A teddy bear (Bobbi beer) birthday

I don't know how it happened but  I have a 2 year old and it seems so sudden. This year was the year we saw her change from a small but strong willed baby  to a confident, curious, independent little girl that knows so very well what she wants. Of course the changes were not sudden. Our daughter. She changes and learns so much every single second. It is such a joy to see her take life in, explore, grow, discover.

I hear a lot of parents say that it's not worth it, at this stage, to organize parties for their children because they won't remember. When I see how much fun Y. has at  her friends' parties, when I see how much she enjoys hitting the piñata (we made one for Christmas and she has been practicing non-stop), when I see how much she loves cakes and treats and playing, I honestly don't care if she will remember or not. All I care is that she will enjoy, have a blast, feel loved and celebrated.

The theme for this year's birthday was Bobbi beer. She fell in love with the happy little bear from the Dutch book series ever since we read her a story with him for the first time, so it was just a natural choice. It is amusing to see how certain books really speak to her. It's almost like a real friend, Bobbi and Y., they get each other (and the illustrations are really lovely).

We wanted to keep it relatively simple, however I still wanted it to feel special. This year we didn't have the time or energy to make a piñata, but we got it from another Mexican who is a true artist: she was able to construct it just from looking at a drawing.

I made her a blueberry and coconut milk cake and iced it following Sweetapolita's pastel swirl cake tutorial. Then I used paper straws and some wrapping paper to make a carousel with Bobbi bear and its friends. I used this tutorial to make party favor bags (and yeah, I know that is the Paddington bear, but I just thought they were similar enough, and the 2-year-old didn't seem to mind, all bears are Bobbi to her). They were very easy to make.

For snacks there were mozzarella-tomato-basil skewers, olives, peanuts, cut veggies with hummus, mandarin and grapes on a stick and these apple-banana-oatmeal bars in the form of little bears. I also made orange and chia-seed water and that was about it.

It was so nice to see her running around and playing with her friends and having a day all for herself. Do you like to make a big deal out of birthdays or do you prefer low-key celebrations (Mark's the latter)?