Birthday Love

Our little guy's third year is off to an awesome start!

We had a fun and low-key day yesterday, featuring dazzling weather, waffles for breakfast, an all-morning hang out at his favorite playground, and the appearance of special guest star Nana after he woke up from his nap.  He got a haircut with his dad, and then we stopped messing around and got down to the serious business of cake.  

The Bulldozer Cake won by a wide margin in my cake poll, which was only appropriate given how dear these vehicles are to our hearts in this household.  So, with some help and encouragement from the husband and Nana, we made this cake happen during nap time yesterday. We had a blast!  And Little J's completely awed and overjoyed reaction to the cake say it all.  We managed to hide it from him until the husband brought it out with candles blazing after dinner, and his mile-wide grin melted all of our hearts.  So much birthday love!

If any little people in your life are construction vehicle aficionados, I totally recommend giving this cake a try for their next big day.  Putting the cake together was much simpler than I anticipated. Here are my tips for success:

1) Just buy the pre-made pound cake.  Do it.  I actually found a fresh organic vanilla one in the bakery at Whole Foods for $4.99, sparing me the heat, time, and cost of making one from scratch.  A Sara Lee one would really do in a pinch, but finding this freshly made and inexpensive one was perfect.

2) I did not, however, buy pre-made frosting.  Frosting in a can gives me the willies.  Instead I made this quick vanilla buttercream frosting.  It came together in about ten minutes, and was also much easier to work with than the waxy pre-made stuff.  Highly recommended. 

3) My friend had the great suggestion of using pirouette cookies in place of the "Fruit Loops Cereal Straws" that I was dubious about tracking down.  Such a good call, and the extras are much more delicious to have around the house.  They were about an inch too short however, so the husband rigged up a little support beam for the digger out of extra pound cake, and we made it work.

4) If you can't find perfectly sized donut tires, don't hesitate to just use a big donut and a Munchkin :).

5) Don't take this too seriously... it is a child's birthday cake, after all.  Kids aren't perfectionists and give a lot of appreciation for effort.  Clearly my bulldozer cake bears little resemblance to the professionally crafted one in Parenting Magazine, and who cares!  Just have fun with it and be creative.  In the words of my son, "this is the most delicious bulldozer cake I ever had."  And that's all that matters!

Happy Birthday little J, and thank you for filling our lives with joy.