Ballerina Berry's Birthday Bash

With Xavi about to come out, Dada suggested that we throw Berry a small party for her 3rd birthday. While she is still the one and only center of attention, heehee! 

But since we are back home, small is really subjective. With immediate family and Berry's playmates alone, we ended up throwing some kind of a birthday bash, haha. Our official family party expert, Tita Nanette, my mom's cousin who I love to consult when it comes to parties, suggested that we make it a ballerina themed party since Berry loves ballet. And she volunteered to sponsor Berry's ballerina fairy princess costume (see above), and brought pink paper lanterns to jazz things up. She also took charge of buying pink accessories and making tutus for Berry's little girl guests, so they can also dress up fancy:

My friend Rochelle's twins Mikaela & Solana

If that sounded like a lot of work, wait, there's more!

I enlisted the help of The Red Chef, and chose kiddie party food for all. After all, who doesn't love eating kiddie spaghetti, mini burgers, chicken fingers, and french fries? I also bought Red Ribbon empanada and ordered Yellow Cab pizzas. Because my mom was afraid there might not be enough food daw. My mom is a believer that food has to be overflowing in parties, hahaha.

We prepared a loot bag filled with: Hello Panda, NIPS in colorful containers, Oreos, Marie biscuits (for Berry's baby guests), miniature Play Doh (thanks to Tita Dianne!) and a few more little things to make the goodie bag really a goodie bag:

Auntie Lorr baked these cute brownie pops, which along with cupcakes, chocolate balls, marshmallows and all sorts of treats, constituted the table centerpiece:

Of course, we had to prepare prizes for games! I found these cute tin cans at Gourdo's:

And filled it with Berry themed treats:

Then we prepared more party prizes, novelties like notebooks, water containers, notepads, pencil and eraser sets, drawing books with crayons and coin purses. I prefer giving these instead of plastic toys from China that will just turn up as house clutter, hehehe:

One of the highlights of Berry's party would have to be this pretty confection of a cake made by Tita Aisa Atilano (check out her site here: http://aisaatilano.com/) who makes the prettiest cakes and cupcakes! We just showed her Berry's invite (designed by Tita Richelle Macapagal) and she came up with this cake and cupcake extravaganza:

Of course, Berry loved it. She couldn't wait to eat her cake, which was not only pretty, but super yummy too. The cupcakes came in chocolate and red velvet. Both were really moist and not too sweet! If you'd like to get in touch with Aisa, just email her at inquiry@aisaatilano.com and she'll be happy to make something equally adorable for you!

After we sang Berry her birthday song, she distributed the goodie bags, she even went to Tita Alessa for the microphone and thanked everyone for coming! The consummate hostess!

Then, she invited Tita Nicole (wearing Tita Thea's tutu) to step outside the lawn so they can do an impromptu dance routine:

Tadaaaa! Happy 3rd Birthday to our dearest Ballerina Berry! We hope you grow up believing in the beauty of your dreams! Bow!

P.S.

I wrote a post for Manila Social Diary - Party Tips: How to Throw a Kiddie Party in Manila, and as you will see, my style is totally DIY! Hope you enjoy reading it! Meanwhile, just to make this post more informative, here's a checklist that you might want to go through for when you plan your child's kiddie party:

__ Budget: Personally we don't do extravagant parties, hence strictly sticking to budget = DIY

__ Theme

__ Venue

__ Decorations: enlist help of a printer or party planner if you want to go full blast on these

__ Balloons

__ Caterer: they also usually take care of tables, chairs & center pieces

__ Food booth

__ Cake

__ Giveaways & Souvenirs: loot bags, photo booths, etc.

__ Games & Party Prizes

__ Entertainment: magicians, clowns, balloon artists, paint tattoo artists, party booth

__ Sound system

__ The birthday celebrant's outfit!

You may also want to consider serving coffee & tea with dessert. I thought it would have been perfect if we had coffee & tea machines ala Nespresso or the CBTL Single Serve Beverage machine, thankfully, I was able to ask my caterer to bring along a hot water dispenser and I just served instant coffee & tea to guests. Which turned out to be a hit amongst the parents, who were feeling drowsy after a very filling lunch.

Berry's 2nd Birthday Bash

Berry celebrated her 2nd birthday with a small party thrown for her and her playmates/friends last Saturday. It was a fun gathering and of course I had a blast preparing for the big day!

It was basically a pool party with a Zoo/Animal theme, because Berry loved her visit to the zoo. Plus, she can distinguish animals now. She can even say big words, like elephant and chimpanzee! I thought it was a way to mark it as  milestone, and of course, it was a theme that her guests - both boys and girls would love! 

I ordered the cake above from Bee's Cakes a month before the party. I just sent Bee pegs from Berry's party buntings as reference. The cake is not only cute, it's very good too! Not too sweet at all, and the frosting on the cupcakes had  a buttery goodness to it. So yummy!

To set the mood, I bought party supplies from one of those party supply stores along Middle Road in Bugis. I figured, a birthday banner, colorful table covers and napkins, flags and balloons would liven up the room and make it look festive.

I also set-up the room to have a play mat with a few of Berry's toys to keep the little ones entertained:

Lola (my mom, who flew in with my brother Andrew for the occasion) decorated Berry's name with leaves similar to her birthday banner, and Berry helped of course (Berry did the "Y"):

Tristan brought along his toy, a fish that blew out butterflies which they could catch with a net, and it was such a hit with the kids!

What I was also most excited about was the food! Upon the recommendation of my friend Frances,  we hired Gustos, a Singaporean catering company. I went for the kiddie party package, and ordered food that would appeal to both child and adult palates:

Apart from colorful fusili with meatballs and spaghetti bolognese, we also had sushi (a favorite of Berry, save for tuna makis. Berry also enjoys snacking on nori, tearing the sheet to bits and chewing on them like paper):

Mini beef burgers:

Mini cheese pizzas:

Almond crusted chicken fingers (we also served crunchy fish sticks, also a fave of Berry's):

And for dessert, there were mini apple tarts, mini donuts, marshmallows dipped in chocolate, and cream puffs:

After lunch, we sang the birthday song for Berry, and she blew her candle like a pro (actually, this was a retake, we told Berry, pretend you are blowing your candle, and look! She acted so well, hahaha!)

We took a family picture for posterity, but Berry was too busy looking at her cake, heehee:

Afterwards, we went out to play some games. The kids played catch the "butterflies" (the contestant with the most number of butterflies caught wins):

And in honor of the Zoo/Animal theme, they went on a safari! Well, we really just hid animals around the pool area and the kids had to look for them, sort of like an Easter Egg Hunt:

Here are our "hunters" and their prize catch: Alexi with an elephant, Noah with  a tiger, Reese with a zebra, Tristan with a rhinoceros, and Peyton holding a lion and Berry's jaguar.They all got to keep the animals they found.

After sweating it out with a couple of games, they then plunged into the pool to while the afternoon away:

When the time came for their afternoon naps and the kids headed for home, Berry sent them off with these pool party themed goodies - a wind mill, a water frisbee plus junk food (sorry parents! heehee!): 

What did Berry wear? This gorgeous ensemble from Gingersnaps, which was a gift from fabulous Aunt Ingrid aka The Baghag, who shares the same birthday as Berry (yes, they were both born on June 17, how cute is that?!)

It was a simple but fun occasion, and all our guests enjoyed the food and had a lot of fun! The birthday girl had a blast and up to this day, she still sings "Happy Birthday Berry" to herself. 

Without a doubt, it was a memorable occasion for us and our little girl!

Happy 2nd Birthday Berry! We all love you!!!

(Photos by Berry's Unca, Andrew Abu)

The Birthday Girl!

Berry and I went shopping for last minute party supplies at Party City with her Ninang Cathy and Ninong Jon, and while browsing through the aisles, making a quick scan to see if there was anything we missed, she exhibited signs of my shopping habits.

Berry got sidetracked by the more fun stuff i.e. stuffed dogs! If this was Barneys or Bergdorfs, that would be the shoe section for me! Hahaha!

Actually Berry, we shouldn't be in the graduation party section! You haven't even been to school yet! You've only graduated from eating rice cereals and mashed vegetables!

And just like Mommy, she loves wearing oversized sunnies! She never took this off, and was actually a bit annoyed when I threw these sunglasses back at the bin!

So adorbs! Our baby is now a little lady! Time really does fly when you're having fun! Remember when Berry first came out? It feels like it only happened yesterday!

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY BERRY!

Happy Weeksary Berry! + Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Today, June 24, Berry turned 1 week old!

From this little squirt, fresh from Mommy's tummy one week ago...


She has cleaned up quite well with daily sponge baths...heeheehee. We still haven't figured out who she looks like exactly. At first glance, she looks like me. But when we look long and hard, she turns into Dada's mini-me! There are angles where she looks like a little Tintin, some angles, the resemblance to Dada is very distinct. We've come to an agreement that she's a split...hahaha!


Some Berry important milestones on her first week:

- She is a healthy baby! Her Apgar score was in the high 9s, hearing is perfect, and she passed meconium right away. Except she was slightly jaundiced when she was discharged from the hospital but the pedia said it's nothing that water and sunlight can't fix!
- She latched on perfectly for breast feeding on her very first try! Even the lactation consultant was so surprised, she said "Oh, guess you don't need me here!". What a good girl! Not only will she get all the health benefits of breast feeding, we will get to save lots of $$$ because we don't have to buy formula! That means, mommy's shopping fund safe! Oh, I mean, Berry's Ivy League (or fashion school, wherever she decides) fund is safe, hahaha!
- She is a bit of a crocodile. Anything that comes into contact with her lips, she wants it in her mouth - Dada's finger, Mom's arm, her bib, her shirt, her mittens, nothing is safe!
- Our doctors (both the OB and the pedia) and the lactation consultant said never offer breast milk with formula, but for Berry, she never gets confused, and she never picks one over the other. She'll take milk in whatever shape or form! She's breast fed the entire day, except for her 12 midnight feeding time. Because formula is heavier on the tummy, we feed her that so we can at least get 3-4 hours of straight sleep in the evenings. So far this strategy works.
- She can't be fooled. She'll take anything - breast milk, formula (we got to take home a lot of the hospital supplied 2 oz. Similac bottles from the hospital thanks to the nurses!) and water, but she won't use a pacifier! She knows she won't get anything out of it! Very smart!
- She is so smart really, when it comes to food. She likes holding on to her bottle, and when she wants more breast milk, she knows she just has to scratch Mom's boobies and pucker her lips when we sleep side by side at night!



- Amah (Dada's Mom) says we need an octopus to take care of Berry. While Amah is giving her a sponge bath, Mom is giving her water to suck on. While Amah massages Berry's legs, Mom is drying Berry's hair and brushing it. When her diaper is being changed, she sucks at the air while wailing loudly, expressing her need for milk RIGHT NOW! This girl needs full service deluxe all the time! Whatta Diva!
- She cries with real tears! Usually, real tears start flowing at the end of baby's first month...
- Berry's umbilical cord fell off one week after her birth date!

Oh oh oh! And she can mowdel! Amah gave her the coral bracelets that Dada wore when he was a baby. And to make it real pretty, Amah strung gold balls in between. We wanted her to show off her bracelets to her grandparents and aunties and uncles back home so we did a photoshoot. Look at how graceful her hands are...


When she opened her eyes slightly to check out why we were all fussing around her, I told her to look at the camera and show her bracelet. Guess what she did! She looked at the camera and raised her left hand all by herself! No kidding! We were all so amazed! It's probably just a coincidence, but I would like to think she knew what she was doing! Hahaha!


June 24 not only marks Berry's first week in this world. It's also my Dada's birthday! So Happy Birthday Dad! From your Dychiao family!



I always use this photo of my Dada in my blog even though it's almost five years old and he retired from the AFP 4 years ago. My Dada has to be forced to give a huge smile in posed photos, but the Tatler folks got him to smile here. Heehee. And I am always proud of what he has accomplished considering his humble beginnings.

See, this was during his birthday at home, two years ago. (Funny story, check out the 8 candle, Conti's gave me a 0 instead of an 8 and to rectify the situation, I used ketchup to make it look like an 8! Clever huh?! Hahaha!)


So Dad, as my birthday gift to you, first there was me...


Now there's 3 who love you through and through! Harvey, Berry and me!