Eliot's 1st Birthday

Eliot turned a whole year old on Thursday 26th June, I thought I'd share how we celebrated!

 

The day started off with poo! We went into his room singing happy Birthday, when the OH opened the blind and we were greeted by Eliot and a nice lump of poo next to him! Typically that is the first time his nappy has exploded in the cot, I'm just thankful he didn't get his hands in it and smear it everywhere!

 



We'd got his presents all ready for him the night before, along with a few balloons. He didn't have a clue what was going on when we brought him in to the living room and kitchen. Still he didn't waste any time and got into the ball bit to play and had a quick go on his trike which his Nana and Grandad bought.

 We opened some of his other gifts over breakfast but he didn't really get the whole 'open and discover' aspect and ended up pushing them on the floor.
After breakfast we got ready and headed out for the day, Eliot rode his new trike and first stop was modelling an outfit for  When We Were Little. It was for their Spring/Summer 2015 collection. He looked adorable in the clothes he wore and I can't wait to see the photos! 
Next we went for a spot of lunch at a chain called The Banana Tree. Eliot was starting to get tired as his nap is usually before or after lunch, it was at this point I realised I'd made a huge boo boo! Napping would be difficult/near impossible on his trike, which meant we were going to end up with one cranky little birthday boy...massive fail! However we decided to carry on with our plans and headed to Battersea Park. My poor boy kept failing asleep in his trike, so we thought it would be a good idea to park up the trike and get him out to sleep in my arms. He woke straight away and refused to go to sleep. Admitting defeat we went into the play area and he spent a fair bit of time on one of his favourite things, the swing!

After that we popped into Battersea Park Zoo, Eliot loves animals so we thought it would be an ideal birthday visit. It was very quiet which was perfect for us to stroll and around and get a good look at  all the animals. Eliot enjoyed watching all of them apart from the pigs who were grunting noisily. He started crying so we had to move on swiftly. The zoo hosts a huge sand play area, Eliot hadn't experienced sand before so when we plonked him down he was a bit unsure. However it wasn't long before he started crawling around to explore. It was then time to start our long walk home! (see the video at the bottom for more animal antics!)

Watching the Meerkats with daddy



Squirrel Monkey

Back at home we had dinner and celebrated our boys special day with a cake.

 

A couple of days later we had a small  bee themed party at home with some family and friends. I made a simple yellow and black dot '1' cake which turned out ok and everyone said they liked it, although my dad did comment it was 'a little dry'. Pah! I'm just pleased it turned out alright. Getting the icing over it was the trickiest bit and it wasn't anywhere near perfect but it just about passed if you didn't look closely!

 

Food Table

 



I made my own extremely simple party bags to fit in with the theme, I got the idea from good old Pinterest! All I used were yellow paper bags, bee themed stickers and washi tape, all purchased on ebay.

Overall I think my little bee thoroughly enjoyed his celebrations, even if he did have no idea what was going on.

How did/will you celebrate your little ones 1st Birthday?



 

 

Eliot's 1 Year Update

 Trying out one of your birthday presents

 General/milestones

Eliot Jude, I still can't believe you are already a whole year old. It seems like yesterday I had a bump and now here we are, already looking back on your 1st Birthday celebrations.
It was your special day on Thursday, (technically not until 3:54pm) Mummy and Daddy came in to you singing Happy Birthday and you greeted us with your lovely smile. You opened (with help) and played with some of your presents before we all went out for the day. You were a model and we went to Battersea Park Zoo but I'll write all about that in a different post. A couple of days later we had a party for you with close family and friends.

This month you are getting more confident with walking with support and have taken a few steps by yourself more than once, clever boy! I wonder if next month I'll be writing that you're walking all by yourself?!

A new thing this month is that you have started to point to things and talk, planes in the sky, animals and other things. It's very cute and makes mummy and daddy laugh.

You have another new tooth at the bottom. I think you may be teething again as you have been putting your fingers in your mouth and chewing them.

We've had some more of the tantrums, like I mentioned last month, often when you are tired. You get very frustrated and show this through pinching (quite hard) so we're hoping you'll grow out of that sooner rather than later.
I am ever so proud to be your mummy, you have changed so much in the space of a year, it is amazing to see you grow and learn.

Proud Mummy at Battersea Park Zoo on your Birthday!

Feeding

Food is still a favourite but there are times when you are fussy and won't eat very much. You tried grapes again properly and seemed to enjoy them. You are not a greedy baby, you will stop eating when you've had enough and will push it away.
I changed your milk from formula to cows milk on your birthday, you haven't noticed the difference and drink it happily. You still have three bottles a day but I'm thinking about moving your milk to a beaker for you to drink out of.

Weight

I still haven't had your weight checked and we missed your 8-12 month check with the health visitor...oops. Daddy was meant to change your appointment but had problems getting through. 

Clothes

You are still wearing 12-18 month clothes and some 18-24 month bits. You got lots of new bits for your birthday, hopefully you'll get to wear it all before you grow out of it!

Your first experience of sand

Sleeping

Most of this month you have sleeping well. Sometimes you cry in your sleep, perhaps you've had a bad dream. If we give you your dummy you normally settle very quickly.

Your Likes/Dislikes

• You love your new trike that nana J and Grandad bought you for your birthday.
• You don't love the washing machine as much as you did.
• You love being on the move and trying to get hold of things you shouldn't be touching.
• You don't like having your nappy changed

 

 

The cake we ate on your birthday

Until next month, Love you lots
xxxxx