First Birthday Party & 1 year checkup!!

Woohoo!! Kav's big day arrived on the 15th. The entire family was so looking forward to the party. The decorators, caterers, magician, entertainers were all arranged well in advance & I was just so excited that my baby was becoming a toddler. Many moms feel a sense of pain at their baby growing up; but I am just so looking forward to it. Seeing Kavin grow each month has just been a pleasure, so there is a sense of expectancy as to what he will do next. Walk? Talk? What will his first word be?

Our closest relatives were at hand to wish him in the morning itself. But the others landed at the venue, Granite Valleys, in the evening. The outdoor venue had wonderful landscaping, a lot of tall trees that were decked with spiralling lights, interesting water features and a lovely playarea. It turned out to be pretty pleasant weather in the evening for the 75 odd guests who attended. The balloon decorations turned out to be much more beautiful than I had imagined. The cartoon character & the clown mingled very well with the crowd and were a big hit. We had to start the magic show a bit later than planned since a few kids didn't land up as expected. The guy did a good job of interacting with the adults as well.


Kav looked soooo cute in his dhoti-kurta. He was just wondering what the hulla bulla was about. But he just played along and was never cranky the entire evening! Well, we ended up cutting his cake since he just wanted to look around at the people around him. It was a lovely 2-tiered chocolate cake with vanilla cream cover and yellow & blue icing. Actually, it wasen't prepared in the exact way that I ordered, so no more Adyar Bakery cakes!

The food was a real icing on the cake. My caterer is just the best! The menu consisted of tomato soup with croutons, dahi vada & pani puri as appetisers. Rumali roti with paneer butter masala, Vegetable sevai with tomato thokku, Bisibelabath with potato roast & vatral and curd rice with mango thokku completed the main course. Raj Bog (a Bengali sweet) and Milk kheer (the chef's specialty) along with butterscotch ice cream were the desserts. Kav's bday cake was also part of the buffet. Every single dish was delicious. One thing I have realised that the food is the most important component of any event in India. It makes or breaks the success of your party. So get the best that you can afford!

The mugs that we gave as party favors were a hit as well. I wish I had chosen a front profile of Kav's to be printed. Well, we live & learn!

Kav got the most wonderful gifts. We totally enjoyed unwrapping it all the next morning. Thanks to all our guests for making it a memorable evening :) I also have to add a special thanks to my sis Nithya who never minded accompanying me on my innumerable shopping trips!

A couple of days later, Kav had his 1 year checkup. He weighed in at a great 9.9 kgs, up 400 gms from just a week before!! No wonder he seems soooo heavy recently. Also got his chickenpox shots. Man, that injection was costly, coming in around Rs 1400. Doc said he would get his first tooth soon, but I have gotten tired of hearing it. Anyways, he's eating chunky foods much easier now. I can get him to have mixed veges by just dipping them in some yogurt. He's also standing without support for upto 10 secs. So it's just a matter of time before I am running behind him like crazy! Look forward to it though :)

All of the photos can be viewed at his website.