Maddie's Milestone Cakes, It's All About the Memories

Maddie has just turned five this July. To recall every year of her life so far, I have used in this blog post the cakes that were created to mark the milestones. After all, it is all about the memories.

The Reveal
It was during the Christmas holidays in 2012 when we got a call from my daughter, Wendy, that they were expecting a baby. I screamed with joy of course. They decided not to open the letter from the doctor as to the gender of the baby and instead turned in the envelope with the reveal to Oakmont Bakery. The color inside the cake would indicate whether it was a boy or girl. During the small reveal party I noticed that only my other daughter, Bettina, and I were screaming with joy when the icing between the layers was pink. My son in law, Matt, his brother and his father were quiet. Were they disappointed it was not a boy that could join them when they scream over hockey games on TV? My daughter's mother in law told me they'll get over it. Note her family has been an all boy affair with her having only two sons while mine was all girls with only two daughters.

The Baby Shower
The cake was created by a friend from the  fitness club, Curves, I belonged to. It had buttercream icing  and topped with a baby carriage. Beautiful! Bettina and I made souvenir paper baby shoes by hand even when I could hardly sit because of a recent knee surgery.

First Birthday
Maddie was lovable. Still had a healthy appetite and was chubby. For her birthday, I made pistachio cupcakes using  polka dotted pink cupcake paper holders I bought from Tuesday Morning. I was a fan at that time of both cupcakes and Tuesday Morning where I bought stuff to decorate  the remodeled first floor of our house. I delivered the cupcakes to their house and they made the number one figure with the cupcakes.

Second Birthday
I was told not to bring cupcakes to her daycare to celebrate her birthday since the icing could be messy. I decided to make a butterscotch chip cookie cake  instead. For the theme, I imitated the cake made by Giant Eagle for the party held earlier that weekend at her house and also used the decorations, Elmo and his gang.

When I got to the daycare, they woke Maddie up from her nap. She did not understand why I was there  and was still recovering from her deep nap. She could not wait to  eat the cookie cake and was also pointing to the door indicating she wanted to go home. Well she had to wait for her classmates to wake up, go to the bathroom and sing and eat the cookie cake with her before I took her home. She enjoyed the butterscotch chip cookie cake and ate it with gusto.

Third Birthday
This was the year of the pig for Maddie, the adorable Peppa Pig, which I made the theme of the cake. She had been watching Peppa Pig videos on YouTube and was enamored by this adorable character. I used the tiny plastic figurines of her little Peppa Pig and his family to decorate the cake. Maddie was very excited to blow the candles and relished the singing by her classmates and the whole hoopla. She finally got what it was all about and showed  her delight openly and unabashedly.

Fourth Birthday
When I arrived, Maddie was beaming but subdued, starting to show a little bit of shyness. This time I used Paw Patrol characters to top the cake. Her brother, Luca, who loves Paw Patrol too, was able to join us. Maddie's classmates were  chattery at this age and excited to recognize the characters on the cake.

Fifth Birthday
I had to decide what theme to use for the cake. As usual, I liked using little toys she played with to decorate the cake. Her Aunt Bettina loves buying her so called LOL Surprise toys. They come in round containers with dolls and accessories you detach from its walls and be surprised since they do not reveal what they will be on the wrapping. Thank God Maddie's collection of LOL dolls and accessories were stored in one bin or they would have been difficult to find among her other toys since they were so teeny weeny. I did have to dress some of the dolls to grace the cake because Maddie loved to dress and undress them. During the party, her girl classmates enthusiastically talked about their own LOL dolls and one even had one with her, a testament on how popular they are.

Maddie was beaming from ear to ear from the time she saw me waiting for them to go through their bathroom break to the time she blew the candles on her cake. She was not as talkative as her classmates though. She was able to blow all the candles by herself without any help though it took time. Yes my little Maddie is five and a big little girl ready for kindergarten. Her brother, Luca, joined us but reluctantly. Will I be starting this cookie cake tradition with him? Time will tell. He is one dimensional and just loves to play with one thing, little cars with moving wheels. That will make decorating the cake easy or maybe not.

Life goes on and children particularly grow fast. I find it pays to keep the memories of how they look and what they love to do and play with every year. I also love recalling how they react to the celebration every year and observe changes. I find the milestone cookie cakes I have done every year help keep these  details alive. I  actually had warm feelings as I reminisced as I was writing this blog post. Priceless! I am grateful. And one more thing, a food for thought below.