"I can get on the top bunk now!"

And that's the first thing he did that morning.

Or at least, tried to do before the sleepy occupant of the top bunk - viz., the older sister - unceremoniously burst his birthday balloon by belting out some impromptu rules:
You still have to get my permission.
And you can't be here when I am not home.
And you can't be in my bed when I am sleeping.
And you can't sit here with bare feet or bare bottom.
And you can't...

"MAMA! Ana is shouting at me! It is my birthday today! I am six and you said I can go on the top bunk when I am six! Ana is not letting me!"

Thus started the beautiful day of the younger kid turning six.

No more looking longingly at the top bunk and exercising immense self-control to stop himself from climbing up there, respecting the house rule that only 6 and older can go up. A rule that Papa and I made up to not have to arbiter every single day. A rule that made it seem like 2 years was an eternity. A rule, in short, that was the most difficult for the then 4 year old to understand when we laid it out for him.

A few weeks before his birthday, putting on my cool-and-casual persona, I asked, "What kind of cake do you want for your birthday?" hoping for a simple answer, nothing too complicated to make.

The answer could not have been simpler: "I just want a large carrot, Mama. No cake. Only carrot for my birthday. Okay?"

"Oh-Kay!"

And out of nowhere came the distressed voice of the 8 year old, "But Og, your birthday is not just for you. We only get to make cake at home on birthdays. So, you should choose a cake. Because I want to have cake on your birthday!"

Prehistoric life being the current area of interest for the kiddo, the cake had to be something extinct. No terrestrial or avian dinosaurs. So a marine animal it was.

And thus was born the Stethacanthus cake - a smallish, modest carrot cake cut in the shape of this prehistoric shark.

Why the unremarkable Stethacanthus and not his favorite Liopleurodon or Thalassomodon or Carcharadon Megalodon or even the notorious Mosasaurus?

Because my skills and time and patience are limited. And because Stethacanthus males had this distinctive growth on their backs that is easy to mimic in a simple cake.

Anyway, he did get the carrot with 6 candles on it to blow out. That was his birthday treat. The carrot cake satisfied his sister's cravings. And his.

He had the usual simple yet beautiful celebration at school. And he presented two books to his class, to add to the class library.

And his sister sewed him a heat pad, a pillow case, as well as a wonderfully cozy robe as his birthday presents. She picked out the fabrics with me. Not surprisingly, the pillowcase and heat pad fabric featured angry birds. But the robe is a classic plaid. [Pictures and Sewing post to follow.]