What an amazing milestone for mum and dad, and what a fantastic event to celebrate for your baby - the first birthday! I couldn't believe how quickly it came round ... after all the new experiences, dramas, joys, late nights and special moments we suddenly realised Noah's first birthday was just round the corner. Right away I thought - yay, let's celebrate!

Organising a birthday party for a one-year-old actually required more preparation than I thought. First of all space might be an issue. We wanted to have all our friends + babies round but the weather didn't really allow for an outdoors option, so things got a bit squeezed in our living room. Friends of ours hired a kindi on a Saturday which seemed like a sensible option.

The second issue was food. We wanted to make sure that we had sensible food for our friends and their babies. So we baked quite a few cakes but also prepared some fruit and baby sandwiches.

Finally, the way I always thought about children's birthdays was that we'd play lots of games ... then I realised that at an average age of 10 months there aren't that many games you can play. But then it was much easier than I thought to keep everyone entertained. Balloons, bubbles, decorations, gift wrap, lots of new toys and presents did the trick. Also, with so many babies and people together in one room, there was always enough happening and before we knew it got dark and the afternoon party had passed by very quickly.

All in all it was a fantastic event. My favourite tip for first birthdays - get a guest book and ask all your guests to write something for the birthday baby. Another good idea is to tell people in advance what you actually need or that they are not expected to bring presents. Especially if your nursery is already bursting at the seams with too much stuff.

-Stef

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