Miss Camille’s birthday party was SO MUCH FUN.
Leading up to the party, I told myself it was okay if things weren’t perfect. I’d been warned that having a big party for a one year old can be a mistake, because the babies and parents are often too overwhelmed for anyone to enjoy it. But with all the great help I had, I didn’t have a chance to get overwhelmed, and Miss Camille seemed to love all the extra attention. I’m glad I didn’t heed the warning.
Not that there weren’t opportunities for drama. I decided I wanted to make Camille’s birthday cake – a guitar cake to go along with her rock-n-roll theme. Friday, mom and I teamed up in the kitchen, and she gave me a lesson in Cake Making 101. I really enjoyed that time we spent together, hovering over the mixer, passing along knowledge and traditions. Baking the cake was easy – it was the decorating that made me nervous. I had spectators, and at one point had to chase them away because I was getting jumpy, but in the end I was pretty happy with the results.

The day of the party, Camille indulged me by taking an early nap, and slept 2 and a half hours, waking up just in time to get dressed and begin welcoming guests. So many of her baby friends came to the party, and despite having that many little ones in the house, not one single baby had a meltdown.

Instead, they all enjoyed trying out Camille’s cool gifts, and it was fun to watch them play together. Even Nikki and Nia came all the way from Winder for the party, and I got the best bear hug (wasn’t I just at Nia’s first birthday party? When did she become so grown up?)

Miss Camille enjoyed opening her presents (for a while, anyway)…

…but the bows were her favorite part.

I think Camille enjoyed her birthday cake and candles, although she wasn’t quite sure what to do with it all. When we lit the candles, her eyes got so big and wide, and Uncle Dave (who was kind enough to be our official party photographer) caught her surprised look.

I had a little bakery cake just for her to destroy, and when we sat it on her highchair she kept looking at Lee and me, trying to decide what to do. It was almost as if she were asking, “Is this okay? When are you going to take this away and tell me ‘no’?”
She finally stuck her hand in it and had fun smearing icing on her face and in her hair. We had fun watching her.

It was a great, great weekend. I was so proud of Camille. And I was really touched to see how many of our friends and family came to her party. We love Camille so much and she is such an important part of us, and it was nice to see how much other people love her too.