Planning Monkey’s first birthday party

I followed this blog through Jane's pregnancy and I love it! My son was born on August 24th 2009, so I went through much of my pregnancy eagerly reading this blog.
Yes, postings used to be more frequent. However, as many people reading this blog can agree, infants and toddlers are a lot of work! Especially after they start crawling! Sometimes at the end of the day it is all you can do to keep from falling asleep in your food as you quickly stuff something in your mouth (having not been able to eat most of the day) while also trying to spend some quality time with your spouse.
I do miss the postings, but Jane is not obligated to post every single second she can eek out time.
If you don't like the blog anymore than move on. There is no need to be so rude about it!

Maey - I blogged 3 times last month, not two. Thankyouverymuch.

To everyone else: Thanks for hanging around! I appreciate you :)

Hey I hope the birthday party went well, I was hoping to hear all about it before my son's party, plus I was looking for more ideas. Anyways I understand you are busy, but I was hoping to hear more about your family. Does anyone else know about a good blog for babies that are one or are just about to turn one? If so can you email me or post them here. jkrentz202@hotmail.com

Maey: Your comments are rude and inappropriate. If you don't like the blog anymore, then just don't visit. No one is forcing you to check the blog. Are you paying Jane and Tarzan money to write their blog? No? Are they under contractual obligations to you? No? Then just quietly go away. Yes, everyone is entitled to their opinions, but it doesn't give one license to be rude. Have your opinion, but try to learn when it is more appropriate to keep your thoughts to yourself. Thank you.

Oh calm down Maey. Im pretty sure the inlaws were in town keeping her busy. That's and I can only imagine how much of a handful monkey is now.

Wow Maey, a little harsh, don't you think? We miss them, too, but hey, it's summer time and even the most avid of posters have been taking breaks lately. Maybe once life slows down again, they'll be back to posting a bit more.

Jane, Tarzan, Where are you

How did Monkey's Birthday Party go.....

Your blog kind of sucks now. You update once a week if we are lucky, but twice a MONTH is the norm. WTH happened? This blog was so awesome when you were pregnant and right after Monkey was born. You wrote every day, every couple of days at the least. It has steadily gone down hill. Why even bother if you aren't going to put an effort in?

WOW! Time flies sooo fast! I remember last year when you both tweeted about the birth and leading up to it. Happy First birthday Monkey!

I am waiting on pins and needles to hear about the party!!! Your plans got me motivated to start planning Phin's (not until October). It will have an owl theme!

the worst part of showers, etc for me is watching the present opening. it's a bizarre ritual really: "Let's all watch one person open presents and pretend we're enjoying it!". I know that sounds hard but I've been to 75 showers & it gets old. Agreed. A one year old isn't going to open the gifts themselves so it outs the parents in the spotlight. UGH! Some people's ego is so wrapped up in their gifts that it becomes an uncomfortable display of egotism. I break out in a sweat when my gift is being open because I hate the spotlight. Skip the gift opening if you can.

Oh I planeed the party for months too! I made the cake myself as well, 2X in advance to practice. I went way above what I was capable of baking wise and made a 3D dinosaur cake. I even ordered a cake in case mine didn't turn out as a local grocery store gives out free 1st birthday cakes.

Opne the gift in front of people, ley monky help.

I open my boys presents at parties, but my boys have no interest in them until later! So as long as you are prepared for that if you choose to go ahead and open them. Dont forget to have fun!

At our little dude's birthday I opened all the gifts in front of those who wanted to watch, and little dude got bored about a third of the way through, so I just kept opening while Daddy took a couple of the toys out of their packaging for him to play with. Of course, older cousins came in and starting playing too... not what I'd wanted because some of his cousins can't control themselves and were throwing toys (NOT a happy mommy moment there!)... but yeah. We appeased everyone, with me opening and little dude happily playing with a toy or the wrapping paper or packaging, everyone was happy. It didn't take as long as I thought it would, about 10-15 minutes for all the guests. We made sure there was still food available so that people could eat and watch at the same time. Really, it is totally up to you, 'cuz you're the momma :)

Happy first parenthood anniversary T&J! :)

oh gosh. I bought a giant cupcake pan for Nias first birthday too (aug 4th, but the party is july 31st) now I'm worried! I looovvvveeeeee cupcakes, and found adorable cupcake invitations for her party, so thought 'hey, what better than a giant cupcake for her personal cake!?' I guess I will be practicing this weekend.

I too have spent lots of time planning for Nias party. You're right- it's a celebration for us, the parents, too. I want everything to be perfect. I have a budget, but I'm pretty thrifty and crafty, so I'm hoping I can make this work! It's mostly adults coming to the party... So I haven't done a lot of favors, but I did do personal bubbles. And I think I'm going to make birthday hats out of felt... Ok. I'm rambling. Anyways, glad to see someone else as obsessed with the first birthday party!

Glad you put the poll out there...that was one thing I hadn't even thought of! The gift opening! Not sure what we will do. Finnley turns 1 on August 1st. We are driving from South Jersey to Chicago to celebrate with family and friends (about 40 people). No theme. Just simple. We are doing the smash cake, though...and loved the advice about just a bib and diaper...then bath time. I will be using that advice for sure!

Happy First Birthday, Monkey! And Happy 1st Year of Survival of Parenthood, Jane and Tarzan! Here is to year number 2! Enjoy!

I was at a baby shower a few months back and was appalled by a tradition I encountered there. Not only did they open the gifts in front of the huge room of people, but then the gifts were passed around for each person to look at! It was a large party with around 75 people there and some brought multiple gifts. It was crazy.

On the flip side, I *do* like how they kept people entertained during that. They did a couple traditional games during that time so that people didn't have to fall asleep while staring at the mommy unwrapping everything. Not loud announce-y games, but like the ones where there are objects in a black bag that you feel and guess what they are. Also, cross word puzzles about the parents, etc, so it wasn't too bad actually.

Maybe you could do something like that? Have a small, distracting event going on at the same time that doesn't take any real work from you, but helps prevent things from being so uncomfy or awkward. Like the word search game could be altered to be things about Monkey's last year (his favorite food, what month he started crawling, etc). A little prep work in advance, but not too much, and could keep everyone a little happier.

We solved that problem easily by specifying "Please no gifts" on the invites. We figured D has enough stuff anyway, and at age 1 isn't going to remember some people didn't bring gifts. We also didn't do party bags.

Of course some people bought gifts anyway and we just opened them as they gave them. Most people who gave her gifts were close family and friends and they waited until her actual birthday which was a few days after the party.

Have a great time. I hope you can enjoy yourself after all the manic organizing!

We opened presents for my daughter's 1st birthday, but started it late in the party so people who didn't want to watch had left, and those that demanded to see her open the presents could stick around. But, her birthday is on Labor Day weekend, so it usually turns into a Labor Day/Birthday party that lasts all day. For her 2nd birthday, we did the same thing. One thing I enjoyed doing was taking a picture of my daughter playing with the gift or with the people at the party, and glued that picture to a blank note card and wrote the thank you note on that. Made it special compared to a generic thank you note.

I was TOTALLY AGAINST opening the presents at the party but when the day came and everyone (about 50 people) were all done eating and just standing around someone pointed out "What else are you going to do at a 1 year old's party?" So I made it optional to watch and a few people sat on the porch or did something else but most of the guests all ooohed and aaaaahed over the gifts with us. Of course, I did 99% of the opening and just encouraged the baby to grab the paper or bows so it didn't take more than 30 minutes to do the whole pile. Since a lot of our guests came from really far away I felt like I owed them a personal thank you for the gifts as well as a note later.

With that many people there, it'll take over an hour for a 1 year old to open. I wouldn't open presents and if people want to just open a few. Maybe some from you and Tarzan and the in laws. Tell people you can send pictures of Monkey opening them up when you can do it in private.

I know it's crazy how much mind space this takes up. Our little guy is having his party this Saturday and I'm making cupcakes to make it easy. But the pressure of worrying how they will turn out has already been on my mind! I also couldn't decide what to do about food, just going to make finger sandwiches and have a vegetable tray....it will only be about 16 people. Good luck with everything!

Oh, and I've been to a party for a little one and the kid got frustrated opening all the gifts (there were alot) and started crying and refused to open any more. They just opened them later when the kid was ready.

See if little monkey would like to try and open at least one gift. It might be fun to see him playing with the paper and getting excited. Good photo opt. But, yeah, if there are alot of gifts, thank everyone at the party and send them a note later saying how you liked the gift and monkey's reaction if it was a good one.
But when they get older it would be nice to open in front of the guest. Or I've seen a party where everyone opens the gift they brought in front of the b-day person. That might work if you are in a time crunch.
Happy 1st Birthday to your little one!!!

At my niece's first birthday party, she did open gifts, and she was excited about them. My sister did help her, and actually a month later, when she opened her Christmas gifts, she responded with a huge gasp to each one, which was hilarious. She'd obviously learned it from watching her mom help her open her birthday gifts! It helped to have something to do at the party, since none of us are huge fans of their in-laws either. My sister also put together a DVD montage and we all watched it - personally, I really enjoyed seeing my niece grow and change over the year, and I'm sure anyone coming to Monkey's birthday party would feel the same about him. My sister says that she often forgets that there are people that love her daughter so very much, and I'm sure your family feels the same about Monkey!

Hope you enjoy the party!

First - happy birthday, Monkey!! Julian is turning 1 on Friday as well, although our party isn't until the 31st. I would say to do whatever feels natural concerning the gifts. We'll be opening ours, but then we will only have like maybe 10-12 people in attendance. I think his attention span can probably handle that well enough. I do think that a lot of people like seeing the gifts opened, but that doesn't mean you HAVE to do it.

As for the cake...we ordered ours. I can't even make brownies without severely messing them up. I wasn't about to even try. I want something cute for pictures :)

During later years, when the child can really appreciate the presents, it can be nice to open them in front of guests. Our relatives love seeing how our boys (6 and 3) react to presents. For a one year old, though, there's really no need.

We've done the giant cupcake thing successfully a few times using that same pan. Still, with as much as you're doing, buying a cake makes sense. You can't do it all yourself! (We tended more towards a few store-bought decorations and making the cake ourselves. Just a matter of preference.)

Oh and one tip for "cake smashing" time. Undress Monkey beforehand so he's just in a diaper and bib. This way he won't ruin any clothing and you can toss him right from highchair to tub with minimal mess. You'll want to tub him afterwords if he's anything like our boys and decides to see how well frosting goes in hair!

I am totally with you on the gift opening thing. We actually had to do it in front of everyone and it is just so awkward.
We were invited to a baby shower on the weekend and what they did was opened the gifts in front of the person who gave it as they arrived. It was really personal and it cut out the awkwardness. Just a suggestion.

PS. I decided to make a jungle them cake and forgot that A. I've never made a cake before and B. I had no equipment...but you know what, it wasn't perfect but it was made from the heart and that's all that matters ;)