Keep food simple because most of it will probably end up on the floor anyway!  Finger Foods are excellent for both babies and adults, as eating them won’t interrupt play or interaction. Parents may well have brought a bottle or feeder cup with the drink of choice for their baby, but have water, milk and diluted fruit juices at the ready. If you’re providing food for the adults, keep it simple and avoid peanuts and other foods which may present a choking hazard to little ones.

Some babies will have quite a few teeth and be able to bite into food, while others may still be toothless, so cater for both extremes. Organic bread sticks, tiny sandwiches with cheese spread, cubes of mild cheese and mini fromage frais cartons are all good ideas. Chocolate fingers are scrummy, but messy, so plain biscuits may be a better choice. Jelly tends to be more of a play material at this age than a dessert.  To be honest, your mini guests will probably eat very little food, so aim for a variety of taste, texture and colour rather than lots of it.

However, no party is complete without a birthday cake. You can either make one yourself or choose from a variety at a supermarket or bakery. Don’t let your baby near the candle as she will want to grab, not blow, it.

Loud bangs from party poppers and bursting balloons may frighten your baby, and discarded poppers and balloons are serious choking hazards, so leave them until next year. Why not have some musical fun instead, such as dancing with your baby, or putting on a nursery rhyme CD in the background.

She’ll appreciate a few simple games, such as Row the boat or Round and round the garden, with plenty of tickles, too. She’ll also enjoy peek-a-boo games, finding toys hidden in a box or under a cloth and, of course, helping you to open her presents. Do brace yourself for her being much more excited by the wrapping paper than the actual gifts!  Party Suppliers can also help you with suggestions and ideas. Many sell themed party packs and more.

Quadruplet baby girls were born at just 28 weeks in an emergency caesarean and have celebrated their first birthday. They weighed just 7lb 6oz between them when they were born and required specialist care.

Parents Gillian and Marc were looking forward to celebrating the babies first birthday with older sister Abigail and a family party. All babies were naturally conceived and were born at million to one odds as all girls are identical.

Shiloh Jolie Pitt has requested a soldier themed party and boy toys for her birthday.
The 3 year old asked mum Angelina Jolie and dad Brad Pitt for a military themed bash to celebrate turning four. Shiloh’s brother Maddox had a soldier themed party when he turned four and she wants the same.
Angelina and Brad are planning to shower her with birthday gifts including boots and toy guns.
It was recently claimed that Brad spent more than $10,000 buying boys clothes for Shiloh after she shunned the girl clothes he was buying for her five year old sister Zahara. Brad has previously revealed that Shiloh only responds to the name John, after growing obsessed with the Darling brothers in the classic children’s story Peter Pan.

Baby Monitor
Monitor your sleeping baby with this iPhone app. Place the iPhone near your sleeping baby and if it detects noise it places a phone call to the number of your choice.

Baby Scrapbook
Take photos with the iPhone camera or choose them from your photo library and Baby Scrapbook will build a scrapbook for you to show off to friends and family.

White Noise Maker
White Noise provides ambient sounds of the environment to help your baby sleep.

World of Lullabies
Lullabies for all babies and little children.

Grow Baby Grow
This is an online application that can be used to track the growth of a child in the first 3 years of life.

Shake the Farm
Shake the farm is an interactive way for any toddler to learn about farm animal names and their individual sounds as they shake from one animal to another.

Baby Countdown Clock

You need to enter your due date and this provides you with a live countdown of the days, hours, minutes, and seconds until that much anticipated day arrives.

Generally a nanny will be a trained nursery nurse. A nanny is responsible for the welfare, happiness and daily routine of the children which includes education, developmental activites and cooking meals. They will also do the children’s ironing, cleaning etc. They provide one to one continuous care throughout the year in the child’s familiar environment.

Childminders have to be registered, must take an Introductory Course in Home Based childcare and hold a paediatric First Aid certificate. They are inspected every two years to assess both the safety of their homes and also check their play and activity facilities. Childminders work from their own home and may be looking after children as well. They can care for a maximum of 6 children under 8 years old. Childminders often charge less than nurseries or nannies.

Hearing of a family naming a child after the entire Liverpool football team seems mild in comparison to others. A new Zealand couple named their twins Benson and Hedges and another child was named 4Real!
In chila nearly 3,500 children were named Aoyun which means Olympics, after the bid first came up to host the event. In 2007 a Chinese couple tried to name their boy @, stating that using the universally recognised symbol reflected their love for him.

10 things nurseries want from parents:

1.To allow the child at least 2-3 weeks to settle in.
2.To receive feedback and thanks from the parents for the care they give.
3.Not to prolong leaving if their child is upset.
4.To understand that nursery rules and procedures exist to protect the children.
5.To keep staff updates with changes in personal circumstances which may affect the child.
6.To provide staff with up to date emergency contact numbers.
7.To attach name labels to all belongings which are taken to nursery.
8.To teach them to use the toilet, blow their nose etc.
9.To discuss problems with staff.
10.To pick up their child on time at the end of the day.

When Suri Cruise turned 2 she celebrated with a custom four-tier cake in Los Angeles along with parents Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes.

The wedding style cake which had yellow butterflies and dots was reportedly $5,000 and made by a local specialty shop.