Ethan’s Birthday – The Home Celebration

Ethan’s birthday culminated in a celebration amongst relatives.  We decided to have a buffet lunch at the E&O Hotel, and it goes without saying that Ethan was very much looking forward to this celebration.

See, he even willingly posed for a nice shot before we left for the hotel.

… and then, he started being his CHEEKY self again.

I think the part Ethan enjoyed most about the birthday lunch was the chocolate stuff: chocolate-covered marshmallows from the fondue station, chocolate ice cream, chocolate cake….

..and the part that Hannah enjoyed the most was the teething rusk she was chewing on.  She even fell asleep while holding it!

…and woke up for a moment to give it a few more chomps, then she was off to dreamland again….Even after she awoke, and her Ah Ma was carrying her, she was still holding the rusk.

Such “devotion” can only be admired. 🙂

So anyway, after our very filling lunch, we all adjourned back to our home to cut the birthday cake and to open the presents.  After three days of preparation, I was very pleased to unveil the birthday cake Ethan had requested for.   On the 1st day I made the cream cheese frosting and chilled it, on the 2nd day I baked the cake, and the night before Ethan’s birthday, I relived my childhood playing with *edible play-doh* a.k.a. fondant.

After he had cut his Thomas cake in school a few days back, I had asked him if he liked the cake, and his reply was, “Yes…” and then after that he said, “Where’s my Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cake, Mommy?”

I had told him the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cake was gonna be for his home celebration.  Haha.

err….you see that small DENT on the lower left of the cake?  That was caused by Mickey having the first taste of it; you can see his nose is a little bit blue… 😛

I chose to make the nutritious and rich carrot cake with cream cheese frosting I had tried a few weeks back.

And his expression when he saw the cake was just priceless. 🙂

The birthday boy then continued opening all his presents, including the HUGE present from Daddy, Mommy and Hannah.  I had to enlist the help of one of my neighbors to help store it first lest Ethan sees it in our home and spoil the surprise.

He tore open the wrapper, and…..immediately got on it!

…and wouldn’t get down!  It was a tricycle in his favorite color: YELLOW.  He had wanted one since a few weeks before we left the US, so we figured it was high time we got him one now.

Look….all the pictures we took with him after that were of him on the trike.

Ain’t it weird that you can’t see the rest of  my body in the photo above?

…and one with both his grandmas…

Ethan definitely had a LOT of fun on his birthday.  He proudly announces he is FOUR years old now, and that he can play toys that are meant for “FOUR AND ABOVE”.

He even asked me for more presents to open… 🙂

Happy birthday, dearest Ethan Boy! 🙂