Sons First Birthday

I always got to pick what I wanted for breakfast, for lunch, and for dinner. Kinda like "King" or "Queen" for the day. I remember being DELIGHTED when I got to pick the suggariest cereal on the aisle and mom actually let me get it.

Okay, this sounds so corny...but every year on my birthday my parents, mostly my dad, would tell me the story of my birth. As a kid I totally thought it was lame and would roll my eyes, but as an adult I giggle and smile at those memories and think it's pretty special! I know he's only 1, but still, you would remember!

I do like the idea of special pancakes or donuts or whatever too!

my parents would hang up a happy birthday sign every year and blow up tons of balloons that we would see when we came downstairs. apparently the first time they did this they put the balloons in my room and i woke up screaming. :) hence the move to the downstairs. we loved it!

For my kids we also do a family or friends big party but it usually doesn't fall on their actual birthday. I get a birthday cookie for their actualy birthday. I buy them at hyvee, they are about 4 inches wide and they decorate it with my child's name and the number of their age with frosting. We then stick a candle on it and have a mini celebration with a few small gifts to open on their special day.

I also read somewhere once about a woman who photographer her kids in the same spot each year like on a bench in her back yard or on a porch step and then was able to frame and hang up or scrap book these pictures of her kids in that same spot over the years. I thought it was such a neat idea i wish i had thought of it or read about it earlier. You could also do a hand print or foot print with paint to save.

I think it's great that you are wanting to do something special for your son.

It's a very sweet idea, but I don't think you need to start up a tradition now, while he is a baby and won't remember it. These sorts of family traditions seem to evolve organically. Enjoy your baby and his birthday, and don't worry about doing everything just "right." Just have fun and live in the moment. You will definitely end up with all sorts of lovely family traditions as your child (or children) get older.

I made a DVD of her first year, and played it at her party. We did a butterfly theme.. it was gorgeous. had a huge picture in a frame for people to sign and posted 8x10 pics up everywhere.. it was a very nice turn out.

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Well first at this age he isn't going to remember his first birthday so do whatever you feel like doing! Just remember a big long day is going to stress him out at this age and you might have a cranky 1 year old to deal with. Going to the zoo would be terrific and a small party the next weekend would be great, but remember at this age you are doing it more for yourself them your child. As they get older set a birthday standard, we always had a "whatever the birthday child wanted for supper" day and then sometimes a small birthday party with the peers! Good Luck but don't stress the first couple of birthdays to make it perfect! But I would encourage pictures be taken so you all can remember!

My mom still always calls us on the phone (on the actual day--even if we're getting together on the weekend) and sings Happy Birthday to us. (She's 73, we're 46, 53 and 55!)

You son is only turning one and will NOT remember any thing you do! I did big parties with my 1st and I soon learned that it's very overwhelming for the child. Please trust me on this. Maybe when your son turns 3 you can start certain special traditions, but I honestly recommend you keep thing low key. You'll be exhausted trying to keep him happy and make it big at the same time.
I have 5 children and Ialways make their favorite food for breakfast. Each child has their own certain favorite thing to do. This year our 15 yr old didn't want any party. We offered to take him out for dinner, etc.. He just wanted it simple. We've had some awesome parties over the years and now my 2 teenagers have fun helping us plan for the younger ones.
I have a 6 month old and at Christmas I plan to recycle gifts from the past. I used to thing this was aweful that people would do this, but now I get it. The simpler the better when they're so little.

My mom always made my cake herself, and decorated it to a theme, even if th ewhole party wasn't a theme, usually the cake had a theme that matched one of my gifts...Care Bears, Strawberry Shortcake, My Little Pony, etc. I am trying to to that for my 2 kids. My Daughter's first I actually had the cake made, I was still overwhelmed with just having that many people around for th eparty ( BIG family - so we have about 20 pople in our house when we invite all the relatives) I did make supplementat cupcakes, though. Her second, I made a cake that looked like a snowhill, and an Elmo on a sled ( out of polymer clay) for a topper, that was a Christmas ornament for her too ( her birthday is in December), and she got Hokey POkey Elmo and Tickle me Elmo. For her third, she was really into Dinosaur Train on PBS, so I made a train cake with Plastic Dinosaurs on it,and gave her a dinosaur book. My Son's first, I made 2 pull apart cupcake cakes, one that looked like a bulldozer and one like a dump truck, he got lots of truck presents.

I keep all their birthday cards form each year, and put them in a box labeled with the year and which kid's cards they are, too.

And unlike some posters said, it is never too early to start something, the Baby won't notice it now, BUT when thye are bigger, they will be able to look back at pictures and videos and know you started something special for them right form the beginning.

Jessie

I agree wtih kathy H. he wont remember it so its more for you. but for my son;s bday i made it of his favorite character 9spongebob) and decorated everything of it. he even had the clothes on. get him a smash cake and let him make a mess of it. it will be alot of fun for him. take alot of pictures so when he is older you can show him. other things i did was order food so i didnt have to waste time making it and i had a blow up tunnel/jumper so he can have fun and a pool since he loved the water.

now for his second bday party i did it of his fav shoe (yo gabba gabba) and decorated custom things for it. it was at the pool cause he loves that water. i had character cut outs so he can take pics with it n also custom clothes and believe it or not i had belly dancers dance to his fav songs from the show and also the gummy bear song!! some 2 yr olds have clowns or animals i had belly dancer and he loved it. he even got up and danced with them!!

dont worry about others, just do what he likes to do and it will be great! have fun with it and dont forget to spend it with him. you dont wanna do to much that you spend to much time being hostess then be with the bday boy.

good luck and best wishes!!

Since this is your son's first birthday, this will be an experience more for you to hold on to and tell him about when he's older. He won't remember details of the day like you and your husband will. I have always regretted how much time and energy I spent on my oldest daughter's first birthday party. I feel that I used so much of that special day trying to make everything perfect, that I missed out on a great oppurtunity to just celebrate her with our family. So, we scaled back, and now every year since my 10 yr. old's 2nd birthday, we have filled her playroom with balloons (helium and the asthma attack inducing blow up ones). We've incorporated our other children into this tradition and make the whole day just about them. The parties are still big, but we have a big family. Now we make our cakes together, and stop by the party store to choose decorations/favors. The rest takes care of itself!

For my daughter's birthdays I make them a special birthday cup to use all day. When they were under 4, I would buy a solid color sippy cup and decorate it with a bunch of fun birthday stickers. Now they're done with sippy cups, so I buy a different plastic cup every year to decorate with birthday stickers. (Usually the stickers need to be super glued on or they peel off quickly). It's a small thing that makes the day even more special in their eyes! also, every year I use Adobe Photoshop to make a DVD picture slideshow set to music of the past years pictures of them.

Start a collection. Is hubby into sports? Buy him his first baseball hat, or hockey jersey. Maybe a baseball card. Then each year add one thing to it.

Maybe newspaper clippings? Take the front page from the newspaper and but it in a box.