• Baby's First Picture: Photocopy your baby's very first picture and use it as the front of a folded invitation. Inside, write the party details under the heading "Vital Statistics." Cut strips of white plastic to simulate hospital bands and write your baby's name and birth date on one side with a permanent felt-tip pen.



• Baby Birth Certificate: Make your own Baby Birth Certificate invitation using a computer. Find a real birth certificate to use as a model. Fill in some of your baby's vital statistics. Print the certificate on parchment paper, roll into a scroll, and mail in a paper-towel tube painted pale pink or blue.

• Select a number of pictures and mementos from your baby's past year. Tape them onto sheets of coloured construction paper to frame them, then tape the pictures on the walls in chronological sequence (but without dates).



• Hang "It's a Boy/Girl" banner at the front door to greet the guests.

• Set your baby's favourite toys in the middle of the party table as a centrepiece.



• Play your baby's favourite music in the background.



• Create signs of your baby's milestones, such as First Tooth, First Haircut, First Day at Preschool, and so on.

• Dress your baby in her favourite outfit.

• How Well Do You Know Baby?: Using the pictures and mementos on the wall, have the guests try to match them to specific dates. Do the same with your baby's milestones and see if they know when she took her first step, said her first word, or used the toilet. Ask trivia questions about your baby, such as, "How much did she weigh at birth?" "What's her middle name?" "Who was she named after?" "What time was she born?" and "Who's her doctor?"



• Guess Baby's Weight: Gently pass your baby from person to person and have each guess how much she weighs today. Put her on a scale and award a prize to the winner.

• Baby Can: Many people don't realize how much a baby can-and can't-do. Write a list of tasks your baby can do, such as "Touch her nose," "Eat with a spoon," "Put on her shoes," and "Turn on the VCR," and add some she can't do yet, such as "Brush her teeth," "Say the alphabet," "Dial the phone," and "Eat a carrot." Have guests try to guess the tasks your baby can do.



• Baby Gadgets: Get out some baby gadgets that most people are not likely to know, such as a bulb syringe, a heat-sensitive thermometer strip, a medication for swollen gums, a teether, and so on. Pass them around one by one, and have parents write down what they think it is or what it does. When all the objects have been identified, have the guests read their answers. Some of them should be funny! After all the guests read their guesses, share the real answers.

• Baby's Time Capsule: Have everyone bring something that represents an important moment or significant relationship in your baby's life, such as a picture of a relative, a poem about her first step, a small toy she no longer plays with, or just a memory written down on paper. Seal the items in a container. Then set the container in a cupboard, bury it in the garden, or place it in a safe deposit box-to be opened when your baby is twenty-one!



• Baby's Portrait: Pass out large sheets of white paper and drawing pens. Have everyone at the party draw a portrait of your baby. You should end up with some funny pictures to save in her scrapbook.

• Serve your baby's favourite foods at your party, such as minipizzas, spaghetti, cheese and crackers, applesauce, and so on. Serve everyone with baby-size plates and cups.



• Make sandwiches from bread tinted your baby's favourite colour, or cut sandwiches into her favourite shapes using cookie cutters.



• Make or buy giant pretzels and serve with melted cheese or mild mustard. Or make the pretzels with the kids as a party activity: Prepare the dough and have your guests shape pieces of the dough into any shapes they like; then bake, cool, and serve.

Birth Certificate Cake

1. Bake a favourite sheet cake according to recipe directions; cool.
2. Cover the cake with white frosting.
3. Use frosting tubes to write basic vital statistics, such as your baby's name, parents' names, date and place of birth, and so on.
4. Decorate the cake with age appropriate toys, such as blocks, teethers, plastic dolls, rattles, and so on.

• Hand out Baby-and-You Polaroids: Make small frames from cardboard and let the guests decorate the frames with wrapping paper, contact paper, stickers, or coloured foil. Take a Polaroid photo of each guest holding your baby, and let each guest place the photo inside the frame to keep as a memento.

• Have a professional photographer take a group picture of everyone, then individual pictures of all the guests with your baby.



• Have a joint It's Been a Big Year Party for several babies of the same age.

• Ask your guests to help with memories and mementos of your baby as you plan your It's Been a Big Year Party.