2  | 

I found this helpful Thank You! Your vote will be tallied soon!

The birthday boy enjoying his cake

I can hardly believe that my baby turned 3-years-old yesterday.  It doesn't seem possible.  It feels like it was just the other day that the doctor held him up over my c-sectioned body for me to look at.  He was screaming at me, apparently not too happy about being taken out of his warm and safe cocoon a week early.  The first words that I ever said to him were, "You're so mad!" 

He screamed as the Golfer carried him into the nursery.  He screamed as they cleaned him up and took his footprints.  He screamed as the pediatrician checked him over.  It wasn't until they brought him back to me and I was able to lay him next to my heart that he finally calmed down.  The doctor looked at us and said, "He's perfect!"  And he was.  And even as a 3-year-old, he still is.

My 3-year-old Monkey had very specific instructions for his birthday this year.

"I want a Buzz birthday."

The Monkey is currently obsessed with Buzz Lightyear.  Personally, I love this obsession.  Toy Story has become one of my favorite Disney movies.  Guess it helps to become your favorite when you watch it over and over and over again.

My mom had the insightful idea to have his birthday party in Oklahoma while we were there visiting.  His party would be a week before his actual birthday, but that really didn't matter.  What mattered was that all of his family would be able to celebrate his special day with him.

I got on BirthdayExpress.com and ordered the Buzz Lightyear Delux Pack and even splurged for the personalized banner.  I had it all shipped to my mother's house.  I looked on-line to try and find a Buzz Lightyear cake pan, but the only one I could find was on eBay for $115.99.  For a cake pan?  Are you kidding?  Apparently not. 

I started to think up ways to create my own Buzz cake, maybe with some of the small Toy Story action figures that I had bought at the Disney Store.  But considering that I was going to be busy trying to see family and friends while we were there, spending a whole day decorating a cake didn't seem like the best use of my time.  I ended up sending my mother to a local grocery store who had a Buzz Lightyear design that would do just fine.

And it did.  When I came home with the cake on the day of the party, the Monkey was beyond excited.  All he wanted to do was stare at it.  I had to force him to take a nap so I could get the dining room decorated for the party.  When he woke up, his eyes grew wide as he saw the transformed room.

"It's my party!  It's my Buzz birthday!"

He sat in one of the dining room chairs for most of the afternoon waiting for his guests to arrive.  Once I caught him singing "Happy Birthday" quietly to himself. 

The party was mostly adults, and when you're turning 3-years-old that's still okay.  He didn't really like it when everyone sang to him, keeping his head down and not making eye contact with anyone, but he enjoyed every last bite of his cake.  Somehow he stuck his plastic spoon in the center of his piece of cake just right so that the whole thing stayed on his spoon.  He ate it like some kind of cake-sicle while the rest of laughed. 

Yesterday, his "real" birthday, he woke up to find a Buzz Lightyear scooter in the living room which we promtly road to the park where we were meeting friends to play.  We enjoyed vanilla cupcakes that I had made the night before and enjoyed the beautiful 70 degree day.  Putting the Monkey to bed last night, the Golfer and I asked him if he had had a good birthday.

"I had a good Buzz birthday," he told us.

Happy Birthday, dear Monkey, Happy Birthday to you.