Happy Birthday, little Mr. L !

Yesterday, we celebrated little L’s first birthday! It was an amazing day, full of excitement and emotions. One year already! How time flies! One year ago, I was lying in my hospital bed, wondering if we should or shouldn’t go for a C-section. I still remember how fragile he looked when he was born. So fragile that I was afraid to hurt him when I held him in my arms. And now, he’s a proper little boy! Not fragile looking at all anymore by the way 😉

Some hours after Luca was born

My little monkey one year later

Apparently, you don’t remember much of your first birthday party when you are grown up. To be honest I don’t remember mine at all. So, does this mean that it is too early for an one year old to have a proper birthday party? I don’t think so. I may not remember my first birthday but I certainly love looking at all the old pictures that have been taken when I was a little kid. And I love to hear the stories that go with these pictures.

So, of course, we wanted to have a birthday party for little Mr. L! No big party (we are not in Dubai at the moment, so we couldn’t invite Luca’s friends to celebrate), just a great day for Luca. A day with his family. A day full of laughter and happy moments that would make his eyes sparkle.

But what can make a little boy smile on his first birthday? How can we make sure we will remember this special day? Here’s what we’ve done (and what we would have loved to do and/or are still planning to do ;-)):

– Prepare a birthday table. When I was a kid, my mum always prepared a birthday table for me. She did this while I was sleeping and, in the morning, when I was waking up, it was there: a colorful table with presents! So, I did the same for our little Mr. L 🙂 It was great fun preparing it. My husband brought a 3-meter (!?!)-birthday-banner from Dubai, which we tried to fix on the walls of my parents’ house as well as we could. It looked a bit like carnival but we loved it. And so did Luca. He loved to look at all the colorful things on his table 🙂

Preparing Luca’s birthday table in pajamas

– Sing a birthday song. Of course, Luca’s first birthday needed to start with a birthday song. I wouldn’t say that our family is full of great singers but, hey, we tried 😛 And  we bought a little music box that played “Happy birthday” and that made it so much more interactive for little L. And funny for us. Cause the quicker you turn, the quicker the song is playing… the quicker you need to sing!

– Blow a birthday candle. Of course, Luca was too young to blow his birthday candle and, of course, candles are nothing to play with for a little boy. But Luca loved to look at the flame. And it is just a must for a birthday, I find.

– Wrap all presents in loads of gift wrap paper. Yup, let’s face it. Toys and gifts are great. But wrapping paper? That’s sooooo much more fun.

– Make a birthday cake (or ask someone to make it if you’re as talented as I am when it comes to baking). We wanted a cake that would reflect Luca’s first year. So, there was his name and a little plane on it. For all the traveling and moving little L has already done in his first year. The cake was not only beautiful but also delicious (ok, I have to admit that I chose my favorite cake but hey, our little monkey is still not supposed to eat a lot of cake, right?!)

– Have loads of yummy food around. A birthday party without yummy food is no real birthday party. When I was a kid, I knew that I would always get my favorite dish on my birthday. I was so looking forward to it. For Luca, it’s definitely meat balls. He can’t get enough of them!

– Offer a special gift. During the last year, Luca got a lot of small toys. So, for his first birthday, we wanted to offer something special. Something that he would remember. In Dubai, we bought a little push car, which Luca will get when we will be back home. NB: When you’re living abroad and celebrating your little one’s birthday at your parents’ house, try to convince your parents NOT to buy any big toys (such as bicycles) when you have to travel back on a plane. I absolutely love the bicycle my mum bought for Luca but I could also see the nervous look on my husband’s face when he saw it. It will indeed be slightly difficult to make it fit in our luggage…

– Choose a place that is kid friendly. We chose a restaurant, which we know very well and which is on the countryside. It’s great to be able to go outside and to have a play area for your little monkey.

– Take loads of pictures. Oh, yes, we did. A lot of pictures and films. Personally, I even prefer films. It’s so much fun to watch them later. And you can hear the laughter and little L’s first babbling 😀 I would have loved to do a proper photo shoot for Luca’s first birthday but there was no time to organize that here in Germany. We might do this when we are back in Dubai.

– And of course: invite people that count for your little one. Family and friends. As we are currently in Germany, we couldn’t celebrate with Luca’s grandparents and aunties, uncles and cousins in Switzerland nor his friends in Dubai. So, there will need to be several birthday parties, I guess 😛

Luca’s first birthday was such a special day for us. And for him, I’m sure. He might not remember it later but I could see his smiling face. I could see the sparkle in his eyes. And that’s all that counts.

xxx

Tani