The First Birthday Celebrations!

Where does time fly?

It seems like it was only yesterday when I was wheeled into the labour room. At the time, it was just the pains that clouded my thoughts and nothing else. The following morning, I was holding a little cherub, as I felt my heart melting away.

Fast forward to now....

Prabir has completed 1 year. Already!! There I was, planning and re planning the kind of celebration I would have. And lo and behold, it's come and gone so soon!

I believe in making memories, and wanted to make a huge one for my little man. Of course, there's the thing about babies not enjoying their birthday celebration and not remembering it either way. While I agree to this to an extent, the enjoying part can be managed, if it's planned according to your baby and not the parents or the guests.

While planning the entire event, a few things that were important for me were:

• Prabir's sleep or meals aren't disrupted. 
• Everyone gets to enjoy, adults included. 
• It shouldn't be just another birthday party where you cut the cake, give a gift, have food and that's it. 
• Relatives traveling to be with us get to see the city closely and taste the local food too. 
• Every moment is captured for Prabir to look at and smile later.

The first came the card and it had to be special. As we celebrated every month, I compiled the pictures of all the cakes he had cut through the year. So, with all the little ones he cut every month, it was now time to cut the Big 1!!

The birthday was on a Monday and his near and dear ones were more than excited to be with him for his big day, so much so that many of them flew in from different cities for the celebration. So yes, the onus was on us to make their trip memorable and fun.

With relatives arriving before or on Sunday, we planned a 2-day celebration.

The fun started on Sunday morning with a special Ganga cruise. With the weather favoring us, it was real fun cruising on the Ganges, with family for company, snacks for nibbling and lots of candid clicks.

Following this was lunch by the riverside. The restaurant had an open space which we'd booked in advance, making it a private and sunny affair.

Post this, everyone returned and took some well needed rest. Prabir too was home in time for his nap.

In the evening, there was a small get together with local delicacies like litti-chokha, chhole-bhature and mutton curry and rice.

The next day was the big one, with everyone up to wish the birthday boy the moment he woke. Prabir decided to sleep in a little more, while everyone waited. In the meantime, his room was filled with balloons and gifts. So, the moment he woke up, he had this big grin on his face, and darted towards his gifts.

The birthday party was kept in the afternoon as it's at that time when Prabir is most active and playful. We didn't choose any theme for the event as our little boy will have enough to pick from as he grows. Balloons were colorful and the cake was a classic two tier blue butterscotch with cream pandas on the top.

The only thing that I hadn't really thought about was Prabir's dress. While I wanted it casual and chic, I wanted him to stand out too and the party dresses for boys available in the market were just not great. Every store had millions of choices for girls, but for little boys, there were barely a few, if any. We settled for denim pants with a multicolor sweater and a red Nehru Jacket to complete the look.

There were games for both adults as well as the kids, musical chair, spoon and lemon race and paper dance. What fun it was to see Prabir's aunts and uncles running, while Prabir clapped and rocked to the music.

The highlight of the party was a video I compiled with all the firsts, like when he first babbled, first crawled etc.

The return gifts were personalised too. The kids got caps with their name on it. For the adults, there were framed pictures of them with Prabir, ethnic dupattas etc. We also got chocolate bars with 'Thank You' written on them for every kid.

With the event over by 4pm, we were home soon enough for the kid to catch up with his siesta. So, all in all, no cranky baby and just perfect birthday celebrations!

The success of it all would be when my son smiles every time he sees the pictures and videos of his first birthday. That moment is still far fetched, but would make everything worth the effort ☺