Planning the first birthday

So in a couple of weeks, Oliver is going to have his first birthday. My wife and I haven't made a lot of plans for it yet. But there are a lot of things to plan.

Food is the biggest thing. After all with birthdays come birthday cake. It would be a shame for Oliver not to be able to eat his birthday cake. But at this point, Oliver hasn't had eggs, wheat, or refined sugar - all crucial elements in the standard birthday cake. So we need to find a way to make a cake out of things that he has eaten for far - oats, bananas, sweet potatoes, fruit... My wife is heading up the research committee.

The people to invite is another item. At this point, we're keeping the list to family. Considering that Oliver is the youngest of thirteen grandchildren, my wife has four siblings, and my parents, brother, and girlfriend are heading down, our house may be packed enough as it is.

The last thing that needs to be considered is what to do about presents. Since Oliver has a December birthday I would like to do something different than the usual wrapped gifts. Two weeks after his birthday he'll do the whole unwrapping presents thing. Maybe we could buy him stocks or bonds. Or ask people to contribute to his college fund. Or we could turn the whole birthday thing around and have him give gifts to people either party-goers or some charity. Or ask for only clothes for his birthday and fun stuff for Christmas. I don't know what I want to do, I just want to do something different.

Now when he's older, I'd like for him to follow in his father's tradition of throwing an off-season party. I'm Thanksgiving. Maybe he'll be Halloween...