It's party time, a toddler's 1st Birthday

The day of my son's first birthday (30th August), we were in San Francisco, about to leave that day to return to Australia with Codi's grandparents we had brought with us, thanks to lots of frequent flyer miles. The whole event was so exciting, for me. I bought some giant sandwich ice-cream cookies and put one in each party plate. The one for Codi I place a number one candle and we all sang "Happy Birthday".

I highly recommend, having a small celebration on the day of their birthday. Codi, enjoyed the "Happy Birthday" song and each time thereafter I sing it to him. He seemed to have remembered that a lot of fuss was made of him that day.

It wasn't until we returned and home for three months, that I actually had a party with his friends for him. I asked for no presents, as he has so many toys. I had about 15 families and it was perfect.

I set up play stations; one in the living room, one in the open study with an open play pen and a few stations outside. We asked everyone to bring a plate, savory or sweet, we supplied, some nibblies and the drinks went into an esky, one for kids and two for the adults.

On the invitations I just put 'your invited to a parents and kids gathering'...a lot of parents invited thought that was a great idea. It was no pressure to have to bring a present or bring the best looking plate. I think this really helped.

What was the biggest thing was hiring a small animal farm. It was such a big hit with everyone, including the parents. I highly recommend this, it was so funny to see the kids in awe and getting really excited to be able to see, touch and hear the animals up close.  All the toddlers (including my son) recognized some of the animals from their books, TV or playing with their animal toys. It was a great buzz for all the children to them in real life.