Lovey’s First Birthday!

Lovey is one year old! It is hard to believe he’s not my little baby anymore. Here we are, the parents of a walking (running), talking (sort of) toddler. Lovey, hubby and I have been through so much in the past year, wonderful moments and challenges, and we have all changed and grown.

We spent this weekend celebrating his birthday. On Sunday, we hosted a picnic party at a local park with over 30 guests. It was a lot of work, and I think I might have had fun though it flew by a bit too quickly and I barely had a moment to breathe. Lovey was in his element as the center of attention, and all of the guests seemed to enjoy themselves. While the strong winds were a bit of a nuisance for the adults, the kids were able to fly a kite. There was also a croquet match. The park was the perfect location for families as it has a children’s farm and play barn and playground. Some highlights about the party were:

We strived to make the party as waste-less as possible. We had bought tons of plates, bowls, plastic cups, and cutlery from the local reuse centre – large plates and bowls were 25 cents each, small plates were 10 cents, cutlery 15 cents, and bags of plastic cups were $2. We bought cloth tablecloths (or sheets and shower curtains to be used as same) and napkins. We put them all into large plastic bins, which, once emptied, were used to collect the dirty plates, etc. We brought our blue box for recyclables and our green bin for food waste. Most of the food was homemade so there was not a lot of packaging. As a group, we generated very little actual garbage at all. There was an initial investment, but now we have party supplies to last us for years.

My kitchen talents were yet again tested as I needed to find a cake recipe that did not contain any of Lovey’s allergens (dairy, soy, possibly wheat/gluten). So I found THIS recipe online and modified it (rice milk instead of soy milk, Enjoy Life Foods chocolate chips for one batch and blueberries for the other). It turned out surprisingly tasty and I got quite a few compliments on it. And I’m not complaining about the leftovers, either. Lovey didn’t actually eat any of the cake at the party, but enjoyed a piece at home later that evening.

All in all, it was a successful milestone celebration. I do wish that I had stopped to take more pictures, though.

I’m having the worst time figuring out good outdoor shoes for Lovey for this summer now that he is walking. Currently we use Isabooties and Simple shoes however the Isabooties are great for indoors but might not withstand a lot of pavement walking, and the Simple shoes will be too warm for hot summer days. I’m not totally anti-leather, but I do seek something with an extremely flexible sole (as is recommended by medical professionals for little feet) that is also non-toxic, ethical, and not too outrageously expensive. I know some moms are paying up to $50 for one pair of specially-fitted shoes, but considering how quickly these little feet grow I’m not sure I can justify that kind of cost - especially since he`ll be barefoot more than shoe-ed. Perhaps my findings will be shared in an upcoming post.