Preparations for Leonardo’s 2nd Birthday started couple months in advance. Most challenging was to pick a theme for the party. I thought about something he would truly enjoy, so in my mind I went through his favorite books, cartoons, and toys. For the past year his favorite cartoon was called “Panda Kopanda” by the amazing Hayo Miazaki (or “Panda! Go, Panda!” in English version): Beautiful animation from 1972, it’s a story of papa panda and baby panda who adopted a little orphan girl, and about their adventures together. Mind you, this cartoon is about one hour long and we had it in Japanese, but Leo could watch it on repeat day after day, and soon enough he was signing the soundtrack tune imitating some Japanese words. Naturally, for his second Birthday we decided to throw a panda party!
I created a board on Pinterest and started looking for inspirations. The colour palette of the party was defined by pandas themselves – everything black & white, be that tripes or polka dots. I ordered most of party supplies on Amazon (you can find them all on my Amazon page) and at Target.
Following last year tradition, the Birthday cake was made by our good friend and Leo’s first year babysitter, a baker-extraordinaire Sabrina from Sweet Petal BK: https://www.instagram.com/sweetpetalbk/ (you can see the cakes she made for us last year HERE) I showed Sabrina some images from Pinterest just to give a general direction and let her do her magic. Inspired by the Japanese origin of the cartoon, she made green matcha and sesame cake with the most adorable (and eatable!) panda figurine holding a red balloon.
I decorated one of the walls at home with polaroids from the first 2 years of Leo’s life, and during the party we shot some more polaroids – some for our guests keepsakes, others for us.
This year, to avoid a complicated production of bringing home 20 helium-inflated balloons (which ended up escaping from the trunk of my car last year), I got a helium tank for home. I also used a bubble machine which everyone loved (and I only wish I snap a pic or two of it – but alas, I needed to choose between hosting a party or photographing it, and not everything was documented)
As you may or may not know, I do love matching with Leonardo, so obviously for the Panda party I picked panda outfits for both of us. Mine was a simple black&white t-shirt with abstract pandas from ASOS, and Leo’s lounge suit was by Born To Be Free.
Though I did start preparing for Leo’s birthday early, the day of the party was chaotic and rushed, and not everything went as planned. (Isn’t it always like this? Especially when you have a super excited toddler running around) When guests start arriving I was still inflating the balloons and preparing the food. But the party kicked off right away, and all afternoon was just a happy blur of faces, smiles, hugs and gifts. The highlight of the party was live performance by the amazing Laura from Rock&Lolo: http://www.rocknlolokids.com/ who made kids sing, dance and play. The cake came shortly after and I teared up as we all sang Happy Birthday to Leo in 3 languages (so he had a chance to blow the candle 3 times, and hopefully made 3 wishes!)
As a thank you to Leo’s guests and a reminder of his Birthday we suggested to “adopt panda” – there was a table with 2 different keepsakes to take with you home: panda beach ball or miniature plush panda (or both!)
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