Our Claire Turned One Year Old

Our granddaughter turned one year old on January 31st. My husband Jim just happened to have that Tuesday off so we traveled down to his daughter's house to celebrate the big day. I promised to bake a chocolate Teddy Bear cake and all went well until I couldn't find my caking decorating kit with all my cake tips. After feeling a bit of panic and searching in all the places I felt it should be, it turned up.

I baked two 8" circles in my round pans, one for the body and one for the head. Feeling the head should be smaller I cut some pieces off it, using part of it for arms and also the ears. My step-daughter wasn't sure she wanted Claire to have a lot of icing so I suggested I ice all the cake but the ears and just tuck them up against the head of the bear. She thought this was a good idea..

I used two chocolate maple buds for the eyes and a walnut for the nose and then using one of my cake decorating tips added the mouth and feet. I decided to put the cake on a cookie sheet and carried it on my lap for the hour's drive. I wasn't taking any chances of it falling off the back seat if Jim had to apply the brakes in a hurry.

Our granddaughter greeted us by waving at us as we entered the house, standing at the couch. She is crawling now and walking around the furniture. We had a great play day with her, me crawling on the floor with her, reading her stories and feeding her. Jim joined us on the floor for playtime and we made some wonderful memories.

We decided family photos would be in order so we placed the cake on the blanket box/coffee table and I kept one finger on it as Claire was very enthusiastic over the prospect of FOOD! Her mother had a good grip on her but at one point during the picture taking Claire lunged forward enough to grab an ear off her cake and stuff it in her mouth. That was so much fun for us all..she knew best when to try out her first piece of cake and after all it was HERS...

A first birthday just isn't complete without being covered in cake crumbs from head to toe. We all sang happy birthday, placed Claire in her high chair and let her go at the rest of her treat. We all enjoyed a big slice along with her. As usual we took tons of photos. My step-daughter is thrilled with the cotton blanket I knit Claire for her birthday, she called last week to say it's just the perfect size. We also gave Claire a pair of pyjamas and her very first piggy bank which rattles with money. Claire thought it might taste good too as she tried to bite her bank. Everything goes into the mouth at this young age.

I'm hoping by next year Claire can phone her Nanny (me) and tell me what kind cake she would like for her second birthday. "Nanny, will you bake me a cake this year?".
"Why, I'd love to my little treasure, what shape would you like this year?"
"A giraffe, Nanny, please make me a giraffe".

That might be a real stretch for her Nanny's cake decorating abilities but I'll give it the old College try as I'm sure no matter what it looks like, it will still taste great. I'm looking forward to all the cakes in our future and maybe someday she can help in the baking process..or make her Nanny a cake!