Brittlynn’s First Birthday!

On Thursday Dec 6th Brittlynn turned one! I thought I’d be a LOT more emotional than I was over it…maybe the fact that I was still nursing her two times a day made it easier?

Zach had to leave before the kids woke up that morning for work so just Kye and I welcomed Brittlynn into the world of toddlerhood! We have a family tradition of waking up Kye on his birthday by singing the “Happy Birthday” song so Kye and I did the same for Britt! Here’s a video 😉

She was REALLY excited 🙂

It was a school day for Kye so the day was pretty normal. There really isn’t much you can do for a one year old anyway! I did let her skip her independent playtime after her morning nap so I guess that was a special treat? We also left early to get Kye from school and I let her swing on the school playground (she loves that!). Mrs Charlotte happened to come to school early too so she swang her too!

My dad also called and sang to her and I busted out her Captain Zoom cd. My mom had these for us growing up and we LOVED to listen to them on our birthdays each year. Kye has loved his and it was fun to play Britt’s for her! I was shocked they had the name “Brittlynn” offered! It was spelled wrong but sounds the same 😉

After her nap Kye and I woke her up again by singing to her 😉 She got pretty spoiled with all the birthday songs! During naps I worked on party stuff and after naps we all went outside to play! It was just as much fun for Kye as it was for Britt. He loves using the little picnic table under their playground.  

Britt swung while Kye enjoyed his snack

We decided to let her open her presents before eating dinner. Since her big gift was, well, BIG Zach put it together the night before and hid it in the garage with a blanket over it (which Kye didn’t even notice haha) then I took the kids into Britt’s room to play while he brought it out to surprise her. Here’s a video! Zach accidentally quit recording so here’s part 2 of the kitchen video!

When I was in the attic one day I stumbled across several tubs FILLED with toys from my childhood. I didn’t take the time to go through it all but this doll was at the top and I remember it from my room growing up. I washed the clothes and she looks good as new! I stuck her out as a bonus gift along with a Cinderella snow globe. Kye has a Mickey Mouse one as a Christmas decoration and Britt loved it so I planned on getting her one anyway…why not have it be a birthday gift, right?

Kye has been wanting a kitchen FOREVER. He was SO excited! And kept reminding Britt that they get to “share” it 😉 He has a grill up in the playroom that is his so I picture the big playroom someday having both this kitchen and the grill in it for them to enjoy together. For now it’s going in her bedroom though!

When we decided to get her a kitchen I didn’t think she’d play with it much. I know they are better for a little bit older kids but I didn’t want to wait until her second birthday to get it. Um…she LOVED it right away! Totally shocked me! She was TRULY excited about it and it was precious to watch. It’s like she knew it was hers! She was also eager to open her other gifts!

Levi loves some presents for some reason!

I hunted for the BIGGEST play food I could find…don’t want to worry about any choking

I have been to a decent amount of birthday parties and have seen how older siblings can quickly take things over and start opening gifts and such. I prepared Kye in advance for Britt’s birthday. It’s HER day. Not his. I do not agree with buying the sibling a present. I don’t believe in letting them even help open the presents. Yes, she’s only 1 and wouldn’t know the difference but KYE would. And it’s important to set the precedent early on. His birthday is ALL about him. Her birthday is ALL about her. 

We talked about the special things Britt would get to do on her day and about all the special things HE has done on his past birthdays and what he could look forward to for his next birthday. When it came time for presents he did AMAZING. He didn’t even ASK to help her open. He was GENUINELY excited for her about her gifts and encouraged her to open them etc. He sat with Zach and took on the job of handing her each present. I was so proud of him!

Passing out presents

Daddy’s turn to help her open

First Stella and Dot jewelry!

Back when Kye and I went to the Santa Breakfast we also went to Toys R Us to let him pick out a birthday present for Britt. He took it VERY seriously and picked it out COMPLETELY on his own. He saw a tea set and said he wanted to get it for her so they could drink tea together. The one he picked out only had two cups with it and I kept trying to convinced him to get one with MORE cups so we could ALL share the tea but he kept saying “no ma’am it’s JUST for me and Britt to use!” Once I showed him this set and how the tea pot makes noises he was okay with switching! Since he was so excited to give her this present I told him he could help her open it 😉 I mean the kid def earned it!!!

He started explaining it all to her right away

Studying up!

Kye also worked very hard on making a birthday card for her

He explained the card to her and said it was a picture of Brittlynn and her presents 🙂

My dad and Audrey sent Britt a couple gifts as well so we went ahead and opened those!

She LOVES touch and feel books!!!

Zach and I gave her the kitchen, doll, snow globe, play food, and a jewelry box. I got it from Pottery Barn with a credit I earned, AND it was on sale, AND I had a coupon. I was so excited b/c normally I’d never be able to afford something like that! I wanted a classic jewelry box with the spinning ballerina. I know she’ll love it for years to come and it even has her name on top of the lid 🙂 Kye got her the tea set and Grandpa and Grammie sent the board books! I’d say she got hooked up!

They were excited to PLAY!

Quick pic with the birthday girl and Mommy!

Yes! FINALLY I got a better pic with her than Zach did 😉

Since she is only one we didn’t go out to eat or anything to celebrate her birthday. It just makes more sense to stay home since she is happiest here. I did make her favorite meal…which I think it’s AWESOME that she is just 1 but already loves food so much! I made a crock pot meal (Tator Tot recipe with bacon…so good!) and had sides and everything with it. I was able to finish up cooking while Zach played with the kids and her new toys!

With her birthday being before her party I didn’t want her to have any cake. I wanted to save the cuteness for the big party! However, I didn’t want to totally skip a “birthday cake” experience. So I decided to get donuts! The lady at the donut place said people actually do it all the time and suggested I buy some donut holes to make it easier for her to eat. I arranged them as a little “cake” and I think it worked out well!

Here is a video of us singing to her…it’s pretty comical. Zach’s voice was all funky at first so I’m making a horrible face then I ended up blowing out the candle for her bc she was def gonna burn herself!

Excited for her first sweet thing EVER!!!!

“Am I allowed to eat this???”

Here’s a video of her chowing down!

She didn’t LOVE it like I expected her to!

We let her eat two of them then we ate the rest 😉

Kye was VERY excited for his birthday celebration treat!

Of course we had to measure her on the laundry room door like we do Kye each year. I need to go back and kind Kye’s length from his first birthday to add to it since we didn’t live in this house then. Britt was tough to get to stand straight so who knows how accurate it is but I’m glad we do this!

It’s official! She’s one!

It was a special day with our little family celebrating our sweet girl!

You can read all about how we celebrated Kye’s first birthday here!

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Emily Parker

Hey Y'all, I'm Emily! I'm a stay at home mom and consider parenting to be my passion. Disney is my happiest place and I love making memories as a family together. I'm a big believer in transparency and share all of my real-life moments as a mother of four.

My work has been featured on Love What Matters, Today Parenting and Babywise.Life. I'm also honored to be a member of the Babywise Friendly Blog Network.

You can read more about our family on my About Me page. Also be sure to follow along with me on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest!

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