Belated birthday post

So Steven turned 13 months a couple of days ago, and I was reminded that I have yet to post about the events of his actual birthday over a month ago. Sigh. So a bit belatedly...

We discovered just a week or so prior to his birthday that Steven is allergic to egg whites. While he most likely will outgrow this completely (about 2/3 of kids do by age 5), and while he probably would not be allergic to egg whites that have been thoroughly cooked (i.e. baked for a long time in a cake), the doctor thought it would be best to avoid them altogether until he is at least 18 months. So I used a trick I found online of using a cake mix and adding 12 oz of soda instead of adding the usual water, oil and eggs to the mix. I used sparkling water so as not to add extra sugar or artificial sweeteners.

The cake itself actually turned out really well--nice and light and fluffy. The problem was the cake pan, which was a novelty pan shaped like the number one. Despite a thorough coating with cooking spray (and, on attempt #2, flour as well) the cake stuck to the bottom of the pan and tore the cake apart. After it happened the second time I said "oh, well, I'm not making three cakes" and just decided to patch it back together and hide the flaws under icing.

  

It was just the three of us for Steven's birthday. We decided to do cake in the afternoon instead of the evening, which turned out to be wise, since he was on a bit of a sugar high afterwards. He was uncertain of what to do with the cake at first, but once he figured out it was food, he got into it.

Next we opened presents from Mommy and Daddy. The first was a reading chair to put over by his shelf of books in the family room. He wasn't sure how to sit down in it.

The other present from Mommy and Daddy was a tent. Steven loves playing under a blanket with us so we thought he'd liked a tent to play in.