Nayaka is 3!

*mom is in panic mode*

1 year old and all smiley!

2 years old and never fail to bring happiness to our home.

3 years old and no day is complete without his loud noise and laughter!

Nayaka just had his big celebration couple of weeks ago. As a proud mom and dad and grandmoms and granddads, we all want a big stuff for him. But in Singapore, not many places are catered to do so. Here's some findings that i could share...

Who to invite.
How much friends dyou have when you are 3? This is the toughest to list, as Nayaka was new in our neighborhood Montessori, his pals were very limited. In the end, We list down our dear friends that has children with similar age, it is also great way for Nayaka to learn to be social and make future playdates. I love how children has the most un-judging way to make a friend, start from the minute they met :)

Venue. 
I do think home is still very suitable for birthday parties aged 1-5 years old. However, living in 108sqm HDB that is filled with stuffed toys and legos in every corner is not the best choice for the party venue. Not to consider his little sister Nadia which needs her beauty sleep every 2-3 hours.

Many site suggested indoor playground too, but i feel that the number of kid guest were all almost his age, which is not yet suitable let alone could enjoy fully these facilities. We are quite lucky to find a spot in nearby McD that has mini playground and outdoor turtle pond.

We pray hard there's no rain that day, and God gave us a bonus of sunny hot weather!

Theme.
Well it really depends on your kid's personality. There are a million themes out there, and i have use up the car theme last year, and i should say i am deeply thankful for McD's theme (it kinda fit the grown ups too!) plus they have these goodie bags and even games with mini prizes for the kids. All we need to do is show up and be merry! (we decided to get our own cake, because we think Nayaka might not like the Ronald McDonald cake)

Food.
My mom loves to cook. and she loves it when people eat her food. However, she told me that preparing it is quite tedious and to clean up were double the effort. She prepared Tumpeng for Nayaka's 2nd bday (It is a cone-shaped yellow rice dish like mountain with its side dishes. Indonesian loves to have it in ceremonies) and she prepare it from 5am in the morning. So i told her to relax and just do her hair for this 3rd bday party, as all the food is of course being served by McD. happy meal? happy tummy? happy minds.

Extra special Tumpeng!

Gifting Ideas.
Couple of our dear friends ask, what do Nayaka want for bday present? I think putting a gift registry is a great idea. I knew in Asia people are not open to this, we are so paiseh to let people know what we need. Well, don't take it as a wish list, but more of knowing what the bday kid can appreciate and reducing the unnecessary unwanted presents or duplication.

Andd.... how did the party goes?
some mishap here and there, such as the food is not served right on time, but i guess managing 70 hungry people that comes every 5 minutes is a tough job to do. And, the games set for 3 years old and below is also another tough job to do, as their attention span arent that long.

The centre of our joy!

I love his whole-hearted attitude, even on the smallest thing!

With popo and oma, his fave person in the world!

But all in all, Nayaka keep smiling and laughing and saying thank you to everyone who came, which we find very cute and admirable. He is a good host indeed. ...and for that, he deserve to be the King of the day!

The happy king and his castle!