Ways To Celebrate Your Baby’s First Thanksgiving

This is going to be Itty Bitty’s first Thanksgiving – so we want to make it extra special!  So here’s some suggestions on how to celebrate with Food, Fashion, and Fun!

Food:

Let’s be honest. Thanksgiving is ALL about the food – so why not include your youngest family members.

  • If your baby is eating purees, feel free to puree some green beans, heat up a little bit of that canned pumpkin, and most certainly serve up some pureed turkey!
  • Are you doing Baby-led weaning, and your baby hasn’t yet mastered his pincer grasp?  Try serving him some of the following items:
  • Green beans – just cook them however you’d like!
  • Turkey – cut into long strips so he can grab and eat it on his own
  • Sweet Potatoes – yummy! If you’re serving them mashed be prepared for a bit of a mess. If you have  some time, make some sweet potato fries and serve them that way. Just steer clear of any glaze or marshmallow topping.
  • Stuffing – super fun for them to get their little hands into!
  • Salad – my little guy loves lettuce and spears of cucumber (but he viscerally hates the seeds!)
  • And if your little one is munching away on most foods – just be sure to fill them up on the healthy items first before they taste some of the sweet deserts! 

Fashion:

Your baby may be too young to enjoy the cornucopia of foods on your dining room table – but you’ll still want to deck them out in a perfectly precious outfit.  Why? Well, you can bet your bottom dollar that this time next year – there will be a lot of gross half eaten gobs of stuffing/cranberry sauce/pie/ etc., covering that special holiday outfit you painstakingly picked out so as to impress the in-laws. So, get ’em while they’re cute and not as messy.  Trust me.

If your baby IS eating solids, pack an extra pair or two of pants and shirts, and invest in some cute Thanksgiving bibs. My Itty Bitty will be wearing this one from Target.

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If you’re going out for a walk after your meal, you’ll want to bundle your tiny baby up with a hat. My favorite is this one, from Etsy!

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You’ll also want to cover up those adorable toes – maybe with these booties!

Fun:

Get crafty a day or two before, and make one of these adorable turkeys with your baby’s handprints.

Source: A is for Adelaide

My friend Chelley made a few handprint turkeys with her daughter Addie – the extras being gifts for grandparents!

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Last, but certainly not least, you will want to document your baby’s first Thanksgiving.  My suggestion is to take a family photo together.  Gather everyone who came over for dinner, have them sit on a couch or stand together, and set up your camera with a self timer.

If you are just using a smartphone as your camera now-a-days, be sure to download a self timer app, that way you don’t have any excuses.  Being the psycho mom I am,  I take A TON of pictures of my adorable Itty Bitty. Problem is, I’m NEVER IN THEM because I’m too busy behind the camera.  So, get the timer and try to make it a family tradition taking a photo of the WHOLE group together.  You may want to do it in between dinner and dessert – that way you aren’t sacrificing time cooking the turkey, nobody has left early to get to bed, and you don’t risk the embarrassment of the inevitable spill of coffee on your blouse. 

What is one of your favorite Thanksgiving Day traditions?