LEO’S 1ST BIRTHDAY PARTY

first thing Leonardo does when he wakes up in the morning and i take him out of his crib is looking down in the living room from the height of his loft nursery. this Tuesday, on May 10, 2016 there were few surprises waiting for him.

the night before i put him to sleep a little earlier to have enough time to finish birthday preparations which were started couple months in advance. not everything went smoothly nor as it was originally planned. for example, a day before the whole bunch of helium-inflated balloons with golden number 1 escaped the trunk of my car before i could grab them, so i drove back during rush hour to downtown Brooklyn’s “Party City” to repeat my order. (because i am convinced there can’t be no birthday celebration without a lot of balloons) also, birthday picnic we were planning to organize in DUMBO in front of Jane carousel was in danger of cancellation due to rain forecast. but rain or shine, Leonardo’s very first birthday was meant to be a very special party – even though he would only remember it from the photos.

his birthday happened to be on Tuesday, so we decided to celebrate it that day in a close circle of our family, and then throw a party for friends on the following weekend. the theme for both birthday parties was Little Prince, modern version of it, with gold, silver and black color palette – just like his father’s and mine New York wedding. in fact, Leo got to wear the very same leather crown his father was wearing for our special day. one of his gifts were black lacquered Dr.Martins, which my husband and i also wore for our Black Wedding. 

two parties imply having two birthday cakes, and so we had. custom-made for Leo by our dear friend Sabrina van der Riet, founder of Sweet Petals BK (please check her Instagram: sweetpetalbk), both cakes were true masterpieces of the bakery art. for Leonardo’s very first cake I really wanted to create something fun but at the same time something he would enjoy eating. this little miniature of Little Prince planet was made of whole wheat flour, apple, banana, cinnamon and cream cheese. with cute colorful figurines on top that looked like toys, it was just perfect. i couldn’t wait to see Leonardo’s face when tries this cake.

our families have spread out all around the world: Russia, Argentina, Italy. in advance, we set up a convenient time when everyone can connect on Skype to share “the cake moment” with us. Leo couldn’t understand what was all that fuss about, and looked a little nervous in his high-chair, which was set up as a small stage, listening to voices speaking in Russian, Spanish and Italian all at the same time. 

the cake was a huge success and lots of fun, just like we hoped! Leo stretched his arms towards it as soon as he saw it. suprisingly, he was very careful with the figurines and started with the chocolate mountains first. both families sang the Happy Birthday song in their respective language, while he devoured his very first dessert in life.

one tradition we would like to start and pursue in our family is giving Leonardo gifts made with our own hands. in my own experience, these gifts are the ones you will remember and cherish always, like i still do with the ones my parents made for me. for Leo’s first Birthday my husband and i made him an Activity board, and I already wrote about it in detail here: http://www.dreamingofleonardo.com/activity-board

the weekend came, and weather report confirmed our fears – we wouldn’t be able to have a picnic because of the stormy wind and rain in NY. playing it by ear, we moved the party to our loft, and we didn’t regret it. it was easier to handle and more fun for Leo’s little buddies who were mostly just a little bit older than him. it was a perfect playdate!

instead of having a classic achievement board, i wrote few fun facts about Leonardo on the chalkboard from the pastry boxes. here they are:

• born on Mother’s Day
• nicknames: Cappocia, Ruso, Simpatico
• gained 17lb & grew 9in
• was on the plane 15 times, visited 3 countries & 7 cities
• has 8 teeth
• started walking at 11 months & 9 days
• roars like a lion when he “talks” to girls
• is on a magazine cover this month
• most recently developed skill: nose picking
• the first word in the morning: “Hey!”
• loves nibbling on shoes & hates wearing them
• what makes him smile: dogs when someone says “meow” & sound of coughing
• favorite food: banana & avocado
• favorite song: “If you’re happy”
• favorite book: “Munch!”
• favorite toy: Cheburashka
• learns 3 languages at once: Russian, Spanish & English

the grand finale of the Birthday party was another beautiful cake by Sweet Petals BK – this time made with spiced apple, vanilla cream cheese frosting and hand painted edible wafer paper. i couldn’t hold the tears when everyone stood up and sang “Happy Birthday” to our little prince.