Y’all, my little boy turned 2. TWO. I honestly don’t know how it happened so quickly, but it seems like overnight he went from a little lump of smushy skin and teeny hands to a big, active boy who loves trains and trucks and playing in mud puddles.
I REALLY like birthdays, LOVE birthdays. Have always made a HUGE deal about other people’s. After my little was born I realized that birthdays are even MORE special. I mean, giving birth to the person being celebrated maybe changed my perspective a little bit. I mean, I’d kind of been thinking for several years that for bringing me into the world my mama ought to be the one to get the cake and presents on my birthday, but now I just feel like Wagner’s birthday is also special because it’s the day I went from being plain old Biz into being Biz, an honest to goodness MOTHER. Anyway, for all those reasons it seems to me like February 25th deserves to be celebrated a whole week.
We had a party the Saturday after Wagner’s birthday with a transportation theme and 7 little friends from his Kindermusik class. Since we’re pretty new in town still, it was fun for me to see the mamas that I only sort-of know outside of a crazy hour-long sing along, and it was REALLY fun for Wagner to play with his buddies and eat all of his favorite foods.
Do you watch the Gilmore Girls? One episode that kept popping into my head a couple of weeks ago was the one where Lorelai and Sookie started a catering company while they renovated the inn. Lorelai booked a kid’s birthday party, and Sookie made liver pate’ or tiny spinach and mushroom quiches with goat cheese or something that no 5th grader would let touch their lips (but that I would want to EAT ALL OF).
I just kept thinking, gosh, I want Wagner to LOVE this party, and this food. And feel like he’s the most special little boy on earth. And then I thought, gosh, I can’t just serve cheetos, cookies, and chocolate milk… can I? So the menu had a balance of fresh veggies and hummus, whole tangerines, pigs in a blanket, cheetos, cookies, popcorn, AND apple juice. I felt good about it and the kids ate it up.
I’m honestly THE. WORST. event photographer on the planet, so I basically forgot to take photos of pretty much everything except the cake. But if you don’t mind taking my word for it, then imagine a big open space with trucks, train tracks, ride-on toys, wagons, and bicycles strewn around, and a table full of toddler-favorites (but named in silly transportation-themed ways.) I 100% recommend this party theme as it is relevant to pretty much every kid, and activities that are related to the theme are pretty easy to swing. I just pulled out every ride-on toy we had and made sure we had a space that was wide-open and smooth. (THANKS again Studio 5Fifty!!!!)
I bought some clip art from etsy, made little table tents, named all the toddler-friendly food after car, truck, and trains or the sounds they make (Choo-Choo Cheetos, Propeller Popcorn, Vroom-Vroom Veggies, Helicoper Hummus) and then made some of my favorite iced tea cakes in the shapes of trains, planes, and automobiles. I made the cake myself, and if there’s one time when it’s perfectly OK for your cake layers to be lopsided and uneven, it’s when you want it to look a bit like a mountain railroad. 
Since I designed and printed the invitations myself (paid about $10 for the clipart and letters), made my own cake, and had simple kid-friendly snacks, and bought some cheap paper cups, straws, and plates. I stole the idea for our favor from a designer friend’s valentine, so every child got a little car with a note that said “It’s time to hit the road…thanks for stopping by.” All in all, it was economical, fun, and low-stress. Highly recommend.
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