Leo’s 1st “Birthday Walk”
What a magical 1st Birthday! Some giant parent emotions for us but it was so wonderful to see our boy turn one.
We had a walk in the park, a look back on our highlights of the year, fed a beautiful elephant, and enjoyed some cake in the garden with Leo’s Great Nan, as she can’t get to his party at the weekend.
One of the small but special ways we marked Leo’s first Birthday was with a Montessori “Birthday walk”
We’re not Montessori pros by any means but we do try and implement many of the principles as we learn more. A while ago I read a blog from Home and On the Way about the Montessori Birthday Walk and loved how simple yet meaningful this annual tradition is. I made the sun below using felt and wrote the months on some card.
The first time we attempted this coincided with Leo’s nap and he very cutely fell asleep on the mat so we returned to it again in the evening. We spent a lovely chunk of time pointing at the 12 photos on his Birthday banner and looking back at our Baby book chatting about the highlights of each month. The idea is to then walk around the sun with the globe the number of times you’ve been alive. L’s a little too young for that so he decided to try and drink from the (luckily flameless) candle instead We did walk around the sun with him though, singing the Earth Goes Around the Sun. I really love how this helps to turn such an abstract concept like the passage of time into something more concrete and look forward to bringing the sun and months out each Birthday, spending quality time together talking about the year.
Have you heard of the Birthday walk, or do you do this too?
We also fed a beautiful elephant at Colchester Zoo. It felt very special to stand so close to this majestic, beautiful creature and she was so gentle taking the food. Leo clutched his Schleich elephant much of the day and really seems to recognise elephants. We saw some Lemurs up close, and my attempts to bake Leo a Birthday cake were about 70% successful. I forgot to put baking soda in the bottom layer and the frosting melted instantly in the heat BUT y’know, we each had a slice and it actually tasted really good (the top layer anyway!) The cake was sweetened entirely from bananas as Leo doesn’t seem to have much of a sweet tooth (unless it’s watermelon!) but it was definitely sweet enough, and as I say, we did enjoy it.
How cute are these mini party hats from Journey To Hygge!?
The most important thing is Leo had a wonderful day. He really beamed with excitement and was bursting with energy all day. Even if he’s too young to understand the concept of Birthdays, it felt really worthwhile making his 1st special, and it was extremely special to be a part of it. Although HOW DO WE HAVE A ONE YEAR OLD!? I’m still finding it very surreal.
