I don’t know how this is possible, but my baby boy is turning 1.

He’s my first boy, my youngest, my most darling baby and yet, a second kid is still a second kid. I started planning Ella’s first birthday three months before the big day.

Jack’s getting three weeks.

But a first birthday requires a lot less work and since it is my second time around, I don’t need all that prep time–that’s what I’m telling myself.

So the vision I have for Jack’s party is kind of combining elements from his bedroom decor, traditions from Ella’s party, and somehow fitting in the ideas I had for his bedroom that I didn’t get to use. That’s one of the great things about parties is that they don’t have to be all that practical because they’re temporary, not like a bedroom that has to be livable. So I get to take my obsession with whimsy to another level.

Here are my ideas so far:

I want to find a way to use the prints above Jack’s bed because I love personal details like monograms and he is my little prince. And I can’t decide, but since Ella had elephants all over her party, I’m kind of leaning towards using lions in Jack’s.

I also have this idea to do a picture wall, like the one in his room.

I need to display his monthly pictures I’ve been taking (just one more to go!) and thought it would be cool to print those out and put them up on a wall in the shape of a “J.” And then, since I love his face so much, I’m thinking I might surround that “J” with all my favorite pictures from the past year. I love using pictures as decorations because then it really is a unique and special element just for us. I did it at Ella’s third birthday party as well:

I also displayed Ella’s 12 month pictures at her party, and I think it’ll be fun to continue these traditions for future birthday parties. Another tradition I want to continue is the photo booth. It was so much fun to do with my family and even though Ella didn’t get it at all, I love having the polaroids from that day.

My last idea is also my favorite. I love Jack’s name. It was Matthew’s idea and my pregnant self hated it; almost right up until he was born. But now I love it and I want to celebrate it and him, if that makes sense. I imagine the title of this party is “Jack of All Trades.” I had this idea to look up all the famous Jacks and songs about Jacks and somehow display them. I haven’t fully figured out what I’m going to do but I’m so excited to celebrate all the Jacks I love. Jack Bauer. Jack Bristow. Jack Kelly. We’ll see who else I find, but I’m excited for this Jack of All Trades party to come to life.

In three weeks.

Wish me luck!

xo

eb

p.s. This post was about Jack’s party but I mostly talked about Ella’s past birthdays. Like I said, a second kid is still a second kid. Here’s her first and third birthday parties, if you’re interested!