First Birthday Sneak Peak
I can’t believe Bean’s birthday is less than a week away.
Actually, that’s not true. There is birthday stuff all over my house right now, so I can totally believe it’s a week away.
Bean’s first birthday, as you might imagine, will be like Woodstock in our house. It will last for days and days and days and we’ll all be in such a sugar high that we may not even remember what all happened. So, I figured before I hit that wall, I would go ahead and share some of our birthday party paraphernalia with you.
Bean’s actual birthday is June 1, which is on Tuesday next week. Since it’s in the middle of the week and my parents will be traveling, we’ll have a small little birthday party for him at our house with just us and Chris’ sister, Annie. For this home party, we’re going to grill out and I’m ordering a few helium balloons for the house decorations. Bean likes to suck the helium. (Just kidding.)
I’m also ordering a jungle cake from Publix, our local grocery store. Publix has this great policy where if you order a full-sized birthday cake for a first birthday, they make you a free small individual cake for the baby. So, Bean will get to indulge a bit. I’m also going to get a jungle-themed table cloth cover for our outside table so that we can sit outside with our tiki torches lit. This is also the night we will open Bean’s birthday presents. For our BBQ and cake, we have these adorable jungle themed party plates and napkins.
Now, if it had been up to me, that would have been it. I mean, we’re heading to Disney’s Animal Kingdom on the following Saturday and that seems like it should be enough of a celebration, right?
Wrong, according to Bean’s Nana.
Last week, random boxes of safari things started showing up at my house. Like these jungle print leis…
And these bucket safari hats, which are, unfortunately, in adult sizes so I think Mom means for us to actually wear them…
Since it’s just going to be a small little party at our house, I’m assuming that these are for the day at the Animal Kingdom. Now, as much as Chris loves Bean and as good of a Dad as he is, I know for a fact that I will not be able to get him to wear these things all day long. So, I think I’m going to drop them at the Rainforest Cafe, where we are having lunch, when I drop off our cake early in the morning when we get to the park. Then, when we come back for lunch, we can all put on our safari get ups for lunch and cake. Chris is already protesting, but he’s just going to have to dress like an idiot for an hour. I don’t know what else to tell him.
In one of the boxes that arrived, there was a bag of these rubber finger puppets…
I got a bag of 50.
That’s right.
50.
And they’re really cute and all, but what the hell am I supposed to do with 50 rubber safari animal hand puppets?
Bean has a few ideas.
He LOVES these little guys. I think its cause they are small and chewy.
And we all know that SMALL and CHEWY are very much age appropriate toys for one year old boys. (Can you hear my sarcasm through the computer?)
I’m scared to death Bean’s going to choke on them, so he’s only allowed to play with them when I’m sitting there with him. But he doesn’t mind if I’m there or not. He loves his little safari animals.
His favorite is the elephant. He likes to flick his ears.
And I can’t blame him. Those ears are very flickable.
So, here I sit in my House o’ Birthday, surrounded by plates, animal print leis, napkins, jungle safari hats, and 50 small animal shaped choking hazards.
I’m so damn excited!
24 Comments
Megan (Best of Fates)
Jungle print leis? Safari hats?
Um… you’re *unhappy* about having to get dressed up? I would pay to come to that party. The photos, the puns that might arise, the allure of exotic animals – now that’s a party I can get behind.
Megan (Best of Fates)
Wait, just realized I’m not done.
50 rubber safari hand puppets can:
1) make a skit about learning and love and not eating other safari animals
2) be used to freak people out at the supermarket
3) hide throughout the house, as a lovely suprise for the next person to open that closet/drawer/hidden passageway
4) prompt a group sing-a-long, with every participant singing in the animal voice of their choice
(Unless, of course, everybody wants to be the lion, then you’ll need to draw straws.)
5) be awarded as prizes for fun party games, or vocabulary games, or trivia games (definitely not for a pinata though, that’s just cruel)
I’m sure you see the value now – I mean, rubber safari hand puppets are the must-own item of the future, with a small chance they might take over as actual currency.
Just a thought.
Nate's Mom
Yay for a birthday party! Chad and I had so much fun buying all the stuff for Nate’s first baby luau. There’s so many cute things for themed parties! And how refreshing to celebrate life as opposed to those boring adult parties where the birthday boy or girl laments turning a year older!
Way to grow, Bean! 🙂
Jordan
Happy (almost) birthday Bean!
The picture of him sucking on the animals reminded me of when I was little and I used to suck on my sisters she-ra (remember that??) doll and it would make my eyes swell shut because I was allergic to whatever was in the paint… so uhh keep an eye out for that 😉 Though I suppose they may have changed what they put in the paint on kids toys over the last 24 years?
Laura
Cameron’s birthday is just a week after Bean’s and I am so excited! We are going party shopping on Thursday or Friday! YAY! 🙂
Ella
I can’t wait to see the photos of Beans birthday party. I wish i was coming with my little boy 🙁 Just kidding! Sounds like it will be lots of fun though!
Heather Ben
so cute! we have some things similar to that from sesame street that came in easter eggs – Kate loves them! She loved the Abby figure so much I got her a little Abby doll thinking that would go over great, I mean, she would walk around the house saying “abby, abby, abby, abby”. when the doll got here? no dice. she only likes the figurines. go figure…
Christina C.
Okay…the safari leis? Pure awesome. So excited for Bean Man! Happy Birthday!
Alicia
Super cute! Love the safari theme. Can’t wait to see all the pictures from it!
Mindee@ourfrontdoor
I love what you’ve put together. I need you and Nana to plan Faith’s bday for me. She turns 10 on 10/10/10 and clearly that calls for all kinds of awesomeness and I do not have one single idea.
Bean, on the other hand, is having a birthday worthy of a rock star’s baby!
Jen
Oh my! Mindee! With a name like Faith and a Triple gold event of such caliper…roll out the red carpet! I think an Oscar themed event is in order! What 10 year old girl wouldn’t love the chance to get all dolled up and invite her friends to do the same to watch her starring role in a home video of “Faith…The Growing Years”. And gold stars everywhere, little oscar shaped cookies and a fabulous 2 or 3 tiered cake. Oh stop me. Sorry, momentary need for a girl child, I guess. With two boys I may forever be planning events that revolve around dirt. LOL.
Melissa
I have that safari hat! I’ll wear it on his birthday in his honor! 😀
Melissa
I have that safari hat! I’ll wear it on his birthday in his honor! We’ll extend his birthday all the way to Boston 🙂
Jen
Birthdays are HUGE in our house! I decorate the family room with crepe paper and balloons the night before, so when my baby awakes he is surprised by the “drama” of decor. I also leave a small basket outside their door (much like easter) with just a couple items to get him through he day until it’s party time. Now that my eldest is potty training, I have decided to include a pair of new undies in that basket every year too! My hubby thinks that it will be cruel embarassment in the future, guess he knows that even on his 30th birthday I will be sending him a cute new pair of boxers via mail. LOL. That’s just the way I am, call it a reminder to always laugh at life!
Abby @ They Lend Me Their Hearts
You guys are going to have so much FUN! I’m jealous! Can I come??
mom of one.. almost two!
SOOO CUTE!!! it will be a blast… just think this is the first of a ton of birthdays… and they will only get bigger.. take it from someone who knows. My TWO-year old received a bounce house for her birthday… yeah you read that right…
Sara M
My youngest turns 1 at the end of June so we are just starting the party planning. We were thinking of doing the safari theme–those lei’s are great! Our other options are a farm theme or baby dinosaur theme. Decisions!
andrea
My son just turned 3 on Sunday, I still can’t believe it. We started with the shuttle launch on the 14th then on his actual birthday we took him to a little kids water park and then came back to our hose with a few friends for cake. I made him a shuttle shaped cake, it was fun to make, turned out great and was super yummy if I may say so myself. To go with the shuttle theme he got some Buzz Lightyear toys, to go with his Woody toys he got for christmas. i’m excited to take him to see Toy Story 3, it will be his first time at the movies, cross your fingers for me.
check out the shuttle cake, i’ll be posting pics on my blog.
http://movingtotherhythm.blogspot.com
andrea
i was having some computer issues but pictures are up now from his birthday, including the cake! enjoy!
Jen
I was at dinner tonight and saw a little boy and thought “Oh my gosh! It’s Bean!” It totally wasn’t. I live in Florida but all the way north in Jacksonville.
Is it pathetic that this is the first comment I’ve left on your blog even though it is one of my very favorites to read??
Marla
I am so excited as well and I’m just a blog reader. It looks like it’s going to be an AMAZING time. 🙂
Marla @ http://www.asthefarmturns.wordpress.com
Holly at Perrydise
SO FUN!!! Our little one had her birthday party last weekend. I had such a blast decorating and setting up. I also had fun helping her open all of her gifts. It was so exciting to have new things to play with at the house 🙂
Suz McA
I’m super jealous 🙂 Sounds like so much fun!!!! Those finger puppets are awesome.
Sarah@crazylovegamblestyle
I want some of those finger puppets. Maybe you should do a give-a-way with the ones Bean doesn’t eat?