Wan Mikhail's 1st Birthday Bash

Our baby turns 1.
As all parents agree, that's an occassion to be celebrated :)

I wanted to have a small birthday bash with friends and family, preferably one where we can all just eat while the kids swam and played and just... you know... be merry!

And alhamdulillah, it turned out as I imagined :)


We sent the invites about a month before the date. Via snail-mail and e-mail. It was a simple card, half A4 size, printed on both sides. One side was a photo reel of Mikhail from month 1 to 11 and an empty box (come see him live!) for month 12. The other side were the details.

Theme: SPLASH OF COLOR!

The Invitation Card (Designed by Mommy&Daddy)

The day of the party was nice and sunny. Perfect pool weather, thank GOD. I was rather worried that it would rain (being November) but it didn't so the kids had maximum pool-time.

After making the final touches, we all got ready in our little family t-shirts :)
Mikhail's had "wanmikhail" on it.
I had "themommy" and of course, Wan had "thedaddy"

Mikhail was observing all the fuss and fixed a serious expression on his face the whole time. He must've been a bit confused at all the colorful balloons and why his toys were all on the floor and why everyone kept pointing cameras in his face.

Mikhail's Serious Face (they say he looks like me when he does this...

At around 4, the guests started arriving.
I was so pleased with the turnout...
Friends, family, long-lost schoolmates, unimates, blogmates, officemates... To list all of you would take another entry on its own!
Everyone was such a fun bunch and made the day even merrier.
Thanks so much for coming, people!!

The children wasted no time to have their fun.
Some of 'em went straight to the pool while the others occupied themselves with the toys in the play area.

The Play Area

Overview of the 'Splash Area'

I had initially planned to prepare the food myself.
Yeahhhh riiighhhhttt....
But after Wan and my mom suggested that perhaps it's best to cater instead, Mom made arrangements with Auntie Kathy for the food preparations. This was an excellent call as it left me PLENTY of time to concentrate on other stuff and also to mingle with the guests.
And yes, I would not possibly have been able to cook for 100 people!

We had mee rebus, roti jala and kari ayam, mac n cheese (a fav among the kids AND their mommies), ayam goreng rempah, Grandma's pulut kuning, finger foods, ais kacang, teh tarik, assorted desserts and beverages and little packs of nasi lemak (courtesy of Anjang, Wan's aunt).

The Food (trying to abide by the theme "Splash of Colors"

Bon Apetit!

Mommy & Mikhail grabbing a bite

Daddy Videotaping Memories

Keropok also can be colorful mahhhh...

Every parties gotta have 'em!

It was a great afternoon of eating, drinking, swimming, playing, laughing, gossiping (young mommies are still women, you know... hehehe).
Later, we had the cake-cutting ceremony (chewah, macam kawin plak).

The Birthday Cake (see, the candle is supposed to look like the cake... heheheh

With the Mommies and Babies

Blowing the Candle

Before the guests left, we asked them to sign on the banner.. Just as a keepsake for Mikhail when he's older.
The family signed it too and I'm sure Mikhail would be touched by many of the sweet things that were scribbled onto his banner.

Signing the Banner

We had a lovely time and I do hope everyone else did too.
The party was to celebrate the best thing that has ever happened in our lives...

Our little baby... making his journey to toddlerhood...
Wan Mikhail...growing up...

I love you, sweetie... Happy Birthday...

Pictures Courtesy of Tracey Jan Francis and Nadia Zainuddin