Dominic’s 2nd Birthday Party!
On Saturday, we celebrated Dominic’s 2nd birthday!
It always amazes me just how insanely fast time flies… whoever said “the days are long but the years are short” was one thousand percent accurate. One minute, there’s a gorgeous, wrinkly, pink newborn in my arms and then I blink and they’ve turned into toddlers and preschoolers and I feel like every few days I’m wishing that I could freeze time.
Dominic was the only one of my three babies that tried to make his way out all on his own, without any help, and ahead of schedule. On his first birthday, I said that he had eyes that sparkle and that he enjoyed every single moment to its fullest. His personality has never wavered, and he is a happy-go-lucky kid who LOVES to laugh and just wants to have fun.
We had such a wonderful time celebrating him this weekend and I wanted to give you a glimpse of his party!
The Decorations
Dominic absolutely adores the show Hey Duggee on Nick Jr. Like, he LOVES it. So I knew I wanted to go that route when planning the party, but it’s not a huge mainstream hit (it’s from the BBC) – there are a few toys you can find at Target, but no party-planning themes at Party City and not much on Etsy, either.
As a result, I did festive “Happy Birthday” decorations in bright colors, along with the obligatory number two balloon :) I totally spaced on getting pictures, but links below to what I used!
[source: happy birthday balloons / number two balloon / plates / napkins]
The Food
For the past few birthday parties and baptisms we’ve had at our house, we’ve ordered chicken, lasagna, roasted potatoes and salad from a local market, but we wanted to do something different this time.
We love Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza, so we ordered a bunch of pizzas, wings and a tossed salad, and I put out a veggie tray, along with some chips and dips. I think everyone was pleasantly surprised by switching up the menu :)
The Cake
Since we couldn’t decorate with a Hey Duggee theme in the house, I was going all-in on a Hey Duggee cake!
I made the main character (Duggee) in fondant, and then printed out badges from the show and put them around the sides of the cake. This was actually my favorite part… after we sang Happy Birthday, Joseph and Dominic just kept spinning the cake in circles looking at all of the badges, and Joseph knew what most of them were. They were SO excited! It took awhile to have them part with the cake so I could slice it ;-)
I also added a batch of chocolate cupcakes for anyone who was feeling a chocolate dessert, and popped some cute Happy Birthday candles in them (we didn’t light them, I just liked the letters for decoration!).
[recipes: yellow cake / chocolate cupcakes / chocolate frosting (used to frost cupcakes and as filling for the cake) / candles for main cake / toothpick candles for cupcakes]
The Fun
Everyone had a great time, and Dominic sure loved the balloons, cake, and opening presents, especially a fire truck! And then he loved playing outside :)
Extras
I did manage to find Hey Duggee custom invitations on Etsy, and had those made for the party:
I started getting custom birthday t-shirts since Joseph’s 2nd birthday and I just love it! I bought this Hey Duggee shirt on Etsy, and Dominic almost lost his mind when I put it on him. He said, “huh! Mommy! Look! Duggee!” pointing to his shirt. He then proceeded to show every single person that came – he’d point to his shirt and say, “DUGGEE!” Seeing them happy and excited just totally makes my day :)
(That right there is Dominic’s “say cheese!” face lol!)
Celebrating birthdays always makes me relive those moments leading up to, and including, their actual birth, and those sweet, blissful days afterward when they doze off after eating and are just the tiniest little things you’ve ever seen. My heart swells with joy watching these babies grow and become their own, even if thinking back to those very early days makes me a little weepy at the same time.
My sweet Dominic, with the crazy hair from day one :)
What does “Coal Fired” pizza mean? Surely not cooked over lumps of coal? Thanks
Well, sort of! It’s cooked in ovens that are coal-burning instead of wood-burning. Here’s an article with lots of good info on it: http://www.foodrepublic.com/2015/10/05/why-is-coal-fired-pizza-so-hot-right-now/
Seeing you do what you do for your kids reminds me of me when mine were little – of course yours are much cooler than mine were! Dominic looks so happy – I know it makes your heart flip!
beautiful happy boy, looks like he had a blast.
Michelle, you are so creative with Dominic’s cake. Looks amazing. Love the pictures of Dominic with fire truck and T-shirt. Do did great job with invitations an decorations. He is soo cute.
Keep sending your blog with information and pictures of the family.
Dominic is such a little cutie! Maybe I like him cuz we’re both middle children😉. Party looked like fun. Love reading your posts.
His sweet face looking up at the fire truck! Kids are a blessing…and you are one blessed Mama!
Cute party and pictures! Time goes too fast! Enjoy every minute!
Your Jewish Apple Cake received a link in the comments of an apple article in the Washington Post.
Oh how fun, thank you for letting me know!
I don’t often post comments, but wanted you to know that I really enjoy your weekly updates and pictures of your children. They are all absolutely adorable! We are not fortunate enough to have grandchildren but have some great nieces and nephews to enjoy. Also enjoy your recipes, one of our all time favorites is the bread and butter pickles – I made 4 batches this year.
Thank you so much for the sweet comment, and I’m thrilled you’ve been enjoying the bread and butter pickles!
He is the cutest! I don’t know how you do it with 3 small ones. You must be very organized. Loved the cake.
Thank you for sharing Dominic’s 2nd birthday….what a fun celebration!
Such total joy on his face as he looks at his new firetruck. ;-)
Looks like a wonderful party! That picture of him looking at his fire truck is priceless. My boy is 11 and wow does the time fly. Enjoy!
God’s blessing for him🙏
Thank you so much :)