As Fred’s first birthday approached, his family knew they wanted to do something extra special to celebrate. They decided to throw him a birthday party — and chose to have it be a surprise.

While Fred was playing outside one night, his family and friends went about setting up for the party. When it was time for Fred to come back inside, they turned off the lights and crouched down real low, and when Fred came through the door, they all leapt up and yelled, “Surprise!”

As soon as all of the yelling and excitement began, Fred was absolutely over the moon. He leapt around with a great, big smile on his face, so excited to party and celebrate with the people he loves.

“He had no idea! Gotcha!” one of Fred’s family members yelled in a video about the party.

Fred sat on his birthday throne, leaning into his mom for a hug while his family sang happy birthday and presented him with his very own pup cake, which he absolutely loved. There were signs and balloons, and the group took so many pictures to commemorate the end of Fred’s very first year on Earth.

Fred’s family knew that throwing him a surprise birthday party might be just a little bit extra, but they didn’t care at all. They love Fred so much and wanted him to know that, and after all of the celebrating, there’s no doubt that the message was definitely received.