January Baby, June Birthday Party – Dragon-Style!

This post is sponsored by Target. More Playtime, More Together; Immerse yourself in the roles of your children’s favorite characters at Target – and have fun doing so!

How to train your dragon party

Back in 2010, when I learned I was going to have a baby at the end of the year, my very first thought (and I’m not exaggerating) was… I’ve given this poor child the dreaded Christmas birthday! And there’s only one birthday worse than the Christmas birthday, and that is the early January birthday. While in December, you might get Christmas/Birthday gifts wrapped in snowflake paper, at least people seem to be in a festive mood. In January people are just done. Done with parties, done with spending, people just want to clean their house and eat soup.

So when Gordon was ultimately born on January 7th, 2011, I unknowingly had done him one worse than the Christmas birthday. I had given him the soup birthday. Literally. For his first 2 birthdays, we invited a few friends and neighbors over to watch football and eat soup like grumpy old trolls.

If you’ve spent some time around here, you know that we can go over-the-top with our birthday celebrations. Remember Quinn’s Farm-tastic First Birthday? Scarlet’s Indian Elephant 2nd? How about Clare’s Buggie Birthday? Or how about that time I trained myself as a balloon artist just to twist a monkey for each kid at Quinn’s Animal party? While there is something about Spring that brings out the crazy happy birthday party planner in me, hen Gordon’s birthday rolls around 2 weeks after Christmas, extreme party planning is the last thing I want to do. This past year I did manage to pull myself together and throw a fabulous last-minute Batman party when Jaime basically forced me to do so by sending Gordon the best gift ever. She said she owed it to him as a fellow Capricorn. Isn’t she the best best friend? I mean really.

But still there is just something so fun about a warm weather party. Just a bunch of kids running around outside, playing games, and eating some frosty treats, not overshadowed by post-holiday exhaustion. This year I decided to give him a little “1/2” birthday celebration, inspired by his current passion and seemingly undying love of How to Train Your Dragon

How to train your dragon partyNot a big over-the-top bash, just some easy How to Train Your Dragon themed party gear from Target (available for 8 or 16 guests)…
How to train your dragon party
store-bought treats…
How to train your dragon party
IMG_6947
a few 5 minute DIY crafts like felt beards…
How to train your dragon partyHow to train your dragon partyBlack “Toothless” balloons with taped on eyes…How to train your dragon party

and “no gifts please” back yard fun for him and the gang. Target just makes party planning so effortlessly easy and adorable, don’t they? And that Toothless just tears at my heartstrings with his cute little face and Hiccup saving ways.

How to train your dragon party
I know not everyone is as birthday crazy as I am but tell me what you do about your end of year birthdays? Do you do it up? Keep it mellow? Shift the party to a different time of year?How to train your dragon party

While we will always celebrate his birthday in January (and there will probably always be soup, poor kid) I like this tradition of celebrating Gordon in the Summer too.  Maybe his”real” birthday will be HTTYD-themed too, after it comes out on DVD in October! I should probably start planning that now, while I’m in the party spirit.

This post is sponsored by Target. More Playtime, More Together; Immerse yourself in the roles of your children’s favorite characters at Target – and have fun doing so!

by

6 Comments

Melissa

As the mother of a January 4th birthday girl, I loved this post! My birthday girl is now 24 years old. Every one of those years required the post-Christmas make-it-a-special NOT Christmas celebration. Year after year, I resisted small temptations – such as using the almost-not-Christmassy wrapping paper for her presents! In our house, having the Christmas tree still standing in the living room on her birthday is a no-no. Our tree goes up just post Halloween and stays up until the day after Christmas. As she is older now, I see her navigating her own way to set her special day apart from holiday celebrations. I have felt empathy for the boyfriend who bought the sensational Christmas gift, only to feel the pressure of gifting something equally thoughtful and wonderful for her birthday ten days later! I admire your creativity. Thanks for making me smile today 🙂 A good friend of ours has a Christmas Day birthday AND her child was born on Christmas Day!

Reply
jacinda

Thanks for your comment Melissa! It sounds like you did a great job making it your daughter’s special day. I’m inspired! xo JAcinda

Reply
Janetta

I have also had to become a creative birthday planner. I have a 24 year old December, a 10 year old January 7th and a 2 year old November 2011 …. yes, all planned and yes, I’m super crazy …. psst! We have held birthday’s at different times of the year. Just like you Melissa, we don’t celebrate birthdays and Christmas together …. so for us the tree goes up December 3 or the day after the birthday celebration and comes down January 3 to get ready for the next birthday party …. exhausting! At least for the boyfriend of my little princess (yes, she is the baby and the only girl) he has about a month and a half to save for the Christmas gift …. lol! Thanks for sharing, my family doesn’t understand my need to shift the party to a warmer time of the year.

Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *