Baby's First Birthday: Celebrating Your First Year Together

Takeaway: Baby’s first birthday is a huge milestone worth celebrating. This article goes over the big emotions that can show up for parents on that day and some tips for celebrating with a first birthday party. However you celebrate baby's first birthday, it's going to be a special and meaningful day together.

Dear Mom of an Almost-One-Year-Old:

Your little one's first birthday is approaching. The first year has almost passed. A lifetime, a blink of an eye. It is awe-inspiring to witness how much your baby has grown and developed this year. But not just your baby - you, too.

The first year of parenthood can be challenging, filled with endless cycles of diaper changes, feedings, and sleepless nights. However, you have persevered through all of it with strength, courage, and love.

As your baby celebrates their first birthday, it's a time to celebrate all of your growth and the beautiful memories you have made together. From those first coos and giggles to being on the move and maybe even some wobbly first steps, each milestone is a testament to your dedication and hard work. And all that growth? All those memories? This is just the beginning. Cheers to a happy first birthday.

Let's celebrate.

Baby’s first birthday, birthday banner

More Than Just a Party: The Emotions of Baby's First Birthday

Your little one is approaching their first birthday and that's exciting! Time to celebrate baby's birthday AND your survival of your first year of parenthood! Congrats! It’s a big milestone that deserves to be celebrated.

Your baby is growing up. Amongst all the fun of planning baby's first birthday party- making your guest list, coming up with first birthday party ideas, ordering party favors, and searching Pinterest for smash cakes- don't forget to take stock of how you're feeling.

A first birthday is such a happy thing, and it can also bring up other emotions.

Excitement

It's exciting that your baby is growing up and you get to have a fun birthday party to celebrate them! You get to show them off to your close friends and family and have a whole day dedicated to your little one.

Sadness

The end of an era. It makes sense that you might feel sad at this milestone. A first birthday represents a year gone by: a year of meeting your baby and getting to know them. You might feel some nostalgia for the newborn days. It goes by so quickly and it's okay to feel sad that this time has passed.

Joy

A party sparks joy because your baby sparks joy! There's nothing more fun or joyful than seeing a laughing baby covered in frosting or whipped cream, smashing a cake surrounded by balloons and other kids singing. (Especially if you can get some of your guests to help with clean up!)

Pride

Your baby is growing like a weed and doing things like crawling, babbling, and maybe walking! How is this the same tiny bean you met a year ago?! Take pride in how you've supported your baby to learn and grow this year, and in how much YOU have learned and grown this year!

Both/And

With all the emotions that come up at your baby's first birthday, it's a great time to practice "both/and" thinking. Two things can be true at the same time - like:

BOTH wanting them to grow up AND wanting them to stay little.

BOTH feeling like time is going so fast AND like certain phases last forever.

BOTH feeling more confident as a mother AND learning everyday.

BOTH so many firsts AND still so many unknowns.

BOTH so little AND so grown up.

Your Baby’s First Birthday: Looking Back and Looking Forward

Reflecting on the First Year

Take some time to reflect on the past year and all the wonderful experiences and challenges you've faced together. Reflecting on your baby's first year can help you appreciate the journey so far, thinking and talking about the memories and milestones of your child's life so far.

Remember to give yourself some encouragement as you reflect on the past year. Being a parent is no easy task, and you've made it through the first year! You are the best parent for your baby and you're doing a great job. enjoy watching your little one continue to grow and thrive.

Your baby's first birthday might bring up reminders of your birth experience - a year ago, you were giving birth, after all! Taking time to reflect on your birth experience and process it can be really beneficial. I have a free workbook to with exercises and prompts to help guide you in not only processing your birth story for yourself, but also for identifying parts of the experience and story that you want to share with your child as they grow.

Reflection Questions

As you reflect on your baby's first year of life, consider asking yourself some questions.

What were your favorite moments with your baby?

What were some challenges you faced and how did you overcome them?

What did you learn about yourself as a parent?

How did your baby change and grow throughout the year?

Taking the time to reflect on these questions can help you gain insight into your parenting journey and feel more confident and connected moving forward.

More Fun to Come

A first birthday celebrates how far you and your baby have come, and it also celebrates all your hopes and excitement for the future. This is the first of many birthdays to come.

After a child's first year, there are many exciting things to look forward to in their life. They will continue to develop their language skills and will be able to communicate more effectively with others. They will also begin to develop their own unique personality and interests. As they grow, they will become more independent and will gain new abilities such as walking, running, and climbing. They will start to make friends and develop social skills. They will also have the opportunity to explore the world around them and learn about new things. Overall, there are many wonderful experiences that a child can look forward to as they continue to grow and develop.

All moms need and deserve support in motherhood - and the kind of support you need changes throughout your journey!

Anticipation Questions

One of the great joys of life is looking forward with anticipation. Research even shows that having things to look forward to contributes to well-being. As you remember that this is just the beginning of your baby's life and your relationship with them, consider asking yourself some questions about what you're looking forward to.

What are you looking forward to doing this year with your baby?

Your baby is going to be walking and talking very very soon! How will that change your life and your relationship with them?

What new experiences are in store this next year?

What qualities or characteristics about your baby are you excited to see develop more?

The Party

You might be ready to throw baby a first birthday party bash spanning an entire weekend, with extended family, an epic themed birthday party, baby friends, and other parents — after all, you made it through a full year of caring for another human being. That’s certainly calls for celebration! Or, maybe a small birthday party with just your family or a few guests on baby's actual birthday might be just the thing. There's no wrong way to throw first birthday parties! However you're preparing to spend the day with your birthday baby, I've collected a few tips and ideas to help you plan a fun and successful first birthday party, whether big or small.

Planning the Party

First and foremost, plan a party you want to attend. If you're feeling a large, loud, first birthday party celebration, great! If a low-key, small and intimate celebration for your baby's first birthday feels like a better speed this year, that's also great. Just blowing up balloons, donning party hats, singing happy birthday, and presenting your baby with a little cake in good company is a fun way to be together and celebrate.

On my podcast, Our First Year, I interview moms about their first year of motherhood. One of the questions I always ask is how they celebrated their baby's first birthday. I love hearing the answers to this question because they are all different and they are all equally special. Whatever you decide to do on your baby's first birthday, it is going to be special and memorable. The goal is to leave you both feeling loved and celebrated.

I've done both and I'll share about my experiences!

Big and Perfect

For my first daughter's first birthday party, we did it all. A dessert table, party favors, and toys - family members flew to California from all over to join us as guests. We had a play area with a ball pit and board books for the small children and games for the older children. I planned for months and changed birthday themes three times (I settled on a strawberry birthday theme for my June baby). I wanted everything to be perfect and BIG to celebrate our girl. It was big, and it was perfect.

Small and Special

With my second daughter, deciding on birthday party themes felt overwhelming and planning my baby's party wasn't as important to me as making sure our family got to spend the day getting quality time together. I wanted her first birthday to be slow, intentional, and intimate. We had a birthday party with just our family at a park, with a single cupcake and balloons. It was a memorable party without any stress. It was small, and it was special.

Tips and Ideas for Planning Your Baby’s First Birthday Party

Choosing Baby's First Birthday Party Theme

Good space is crucial to a great celebration—but consider picking a theme for a first birthday party as part of your party preparations. Whatever color you want and whatever animals character you want, you could design everything from invitations to cake designs around that theme. Just ensure all decorations are age adapted (for curious kids who enjoy mouthing anything in sight!). What do you think of it all? Many more first birthday theme choices are available. Are your little ones loving stuffed rabbits and foxes? Try the forest theme for the first anniversary!

Baby's First Birthday Party Theme Ideas

I'm no party planner, but I do love a party theme. Here are a few of my favorite baby's first birthday party theme ideas:

Disneyland First Birthday - adorable. I admit to being somewhat of a Disney Adult. Whatever, it's the happiest place on Earth for a reason!

Wild One First Birthday Theme - a safari theme to celebrate your wild one's first birthday.

Winter One-derland First Birthday Theme for those winter babies.

Football First Birthday Theme - I hear some people really like football. You can make a birthday theme out of anything!

Making Memories and Creating Traditions

First Year Video

I use the app 1 Second Everyday to collect daily videos of my kids and easily compile the snippets into a video in which you get to see them grow up literally in front of your eyes. At the end of the birthday day, we watch their videos together as a family - and can share them with friends and family members from afar, too!

Legacy Marble Jar

One of the traditions we have started in our family is using these marble jars to celebrate both special days like birthdays and other events, and to create traditions and rituals around marking the passage of time.

The marbles provide a visual reminder of how precious the time with our girls is and to be present and intentional with that time. 

Each week we take out a marble together and talk about our favorite memory from the week or our current favorite thing about each girl. Reflecting in this way and recalling happy experiences can be a buffer against stress and can alleviate anxiety - which there's so much of in the early days of learning to be a parent! 

Celebration

Celebration means recognizing growth and marking the passage of time WHILE looking forward with anticipation to the future. Throughout the ups and downs of this year you and your baby have learned and developed so much. There are few things as sweet as seeing your little one tasting their first birthday cake. Don't forget to take it all in.