/02

[vikivoly]

Thanks for all of the ideas. I think I'm going to go with the bug theme because in years to come I'll be doing Elmo, Wiggles, etc.. I just wasn't sure if it would be to summerish.

I haven't decided on the outfit yet. I would like to get something to match the theme, but I think it's going to be hard to find something this time of the year. She had a ton of ladybug outfits this summer. I do have a ladybug and bumblebee halloween costume I could go wear. Anyone know of any sweater or cold weather outfits with ladybugs or bees?

[suribear]

See, that's so funny, b/c I always dress them up FOR the cake cutting since it's picture time! BUT I've never let them smash the cake in their faces, either ;)

Kris