Julianne blew out her very first candle at a little family party we threw her on Saturday over the long weekend. The plan was to keep it small, meaningful and personal. If there was one thing I really wanted for the party, it was for it to be really *her* party and for her to enjoy herself. That’s the challenging part since not many one year olds will really know what all the fuss over a first birthday party is all about.
But I think at the end of it, our daughter *really* did enjoy every bit of her party! She got to eat her favourite lunch of pasta, got to play with the many balloons that decked the house and got to sway her butt and bop to the one thing she loves most outside of family – music.
At one, you really don’t have many friends and the last thing I wanted was for her party to be yet another big peoples party. So we kept the guest-list small, just her cousins Sophie, Sean and Ryan and my cousins’ babies – Mikaela and Miguel – both born within a month after Julianne. In fact Mika was born just 6 days after Jules! My cousins and I grew up tight cos of our close age gap and I thought it was really nice that our kids will now do the same.
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| Our little (and not so little) guests |
I figured before Julianne starts calling the shots as to what the theme to her birthday should be (and I start going crazy having to make everything “Mickey Mouse-able or Doc McStuffin-able”), I better jump at the chance to have a non-cartoon/animal related birthday theme. And so buntings, pinwheels, polka-dots and stripes were the order for the day. I picked up the Meri Meri alphabet buntings and literally hunted down a little quaint shop at Haji Lane for the alphabets ‘A’ and ‘I’. They were sold out everywhere else – I had to call the distributor of Meri Meri products to find out who else carried it! We also hung a lovely bunting made from the adorable Sarah Jane Children-at-Play fabrics which I got off Etsy to add that whimsical feel in the air. I made my own polka dots cups because I refused to pay $8 for a pack of 8 polka dotted paper cups and I because I didn’t know how to do the same with straws, I picked up some polka dots paper straws from the good people at PaperMart. Pinwheels lined the staircase railings and polka dot balloons added the finishing touch – what’s a party without them!
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| Of polka dots, buntings and pinwheels |
The first thing I got down to work on was her 1st year photo collage cos I knew that was going to take the longest time since the only time I could work on it was after she goes to sleep at night and over the weekends while she napped. Instead of going with just printing out photos of her first year and framing it around the house, I decided to scrap on two canvas pieces featuring some of her key milestones over the past year. It was also my excuse for working on some scrapbooking, something I haven’t been able to do since Julianne was born. Just look at how much my little peanut has grown (still rather small size today though).
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| 12 months in photos |
The other thing I thought long and hard over was the oh so important 1st birthday cake. Should I get one that Jules can eat as well or just not mind her and think for my guests? Should I go with aesthetics or taste? Mickey? Elmo? The Number 1 figure? So many considerations. In the end, I decided the only way I could get buntings or polka dots onto the cake, make it taste reasonably good and be something really special for Jules was to just bake it myself. And because I have a niece who’s allergic to diary and eggs just like Jules and whose mother – my wonderful sis – was going to bake her a cupcake just so that she won’t feel left out when the rest had theirs, Jules too had a little Julianne-friendly cupcake to herself! She didn’t get to eat the cake her Mama baked but at least I can tell her when she’s 3 that I baked her first birthday cake for her guests! The recipe was taken from Ina Garten (The Barefoot Contessa) and decorated very simply with fondant circles which I cut out. It wasn’t too fussy a cake to bake although I had to do it over two days. The cake on the first followed by the frosting the next day. I wanted to make sure I really cooled the cake enough before frosting it. From experience, the cake also taste better if I let it sit for a day or two before serving which was what I did – that somehow enhances the chocolate taste. It was such a happy (and reflective) moment when we blew out the candle with Julianne. She was about to turn ONE and I have, by God’s grace, survived my very first year of motherhood!
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| Blowing out her 1st candle |
So she couldn’t eat the cake I baked, doesn’t appreciate buntings or polka dots and won’t understand why I even bothered putting photos of her on canvas. How else was I to make her enjoy her party? I was all prepared for that to be it. Nothing special for her. Just dress her up, let her see the balloons and keep telling her “it’s your birthday!”. Until I stumbled upon the Musical Monkey on a mummy’s blog just days before the party. The one thing that Julianne *really* loves other than us is music. Since the day we brought her home, we have been singing to her. We sing to her when we put her to sleep, sing to her when I nurse her, sing to her when she drinks from the bottle. It was the only way she would settle to sleep and the only way she would drink her milk from the bottle without fussing. I must have sang “Jesus loves me this I know” a million times in the past one year and we still sing to her as much today. Her favourite lullaby plays on repeat throughout the night (and yes, we have came to learn to sleep through it) and she will literally stop whatever she’s doing when her favourite tunes comes on TV. She dances very spontaneously to music of most sorts, it is completely adorable to watch. To date, her bopping to the Gangnam Style song takes the cake! So back to her party. I was so excited when I found out the lovely Eva conducted music sessions at parties. So just four days before the party, I emailed her asking if she could come do a session– totally prepared for her to tell me she was unable to at such short notice. You can imagine how happy I was when she replied me that evening telling me she’ll be happy to add some musical fun to the party! It was the best thing I did for the party! Our daughter was totally enjoying herself throughout the 30 mins session, flapping her hands, bopping up and down, walking towards the instruments and making funny actions (like when everyone sang her the “Happy Birthday” song) – as if she knew it was for her. The best thing was, the other babies enjoyed themselves too - can't go wrong with bubbles and parachute!
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| Musical fun @ the party |
At the end of it all, a great cosy party. The little ones went home with a little brown box customised with their initials and which I filled with age appropriate goodies. Gummies in a reusable snack bag, colouring pencils, a miniature drawing pad and yoyo for the older kiddos and baby puffs in similar snack bags, finger puppets and wooden castanet for the babies.
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| Party favours |
Won’t have pulled it off without the help of my mum and sis who cooked the food, my dad who does what he does best – get the drinks in order. The husband and younger sis who helped with decorating the house. Above all, I won’t have survived this year to even host this party without the strength and grace from God who brought me through my first year of motherhood.
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| So loved this one ... |
And with the blowing of that one candle, Julianne turns ONE tomorrow!! How awesome! Letters to Julianne #17 coming up next ....
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| Smoochie kisses for our precious munch'kin |
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