Birthday #1 Is In The Books

Over the Labor Day weekend, we celebrated my granddaughter’s first birthday.  Since my son and his wife live in another state, we also used the occasion as a means for them to see as many relatives and friends as possible when they returned to our house for the long weekend. 
 
As a result, we had a house (more correctly, a yard) full of people that day.  I didn’t do a final headcount, but I believe it was in the neighborhood of 35 people.  Luckily, Mother Nature smiled on us and gave us perfect weather for an outdoor gathering.  Better yet, the young children could stay occupied playing games on the lawn.
 
I was too busy as hostess to sit and visit much, but from what I could tell, everyone seemed to have a good time.  My sister-in-law helped me set out the food for lunch and to put it all away afterward, which saved me a few steps.  Nevertheless, my feet were plenty tired by the time the last guest left later in the afternoon!
 
And since it was a birthday party, we also had a theme and decorations.  My daughter-in-law organized all of this, and did a great job.  She used the story The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle as the theme for the birthday.  This must be a very popular theme for children’s parties, because I was amazed at the number of caterpillar-related party items she was able to get.
 
She also used a clever caterpillar idea for the cake.  Rather than one large birthday cake, she made batches of cupcakes and arranged them as the body of a caterpillar, with a small round cake for the head.  (This didn’t include the separate “smash cake” which my granddaughter destroyed for photo posterity – I guess I’ve been away from children’s parties for too long, because I didn’t know this is a thing.)
 
All-in-all, it was a great day.  But I’ll admit, as soon as my son and his family packed up and left to return home the next morning, I crashed.  I’m not used to having a small child and a large dog in the house anymore! 
 
This was the first of many birthdays we will be able to celebrate with our granddaughter, and I am sure each one will be special.  What special children’s birthday memories do you have?