Babby Birthday Party: a Review

Whew! The 1st Birthday Party is officially over and done with. It was such great fun!

We had grand schemes of an outdoor party. We were going to hang the Happy Birthday Banner and the Felt Party Garland on the outside of the house, set up tables with festive floral bedsheet tablecloths, lay out blankets... But, it rained. Which is fine. It always rains on our important days. It rained on our wedding day, and Lucy was born in the middle of a thunderstorm. Anyway, the house was a little crowded, but we all like each other.

[Doesn't look too bad -- this was early.]

Here's the result of that shopping list I posted:

Fresh fruit, fresh veggies with sour cream, crispy nuts, sweet herbal tea, and, of course, cake. (Remember? I tested the cake on Norman's birthday.)

I neglected to get photos of the cake. I made a triple batch of it in my train cupcake pan. So cute! Now, the cake comes with a delicious chocolate frosting, but if I had frosted the tops of the cakes, you wouldn't have been able to tell that they were little train cars. Hmm. Norman and I hemmed and hawed, but finally Norman came up with the solution: spread a semi-generous amount of chocolate frosting (which was still warm and thus pretty runny) in the bottom of a casserole dish, put the train cakes in it, drizzle a little more frosting on top, and put it in the fridge overnight. Ta da! When we pulled the cakes out during the party, the chocolate had congealed, and we scooped cake and frosting out together and onto people's plates. Perfect!

Now, the fabled 1st birthday cake smashing extravaganza:


Mmmm not so much. Trust me, she's been a LOT messier.

Proof:

Because we've been doing baby-led weaning, Lucy's pretty good at eating things by herself. We've never really fed her off a spoon -- just gave her some (safe) solids and let her go after it. So the 1st birthday cake was a little anti-climactic.

The invitations said that people didn't need to bring a gift, and I meant it. But everyone brought one! I'm, once again, blown away by the generosity of my friends and family. Here's the aftermath of gift opening:

So many books! Yay!

Thanks to everyone who came out and made the party fun! Special shout-out to my mom, who came in from Kentucky, and my mother-in-law, who came despite some health issues.

Next up in the coming months: a garage sale, and then vacation in June!