Hello Moms:
I'm looking for suggestions on how to celebrate my 2nd son's 1st birtday in December. A little background... My first son was born in May (great weather), was in a daycare (had lots of friends) and had a huge 1st birthday party. However, my second son was at home with an au pair with one or two playdate friends and with an upcoming birthday in December (cold weather). Has anyone been in a similar situation before? Do you have a suggestion for a unique and/or fun/memorable 1st birthday in a cold weather season?
Many thanks in advance!!!!
I would just invite the au pair, immediate family, special neighbors, and his couple of little playdate buddies. Have a simple luncheon or quick/easy/early dinner and cake and ice cream. At 1yrs old they wont remember anyway, and its more for the parents than anything.
My son also has a December birthday. He loved to swim from a very young age so for his first birthday we had it at an indoor pool. All the kids really enjoyed getting the chance to swim in the middle of winter.
MY daughter who is now 11 fell asleep before we even cut the cake. Keep it simple. Invite only your closest friends and relatives. He's only 1 and he will most likely not remember his 1st party. HE will have fun playing with the wrapping party that I know. Make sure it is done either before after naptime so he is awake. Have it at your home. Play a game or 2, have a nice dinner then sing HB and cut the cake. Since he is so little it should probably be like 2 not more than 3 hours long.
Hi E.,
My son also has a December birthday. We just invited several family members over and I made cupcakes that look like animal faces. He got presents and had his own cake to himself. We had a big party with friends when he was 2. Remember, at age 1, the party will only be "memorable" to you--not to him. He will enjoy it no matter how big it is. Good luck!
If you live near Haymarket, VA, Daytime Playtime offers birthday parties in a great environment. (I am a preschool teacher there). Our center was started as a place for Mommy and me classes. Now we have those as well as preschool classes. The center has a great "soft" play room (padded floor, soft slides etc) just right for the little ones. Our tables and chairs are small also. When you have a birthday party at DTPT (as we who work there call it), you will be the only ones in the center, so it will only be as loud as the children you invite!!
the website can give you more information: www.daytimeplaytime.com or you can call ###-###-#### between 9 and 3 monday through friday and speak to Mark, Adriana or Annabelle. Tell them Ms. C. sent you :o)
Emile,
My 2nd son was also a winter baby and his first BD was a blast! I wanted it to be special and I think it was b/c he will be 13 in January and he says he remembers it to this day. We had a family cookout/potluck with music and even a clown. The weather was great so we were even able to cookout on the grill. It was a mild winter day and my son still talks about his first B-Day party. We had the clown theme for everything and sent out invitations also with clowns on them. A good time was had by all! I hope you can plan something that is unique to your child. Good luck and have fun!
Hi E.! I want you to remember one thing, your boys are two different people. So you do not have to have their birthday celebrations exactly alike, okay? December birthdays can be lots of fun too! All of my boys were born in cold weather months so we have found tons of inside ideas. We are a homeschooling family. Although our kids have lots of friends, not all are here local and able to attend a party. So we decided years ago to make it a big family & friend celebration lunch. We invite all of our family and friends to come over for a cookout or pizza or covered dish lunch/dinner to celebrate our son's birthday. In fact, we just had one last weekend. My in-laws came up from GA and my family came from across the river and we had some friends here too. This year we just had pizzas and munchie foods. All the kids play around and eat. Then it's cake time. We get everyone together and light the candles and sing Happy Birthday. Then everyone has cake and then it's time to open presents. I will let them pick their theme for each birthday. When it's their first birthday, I get balloons for their chair and plates and napkins with #1 on them and a table cover too.
Mom, don't worry, he will love it no matter what you do for him!
ENJOY!
Take Care,
N. :) SAHM homeschooling 3 boys 13, 8 & 2 yrs old and married to Mr. Wonderful for almost 15yrs. I love to help other moms, who want to become SAHMs, reach that goal.
Emilile,
Cold weather birthdays are tough. Familyfun.com is a great resource for that sort of stuff. Also I don't know how much you're willing to pay but Pump it up in Leesburg is a great place also they have the indoor inflatable bouncy stuff. Kids love it there. Hope that helps.
Good luck,
M.
You can do a fun winter theme with decorations in pale blues, silver and white. Blow up some balloons and leave them around the floor for the kids to play with. You and your older child can make different colored snowflakes out of paper to decorate walls. If there are any older kids you can do fun little crafts like make snowmen out of those pom pom things. I think when kids are so young the parties are basically for the adults, since they can't do much. Maybe make a special little cake just for the bithday boy so he can put his face or hands into it like most little ones do. Whatever you do have lots of fun.
We just celebrated my daughter's first birthday last week. We picked a theme (butterflies) and decorated the house and cake that way. We invited close friends and family, had lots of yummy comfort food and it was a blast. I think the memories will be special no matter what!
