Twenty?!!!

It seems like it was just yesterday that our little boy was REALLY little. 

That lil' boy grew...

...and grew.

 

And he grew some more.

(However, he is NOT gruesome.)

Twenty years? REALLY?!!!! It is hard to believe. The time has gone by oh, so quickly. We have certainly enjoyed seeing what our boy has become over the past two decades, and we know that there is much more "fun" in store.

Although M is our firstborn, he is always the last to celebrate during the month of September. It's a good thing he has an easy-going temperament. He patiently waits as his sisters each have their turn in the limelight -- or candlelight. Quite honestly, I am sufficiently burned out on sweets by the time the 22nd rolls around. Thankfully, my boy has good taste when it comes to dessert, so I can usually stomach one more sweet thing, knowing it'll be yummy!

This year, M's request for birthday cake was an unusual one. It wasn't that it was a weird flavor or anything; the birthday celebrant wanted to bake his own cake. He doesn't need me any more. I have always baked the kids' cakes, or ordered something special from a bakery or Baskin-Robbins, but never have I ever let the Smithlings make their own cake.

I happily turned the kitchen over to my lil' boy.

The cake our son wanted to "build" was to be fashioned after a cake in the game Portal.  In this virtual world, a cake is used as a promised reward to keep the player motivated to persevere. But the reward doesn't really exist. Or does it?

"The cake is a lie."

The real cake looks virtually the same as the computer generated one -- only tastier. There were four layers of chocolately goodness with four sticks of butter in the frosting. No lie!

The cake was rich, moist, dense, and it weighed a ton. Well... maybe it didn't quite weigh 2,000 pounds, but it did had a lot of heft to it. I have no idea what the caloric count was per serving. Maybe the number 2,000 comes into play here. :-P  I think it would be safe to say that a sliver totaled a whole big bunch of calories. I've heard it said that calories only exist if you count them. Hmmm... Calories don't count on special occasions, any way. Besides, there was too much fun to be had to be worried about calories, carbs, fat grams and such.

Jemima certainly was not worried about the cake's nutrition statistics. She had other things to fret over. Our kitty girl had to wear the party dress one more time. (Millie insisted!) She looks ridiculous -- and quite unhappy about the birthday party dress code.

One of M's gifts was a fleecy throw from Costco. He had told me last year that he wanted one of these, but they were sold out before I had a chance to purchase one. Apparently he forgot about this request over the past year. I remembered! I was soooo happy that I found this blanket at Costco back in late July; never mind that it was a 105° day. I am just glad that I remembered where I had hidden it.

When my son saw the lamb on the front, he thought it was a costume of some sort and couldn't imagine why on earth I would give him such a silly gift. Perhaps the whole cat in a costume episode had taken his thinking to this point. He was confused! Thankfully, there was no confusion as he unwrapped a pair of Oakley sunglasses. I had picked the right ones.

Ahhh! The birthdaze are over... All three Smithlings are smiling, so I guess it was a good birthmonth for all.