A very happy 1st birthday!

Last Wednesday our special little guy turned 1- a whole year old already! He’s taken his birthday week in his stride, having to share his actual big day with Freddie and Sasha’s sports day, and then a family party last weekend at ours. I think we are officially partied-out now and whilst I love hosting a ‘do’, I’m not going to pretend that I’m not a little relieved that there are now no more offspring birthdays until next year! Having said that, we had two great days with so many lovely family and friends who made such a big effort to celebrate with us, and our curly-haired wonder is one spoiled chap. 

Here are some photos of his special days…

So much love for his first ever piece of cake! Honestly, I don’t think I’ve seen something vanish so fast… Can’t beat a bit of M&S tray cake to take to a picnic, plenty for everyone then.

Enjoying cake (and making a lot of mess!) with Grandad.

On the Saturday we held his ‘proper’ party for family and some friends at ours. We went with a ‘woodland’ theme (okay, so Adam humoured me massively here), because Arlo loves animals, and as it’s the last 1st birthday we’ll ever throw, we thought we might as well make it a good ‘un! 

The woodland animal sugar paper cake toppers were from an Ebay store.

I absolutely LOVE this woodland animal personalised banner, also from an Ebay store, and was only about a fiver for 3 metres. 

I wasn’t sure what kind of cake to go for, and cakes that I’d seen that were amazingly detailed ‘woodland animal’ cakes were a little out of my remit time and skill-wise, or ridiculously expensive to get someone else to make. Instead, I had this simple white buttercream cake made by a local mum (Silver Pumpkin cakes if ever you’re SE LOndon/Kent borders), and then added the ‘Arlo is One’ cake topper from ‘Other Letters’ and a few woodland animals by Schleich. I think the simplicity worked quite well with the more detailed decorations. I also bought some fake Ivy vines from Ebay for about a fiver for 5- will be saving these for Halloween, and basically any other party that I can think of! 

With his Uncle Jon

We got the paddling pool/ball pool out and the younger kids and babies thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

‘Blowing’ out his birthday candle (and a little overwhelmed I think!). 

We’ve got loads more photos of his days, but of course I can’t put quite a few on here due to respecting the privacy of our friends’ and family kids- these are some of the highlights though, and looking at these I still can’t believe our baby is one! 

Now to start planning the 2nd birthday…. (jokes) 

Becky

Meet the award-nominated UK lifestyle blogger behind Spirited Puddle Jumper – a mum of three living in South East London! Becky shares the real ups and downs of family life, parenting tips, and lifestyle inspiration, proving that being a mum doesn’t mean you stop being fun or having other interests! Follow along for honest insights into UK family life and opinions on a whole range of topics, from travel and food, to beauty reviews, home and DIY, business and health and wellness.