First birthday celebration!

Dia is about to turn two in April, and I already cant hold my excitement of planning a birthday party for her. Last year on her first birthday both RJ and me had amicably agreed to a small celebration at home involving just family. I'm so glad we didn't plan anything huge because she was too young to remember or even enjoy an actual party. 

This year, we do want all our friends and extended family to be a part of her birthday. And as for D, she is more social and interactive now, recognises all friends and family so I feel that the probability of her enjoying has increased in the past one year. 

My brain has already begun to process her preferences to decide on a party theme and all the other planning that I need to do. I will most certainly keep you posted on the details of D's 2nd but before that I wanted to share how and what we did for her 1st.

Though we didn't have a long list of guests, and a rather small celebration at home, I still wanted to make her milestone birthday special and the pictures worth looking back at.

One thing I've realised is that whether its a private celebration or a huge party, there is immense joy in throwing a birthday party for your little one. 

Keeping it minimal!

Following is a list of what we did for D's 1st - and a bunch of pictures along:)

1) Birthday Cake:

D was on a marathon of listening to hindi rhymes in that phase.  "bandar mama pehen pajama" being her favorite. The rhythm of that song would just light her up! When I was shortlisting options to customise D's birthday cake, out of all her other favorite things, bandar mama was a sure shot winner!

There is a local bakery here in our neighbourhood Sweet and Flour  She did an amazing job with the cake and customising a bandar (monkey) on it. We got a fruit cake with fresh cut strawberries. It had just the right amount of sweetness and everyone loved it. For D's second birthday, I at least know whom I'm outsourcing the cake too:)

All eyes on bandar mama!
More than the cake cutting, she was excited to get her hands on the monkey
 and bite into the poor guy.

2) Cake Smash:

Though D had tasted sugar/sweeter things before, I wanted to plan a cake smash anyway. Getting to see her reaction of having an entire cake to herself without any restrictions would be quite an experience.

It was priceless watching her eat that cake in the cutest way and I cant wait to share all the pictures and videos with her when she is old enough to make sense out of it.

I got a half pound cake with pink floral icing for her cake smash from the same bakery. Though D could barely come close to finishing it, the yummy mess was still pretty tempting to be eaten by her mom later. 

I'm sure she is thinking its the best day of her life! 

3) Decoration:

I kept the decor simple and minimal with a big number one balloon and few other colorful ones that RJ had picked a night before from Party City. We decorated her play area at night after she went to bed to surprise her on the birthday morning. 

April still happens to be a colder month and we couldn't plan an outdoor shoot but I did want to click some great pictures and add a special touch. Pinterest never fails me on the creative front. I got inspired by the idea to create a DIY hot air ballon.

Apart from that,  another website that came handy in ordering some unique stuff for the birthday decor was Etsy. I got a banner to display D's monthly birthday pictures which now beautifully hangs on our bedroom wall.

I also ordered a customised chalk board poster listing D's one year stats and a few of her favorite things from her first year. Its pinned right above her high chair and now when I look at it, it reminds me of how her preferences have changed in just another year. For instance, bandar mama is long forgotten and bollywood dance numbers have taken over!

Soaring high, hoping you touch the sky!
(Though I really wish I could plan an outdoor shoot for her)

Growing up way too fast!

4) Food:

We had the cake cutting at 11a.m followed by lunch. The cake smash was planned for later evening once D was up form her afternoon nap. 

We were about 10 people including family and few friends. I squeezed some time to make two easy-to-put together appetisers at home and ordered a lebanese food platter for the main course. The yummy cake made up for dessert.   

A good party has to have great food! Agree?

5) Outfits:

Believe it or not, D's spring inspired sunshine yellow dress is sourced from India. I follow a brand called Pa:paa on Instagram who make children's clothing and simply love their stuff. Fortunately, a friend of mine was returning from India so she was able to get it but they do ship worldwide. I wanted D to be comfortable in what she wears so she could play around and have fun. It was customised and giving them measurements over the phone made me a little unsure but the outfit turned out perfect and also fit her really well.

Here cake smash outfit was a very last minute thought and Amazon Prime came to the rescue.  

US<3

All in all, it turned out to be an awesome day for D as well as us. She wasn't cranky at all and actually ended up enjoying her first birthday, which as parents was super satisfying to watch!

With this throwback post on D's first birthday, I now feel super charged and excited to plan for her second. Stay tuned for more...

P.S. We didn't hire a professional photographer for the day but my friend's husband did a fab job! Anand, if you are reading this thank you once again:)