Joe is almost eight months old, which means in four months he will be one, which means it’s time for me to start my mental vision board for the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT CAKE I WILL MAKE IN MY LIFE, his birthday cake. Initial brainstorm yields a baby food pouch inspired cake, Mango Buttercream and Banana puree and sprinkles that dissolve like puffs and tiny first teeth and the days are long but the years are short and all of it on all of our faces and laps, hugged by frosting, soft blue words saying what? How do I show the person I love most in the world that love him with a Cake? And how many layers? ONE MILLION, AT LEAST. A ladder up to the top of the cake, a rung for each moment of his life.