In the blink of an eye it was Zinnia’s first birthday. Where did the year go? I will eventually finish the final post from her first 12 months but for now there is a need for a post about her first birthday celebrations!
All the kids have had big first birthday parties. With everything going on at this time of year it was very tempting to skip the festivities but there is enough photographic evidence of the other two’s birthday celebrations that I might be in trouble down the track. Luckily I have 2 very enthusiastic helpers, so a first birthday was planned …and executed without too many issues.
Astrid decided with her little sister’s name being Zinnia Delphine, and having a Spring birthday, we needed to have a Spring flower themed party. I did think it was a very appropriate theme and so the planning commenced.
The invites were out and the big kids were rather excited. Zinnia was of course none the wiser but had had a little practice with opening presents on Soren’s birthday exactly a month earlier. She was also a fan of cake, so we figured she’d probably enjoy her birthday!
It’s my birthday!
When her birthday rolled around, she started the day with a bottle of milk tucked up in our bed and then the big kids excitedly showed her the pile of presents. Not needing a lot of things we had kept the gifts to a minimum but Zinnia quickly spotted the pile, and with a little assistance managed to get into the paper ripping spirit.
A lover of hats, the new hat was popular until she saw her llama night light (which got plenty of kisses). It was only outdone by the talking dog toy she’d been eyeing off in the shops for the last couple of months……..
We have a tradition of the birthday person getting to choose the breakfast. I was planning on just giving Zinnia her usual weetbix or toast, but the other kids had cooked up a plan with their dad that Zinnia should get crepes! Anto was conned and made a fresh batch of crepes for breaky. At first she was wondering what the other kids were feasting on that looked so good……
Birthday breaky….
Then she discovered the crepes filled with cream, banana and chocolate and was straight into them!
Yep I definitely like these crepes! She should thank her older siblings for scoring her that treat…..
With the big kids at school for the day, what does a one year old do but help mum around the house, get yummy lunch and have a couple of lovely naps. It’s tough being 1!
I had endless amounts of baking to do for the party, and I had not forgotten how challenging first birthdays can be when the baby isn’t great at letting you get anything done. As a result Zinnia got plonked in her high chair and handed a beater covered in cake batter when I ran out of other distractions.
Birthday treats……
Zinnia definitely thought all her Christmasses had come at once! I don’t recall the other 2 scoring beaters quite this young…….
We had a little gardening to do to get ready for the weekend’s party, and Miss Zinnia does love being in the garden! The hat got a pretty good workout too……
Zinnia’s luck continued into dinner. I had been doing a lot of baking but wasn’t keen on additional cake making just for her actual birthday so I decided she could have a piece of stollen for her birthday dessert. Anto decided to make it a giant piece of stollen. Zinnia did not object, and demolished the whole thing quick smart!
She was pretty stoked with her treat and there might have been a sugar high from the days festivities, she was jumping around at bed time not looking the least bit sleepy…..
Presents and party preparation…..
The next day Granny was over to help with party prep and wait, there was another present!
Zinnia loves her boppin llama as it dances around the floor and shakes it’s head and booty. We are all thoroughly sick of it but she is a big fan…..
Another day, another chance to sample the baking while the adults are busy creating culinary treats. Zinnia was getting used to this!
Granny had also been busy helping with the giant flower ‘Z’. Finally finished Zinnia was quite impressed……..
The weekend arrived and after a late few nights baking and a busy couple of days tidying up the garden with Grandma and Grandpa’s assistance, it was time for our garden lunch to celebrate Zinnia turning 1.
Party time!!!
We ended up with a beautiful Spring day after some average weather over the last few days, and soon the house was looking like a florist with all the flowers around to decorate.
The cake was done, the Z and balloons up and it was time to party……
After a morning sleep it was time for Zinnia to get into her party outfit …. one of her strategically purchased birthday presents from us as it’s really hard to think of things for the third child!
Zinnia did look adorable (and she knew it). Big sister Astrid was also happy to crack out her own flower themed dress and looked equally cute. It seems like just the other day it was Astrid’s first birthday (definitely not almost 8 years ago)…..
Soren was disappointed he is the only one in the family who doesn’t currently own a flower themed outfit, but he still looked pretty dapper and was happy to help his littlest sister taste all the food.
Finally the dessert table was done and it was time for the hungry hoards to arrive!
The food……
We had spent a lot of time during the week baking, making cheesecakes, meringues and plenty of cake and cupcakes among other things. I was also up fairly late the night before the party icing the birthday cake and turning the cupcakes into flowers. I am always happy if I finish before midnight and I think we were done by 10pm!
The big kids helped out with the biscuit making and decorating and the decorating of the cheesecakes. They also helped withe confetti and balloon decorations. We won’t talk about how much confetti is still in my house!
The food for our garden lunch was plentiful. For our savoury selection we had:
* cheese and dip board
* spinach spring vegetable dip
* BBQ sausages and onions
* chicken wings
* cheese filos
* fresh bread and bread rolls
* Italian potato salad
* beetroot and walnut salad
* avocado, mango and macadamia salad
The dessert buffet included:
* lemon and poppy seed layer cake
* vanilla cupcakes
* mini lemon cheesecakes
* mini eclairs
* macarons
* chocolate crackles
* honey joys
* flower biscuits
* mini pavlovas with berries
* fruit platters
Party fun……
With lovely weather and yummy food and drink, everyone was having a good time. Zinnia isn’t a huge fan of big crowds but she did have a lot of fun, between wanting cuddles from mum. She was happy to be distracted (bribed) with food and other treats she doesn’t normally get, and managed to get away with quite a belly full of yummy things…….
Cake time!
After we’d all filled up on lunch and dessert it was time for birthday cake. I’d made a layered lemon and poppy seed cake with lemon cream cheese icing. It came out rather well and the taste didn’t disappoint either (Zinnia had approved the batter tasting!).
She wasn’t reall sure about this candle thing, surely they are for grabbing, right? Astrid played Happy Birthday on the keyboard as we all sang to Zinnia and then she decided that she might just grab the macarons off the top while she was waiting for cake…….
Zinnia was definitely getting into the birthday party spirit and was keen to get stuck into the cake.
In fact she was so keen that she stole cake off guests plates and started shovelling it into her mouth, fistfuls at a time! The cake was most definitely Zinnia approved………. everyone else gave it the seal of approval too!
After a thoroughly huge afternoon, Zinnia managed a 2 hour nap and had to be woken so she wasn’t up all night. We aren’t sure how she had slept after all that sugar, she had downed a lot of cake, macarons, blueberries and cheesecake.
The day after……
Once she was bright-eyed and bushy tailed again the next day she did get to open a few small gifts, she was getting into this present thing!
Happy birthday Zinnia!
A big first birthday done and dusted and a very happy baby who had a thoroughly wonderful time! Thank you to all those who helped make Zinnia’s first birthday truly special.
Happy first birthday Zinnia Delphine………
