Claire's First Birthday Bash

Claire's "official" birthday party was on Sunday. We kept things small this year, with just 10 adults plus Karina and Tommy. I feel a little guilty because Elsa's parties have seemed like such blow-outs in comparison! But we wanted this one to be a little more laid back. Plus we figured it was unlikely the guests could be outside. Wrong—it was pretty nice. Oh well.

My theme was, of course, Earth Day. Mostly, I just tried to make sure the party's carbon footprint was as small as possible. We ate from these really cool plates, which are made from fallen palm leaves that are molded into plate shapes. They're very nice looking, and they don't get much more earth-friendly than this! We also used bamboo flatware and Claire even wore a dress that I bought used at an Earth Day rummage sale at Elsa's preschool.

Also, everyone that attended got to take home one of these reusable shopping bags as a party favor. I bought the bags online from www.ecobags.com—they are made from recycled materials. Then I added the tree design (which was also on the party invitations) using scraps of fabric left over from other projects. The only part that wasn't scrap fabric was the piece at the bottom, which says "Claire Heinrich's First Birthday • April 22, 2010". I had that part printed through Spoonflower so that I could add the personalization.

For dinner we had macaroni and cheese and Grandma J.'s recipe for calico beans—two dishes that have proven to be Claire's favorites so far. (The macaroni and cheese is ironic, since it's one of the few traditional kid dishes that Elsa doesn't like.)

Daddy enjoyed the birthday hats, the beer, and his fancy biodegradable plate.

After dinner, Claire opened presents and cards. Fortunately, there wasn't much to open. People followed through on my "donations instead of gifts" request, and I genuinely appreciate that.

And Claire certainly didn't know any different. As you can see, she was pretty happy with what she got!

Especially this animal book from Tom, Tanya, Karina and Tommy.

What she did not like one single bit was this birthday hat Mommy forced upon her.

But Elsa looked adorable in hers!

After singing to Claire, Elsa and Karina were very capable candle-blower-outers.

Tommy just watched all the action.

Claire was definitely more into the cake this time than she was on her actual birthday last week.

And she was a lot more hands-on with it!

The end result: She looks like she went on a cake bender.

Finally, I'm happy to report that thanks to Claire's gift donations, we raised a total of $250 $300 for environmental causes!!! Theoretically, those donations:
- saved two sea turtles, a zebra, and an amur leopard
- offset 35,000 pounds of carbon,
- provided a flock of chicks to a needy family in the developing world,
- provided one hour of research on elephants in Africa,
- saved 40 acres of cloud forest in Mexico by teaching farmers about environmentally sustainable practices,
- and organized farmers in Africa to help increase banana sales.
(Donations were made to the following charities: World Wildlife Fund, Heifer Project International, The School for Field Studies, and Root Capital.)

Wow! Not bad for a one-year old. : ) Especially when you consider that it's $300 that might not have been donated otherwise. So a great big thank you to everybody who complied with my unusual gift donation request. And good job, Claire! Happy Earth Day birthday, baby girl! You've already made in a difference in our lives, and now maybe a few others' as well.