Just looking for some ideas of what I can do for my DS 1st Birthday in February? If he was a summer baby I would have had people round in the garden and just had a small garden party/bbq with closest friends and children and immediate family (grandparents and my sister), but it’s too cold to do that. My house inside isn’t big enough to host a gathering as we currently have no proper heating in our kitchen diner so I cant really open up the downstairs so everyone can fit.
I only want the party to be a couple of hours long as I know he will get too overwhelmed and grumpy. He only has a couple of baby friends who I would invite to his party (the rest are from a baby class which we will be going to on his actual birthday so I don’t feel the need to see them twice in one week and I don’t think they would bother coming anyway). My friends who I would invite have 4 kids between them, so I’m not sure there would be any point in hiring a hall for 5 kids and about 10 adults. I can however hire a small room in my local community centre for a few hours which wouldn’t be too big but still is there any point?
I was thinking of having a family only gathering at my parents house (both sets of grandparents and my sister) the weekend before my sons birthday, as they have the space to do it and said they would be happy to host, and then going out for a day the following weekend with my friends and their children. The only thing is I feel like I should have some other kids round my parents so my son has someone to play with? Should I invite friends to my parents as well and scrap the day out?
I already have a ball pit for my son that he plays in and a small climbing frame so I could easily set up a little play area in my parents conservatory or the small hall with some balloons for the kids and just get it over with in one day rather than dragging it out.
I know he won’t remember it, but if I’m being honest this is more for me as I feel like I lost my whole pregnancy and start of his life due to covid. I couldn’t see my friends and family for pretty much all of it, couldn’t have a baby shower, newborn photoshoot got cancelled twice and sitter photo shoots got cancelled as well (giving up on the photo shoots now 
). Christmas was a disaster because some people we were supposed to see came down with covid. I just really wanted to do something special to celebrate my son and actually get some photos of him with his family and friends
Just curious what everyone else did for winter babies? Or for those in a similar situation to me.