Birthday Boy

The floor is almost back to its original color, Rhode's bum is no longer blue, and I am officially ready to celebrate all things Rhode!

Rhode is too cute for his own good. He has the most amazing knack to make you laugh at the moment when you are just as mad as you can get. Part of it comes from his pretty impressive verbal skills. He speaks so much more than Scarlet did at this age. It saved him the other day when he took a good whack at his sister but then followed it with, "sorry sissy, I be soft!" and gave her a little cheek caress.

He loves to eat, especially banana and pancakes. His absolute favorite snack of all time is M&Ms, which he calls num-e-nums. I ran out of the coveted potty treat recently and tried to switch him onto gummy worms. Instead of complaining, he just starts every pee in his underwear before reporting he needs to go. I am catching on quickly and will be restocking as soon as possible.

He is really potty trained. It is just about the best thing ever. Some days he is in more of a cooperative mood than others but he hasn't worn a diaper during the day for over a month.

We celebrated his birthday with his favorite meal, breakfast for dinner with our friends, the Stouts. Pancakes, sausage, orange juice, Rhode was in heaven.

As anyone willing to look through my archives would discover, birthday cake making is not my forte. I really can't explain to you why I haven't just sucked it up and bought a cake but I just can't seem to give up. I learned how to do marshmallow fondant recently and really felt the need to give it a try. To commemorate his favorite treat, I attempted to make an M&M cake.

Why do I torture myself?

It was crazy. I didn't leave myself nearly enough time to complete it, I ran out of powdered sugar and my fondant was still crazy sticky, my butter cream frosting was strange looking, my food coloring was NOT turning into the shade of green it should, people were on their way over and every inch of my kitchen was covered in powdered sugar (probably why I ran out...) and to top it all off, the person I look to to solve all of my domestic nightmares was enjoying a relaxing afternoon nap with her young children and NOT answering my phone calls to talk me down from my multiple cake ledges.

But, in the end, it was a cake, and I can very easily state it is my best birthday cake attempt to date. Luckily the bar is still low enough that I should be able to surpass myself with little effort for many years to come.

Hey, Rhode thought it looked like an M&M. That's what matters right?

And, miracle of miracles, it actually tasted pretty decent.

Jon informed me a few days later after downing the last piece that fondant was "the greatest thing I have learned to make so far." Really? Ok....

Rhode was getting a large present this year, and in the chaos that was his cake making, I didn't exactly get it wrapped. So while people arrive and kids were shooed into the backyard, Jon slipped his present into his room for the later big reveal.

Unfortunately, somewhere through the evening, I kinda forgot it was there. And nobody really thought to stop the kids when they made their way upstairs after dinner.

By the time we clued in, the kids had already had some significant playtime with Rhode's birthday surprise.

Yay! Look at my new coloring easel! (Rhode! Look at the camera while you fake surprise!)

That's better.

He then continued to receive present throughout the week. The Stouts got him a Cars backpack with his very own mini lightning mcqueen. And then, to make us all look pathetic in our present giving, grandma Peggy's gift arrived in the mail.

The anticipation...

The reveal...

Getting situated and finding the big red button...

And off he went!

His first automobile crash took place just moment later.

Luckily, all survived including the poor trash bin and no harm done.

It is a pretty sweet little toy. Unfortunately for Scarlet, and ultimately for me, it is not a two seater and Scarlet surpassed the weight limit before she turned two.

Rhode decided to share anyway.

And when I reached my "it's my turn" limit for the day, we got creative.

They love it. They have also finally mastered the art of having a "secret toy". I am all about teaching my kids to share, but, sorry, I am really not willing to designate an entire play date to delegating out turn times to multiple children. Not. Happening.

And now I really officially need to get the Cars movie so Rhode can realize how excited about his presents he really should be!