For Jacobi’s first birthday, we had a marvelous party and I don’t regret it one bit; it was a very special event for our family. I am a birthday person and highly value celebrating people, so I knew I wanted to make his second birthday special, but with limited time due to a full course and work schedule, I knew I wouldn’t be able to do anything too magnificent.

Our simple decorations – a room full of balloons, some easy chalkboard art, and his banner from his first birthday

I decided to focus on what J loves, and plan his party around that. Well, he adores balloons – give this kid a balloon and he will be happy for the next two hours. And people — he adores his “Boppa” (grandpa), “Maca” (grandma), “Ona” (Aunt Norah) and other aunts, uncles and cousins – that was a definite given. Oh and berries, he loves berries.

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My favorite picture from the day was a somewhat grainy iPhone picture – but I absolutely love it.

I was able to reuse nearly all the decorations from his first birthday party for his second birthday party, so I didn’t need to spend any additional money for paper plates, cutlery, napkins, streamers and other decorations. The only expense that we had was buying the balloons and food – which allowed us to spend a little extra on his gifts.

our simple decorations consisted of a few crepe streamers… and Christmas decorations I have yet to take down!

Because it was going to be just my extended family (12 of us total), we had the party at our small, but quaint, apartment. For food, Hellobee gave me the wonderful idea of a taco bar, which was a hit! For drinks I made iced tea served in mason jars I already had and paper straws leftover from his party last year.

Assortment of tacos/tortillas/lettuce wraps with tons of toppings, fillings, salsas and meat options

I made a delicious gluten-free german chocolate cake served with berries – the berries just for J, which he devoured before the cake (he actually plucked one off after blowing out the candles)!

As much as I loved his first birthday, I loved his second 1000x more. The reason being that I could see how much he loved every second. He loved pointing out the tissue paper pinwheels hung from the ceiling, calling them “green stars,” and the crepe paper streamers. He thought the balloons were so special, and to have all his favorite people in one room focused on him brought him so much joy. Seeing the delight that all these simple things brought him, made me feel like such a proud mother that I could give him that.

Even though the weather threatened to cancel the party, it was a smashing success, simple but perfect for my little two-year old.

Happy birthday Jacobi!