Last week, my daughter turned two whole years old. I can’t believe how fast the last year has flown by, considering that the first year crawled by at a snail’s pace. Her birthday is obviously one of my favorite days, and I was feeling extra guilty because we headed out of town that very day for a best friend’s wedding, so I wanted to make the day extra special for her while we were home. How’s that for mommy guilt?
Last year, she didn’t really know much about birthdays, but she’s a little more aware now and she LOVES to sing happy birthday (especially to herself) and blow out candles. She had school that morning, so we had a limited amount of time to make the day special for her before we left. Here are four easy ways — and you can do them too — to make the morning amazing for your little one:
- Fill her bed and room with balloons. We did this last year and again this year. The night before, we blew up balloons, and when we came in in the morning, we dumped them all in her bed. For a kid who LOVES balloons, this was a real treat. We also had some fun cupcake and donut balloons blown up the day before and hung them from her crib. She keeps asking for us to put the balloons back in her bed.
- Get some special pajamas. I found these awesome cupcake PJs from Carter’s (they really have the best PJs) and knew they’d be perfect for birthday morning. Cupcakes: another thing she really loves. Basically, if the clothing has a cupcake or a cat on it, she’s happy to wear it.
- Turn a normal breakfast into a fun and festive one. I typically make her a waffle or toast for breakfast, and sometimes I’ll put almond butter or cream cheese on it. For her birthday, we put strawberry cream cheese on her toast and sprinkled rainbow sprinkles to make it more fun and festive. Are you shocked that she devoured it?
- Shower her with love and lots of happy birthday! And of course, the most important way to make birthday morning special is to sing and dance and be totally ridiculous as you make her feel totally special. My husband and I joke that we used to be kind of cool, but parenthood has made us totally lame. We’re ok with it. While she lets us, we’re going to be as goofy as possible trying to make her smile, because one day she’s going to be a teenager, completely embarrassed of us. Not that we’re going to stop being ridiculous, she’s just not going to like it.
How do you make your child’s birthday mornings extra special? I’d love some new ideas for next year!
OMG how cute is your little one!? Happy Birthday to her! I love all of these ideas, especially the balloon idea. I think any kid would love waking up to balloons in their bed and room. As far as birthday mornings for my kids, I never thought about it honestly. Every year we take the kids to Disneyworld since we live in FL and their birthdays are so close together. So it’s more of a special few days/vacation for their birthday.
Dying at this cuteness!!!! Totally remembering these! My son just turned on so he wasn’t really sure what was going on for his birthday but I’m doing the balloons thing when he is a little older.
Your daughter is absolutely adorable! I put balloons outside of my kids doors the night before and when they open it the next morning they are always so excited. We always try to do a special breakfast treat as well. I think really it’s the little things that makes them feel special. Great post!
I love these!! We sing the Beatles happy birthday song, my son’s first birthday is coming up in a week and I laughed when I heard my 2.5 year old singing him the birthday song (beatles version!) in the car yesterday. I think sprinkles is such a fun addition to breakfast and I love the special bday pj’s!!
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What I like to do is surprise them the morning of their birthday with a cake that I made myself + a good breakfast. I’ve even made funfetti birthday cake pancakes before and the boys love it.
Such a sweet idea! I always decorate the kitchen table with streamers and balloons and enjoy a special breakfast! Your daughter is SO cute!
Your little one is adorable and these are great suggestions
What a little cutie! She looks like she did have a special day. I love these ideas – and pictures! My little guy just turned one, which was fun, but I’m sure year two will be even more fun for him! It does go by fast. I love the idea of filling the room and crib with balloons!
First of all, baby girl is SO cute! 😀 Second of all, I love the sprinkled toast!! How fun!!
Oh man, two weeks too late for me 🙁 I LOVE these ideas and her cute PJs. Will need to try the Strawberry Cream Cheese with Sprinkles idea for sure. This year, I had fun making special cupcakes and favor bags to bring to their PreK for all their friends
Loving these ideas. My little ones love balloons on their birthday.
Your daughter is so precious!! I don’t have kids, but I make birthday waffles for my boyfriend. It’s with a homemade funfetti batter and icing on top!
Aw beautiful pictures hope the little one had a good birthday and I love the rainbow sprinkles on toast. What did she get for her birthday.
What cute ideas! My little man’s 2nd birthday is coming in a couple months and I honestly think that this one is so much harder on this mom than the first was. It really means that the toddler years have arrived and I won’t have a “baby” anymore (although he always will be). I love the birthday breakfast you did!
This is TOO adorable! I love this so much; it’s so important to treat someone specially on their birthday, even at such a young age. I love that she felt celebrated all day, starting with the balloons in her room to her festive breakfast and beyond!
How gorgeous is she? Love this! Growing up our tradition was that you were basically princess for the day and you got to do what you wanted to do (within reason).
Love the idea of the special breakfast — especially if it involves sprinkles!
Happy birthday to your little one! I have always made my children their favorite breakfast on their birthday. FYI – Mylar balloons are safe for kids, but latex balloon are a chocking hazard. They have always made me nervous.
Don’t worry, they weren’t actually in her crib while she slept, and we removed them from the house that morning. Thanks!
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Thanks! I’d love to be added to the group board 🙂 I’m shopcuteheads@gmail.com on Pinterest!
My girls always come out to balloons tied to their chair and a table set to party for breakfast. I sprinkle birthday confetti, put out coordinated napkins and plates. We always have pancake sundaes (pancakes layered with greek yogurt and topped with sprinkles). It sets a fun tone for the whole day!
Oh how sweet is this!! I love her hair. Great ideas!
SO STINKING CUTE!!!!
I have done the balloons in the room and it was a huge hit! We got lots of great pictures.
AWW! So cute! I wish I did something like this when my daughter turned 2. She is going to be 3 in the summer, so maybe I will do this then!
This is such a cute post and your little girl is ADORABLE!
What clever ideas for such a cutie
This is SO cute…I love the pictures! She looks soooo happy! Great article, I will check out some more!
Don’t forget to find me: http://www.thenomadicdreamer.com! 🙂
I love all these ideas. She is so adorable!
Aw what a special morning! I am sure your daughter will remember things like this :]
xx katie // a touch of teal
These are all so awesome! I wanted to do the balloon thing for my older daughter this week, but she still shares a room with the toddler who wakes SO easy!
These are really fun tips! I love the sprinkles on the toast the best.
Oh my goodness, your daughter is so ADORABLE and she looks so happy!!! These are great tips, on my kids birthday morning they also have a special breakfast and I decorate the table. On their next birthday’s I will add balloons to add a more festive touch!
I love the idea of frosted toast. So sweet happy birthday to your little angel.
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