Oh how they grow up so quick! As they reach their first birthday, there are so many considerations, whether you’re the parent, a family friend or a relative.

Will you be having a birthday party? Should you get a birthday cake? What gifts do you buy or should you get anything for the parents? I have tried my best to answer all these questions below.

Tips On Setting Up The Party

• Choose a theme for the party – This could be around their favourite TV show, or something much more simpler, but this gives the decorating and planning a core focus.
• Make invitations – these can be bought in bulk from most card shop stores, but they add a really nice touch. They’re also really useful as reminders.
• Create a quiet area – I’m not talking about a quiet area for the kids to have a nap (although that could also be great), I’m talking about a quiet area for adults. Some attending won’t have children, while others may have kids of different ages, but either way, you may need an area which isn’t so manic.
• Write up a guest list and check over it about five times. The last thing you want to do is forget someone who should be there, it can be difficult to remember everything with a baby around, so just go over it again to ensure there aren’t any family friends, relatives or parents of babies you’ve got to know recently that should be there.
• Pick some games – these can be relatively basic considering the age group, but it’s always worth having something both to entertain babies, children and adults alike.
• Birthday cake – This is their first birthday cake they will ever have. They will have one candle on the cake to blow out. The first time they’ve ever been sung ‘happy birthday’. Those photos you will cherish forever, so make sure it’s a cake you won’t regret forever.

Nice Gifts

It can be hard to know where to start when buying a gift for a 1 year old. I mean, you can’t exactly ask them what they would like.

Sound Book

One of my best moments so far with my little Niece Lily has been reading her a book while she sat on my lap. I also remember singing her ‘the wheels on the bus’ whenever her mum would walk out of the room, to make sure she didn’t get nervous and cry.

Well, I’m not the best singer, but singing along to ‘Sing with Mizzie’ certainly sounds like a great idea. Each page has different songs which they can press in order to hear the nursery rhymes chant out.

The songs are actually sung by the Australian Queensland school children which is quite cool.

Touch And Feel Book

Toddlers are incredibly curious, they want to touch everything, learning more with every day as they adjust to the confusing world around them.

A book isn’t just about words, you want them to be able to interact directly with the book as you read the story. This is where the Mizzie the Kangaroo touch and feel baby board book works a charm.

All the pages are incredibly thick, which makes it easier for them to turn the pages.

Music Box

The Mizzie hop out jack in a box will surely give them a surprise as they turn the level as the tune plays out, before Mizzie pops up.

This is a fun game to make them laugh and smile, while their reactions may also be priceless if you happen to catch them on camera (is that cruel to say?).

Gifts For The Parents

We tend to focus so much on the babies birthday that I think sometimes we forget the parent and I think it can be nice to gift something to help them relax.

This doesn’t have to be an item, you could offer to look after the little one for the day, or you could get them a voucher for a takeaway service.

Large Landscape Photo Book

I see this as a present for both the parents and the baby, as when they grow older, they will love looking through these photos.

The large photobook by Cewe can hold up to 202 pages and you can load the images directly on the website, so the album is full when they receive the photobook, a perfect gift if you have plenty of magical memories on camera from the first year of their birth.

There are numerous additional options, such as whether you’d prefer it in hardcover or softcover (with a £9 difference) and whether you’d prefer classic paper or something a bit more flashy such as high gloss paper or photographic paper.

Professionally printed and bound, this really does take out all the hard work, while I think this will really touch and impress the parents. Honestly, I love this one!

Olverum Bath Oil

If they’re rushed off their feet all day, then relaxing in a bath can be the only getaway they get within that 24 hour period.

A chance to relax the mind, unwind and take some time for TLC, making the bath a pleasant experience with candles and some bath oil is always a great idea.

The Olverum Bath Oil contains natural essential oils including Lavender, Eucalyptus, Lemon, Rosemary and Juniper (starting to sound like a tasty gin, another good gift idea). With just a few drops, the aromatic scent will fill the air.