The Sultan of Brunei's party it was not

Ebby's a year old. This came as a huge surprise to me (Andrew) as I was under the simultaneous and contradictory impressions that he had a) just arrived and b) always been a part of our family.

The infant in question

We set about Ebby's birthday preparations with all the zeal of parents who, in spite of their impoverished circumstances, were fully aware that it is unlikely that he will remember any of it. One corner of a room was lavishly decorated with a "happy birthday" banner, 25 half-inflated balloons, and a castle I built out of his blocks for him to destroy. Several toys were in attendance, as well.
Shortly after we woke him from his afternoon nap, Ebby was presented with the following:

Royal Trappings

The Beesley family has never been big on ceremony, and Ebby showed his heritage well by tearing off the crown the instant we placed it upon his head. No crown need adorn the head of our king for a day, as he needed no such symbols to remind the world of his dominance.
Having been put in our place, we sang 'Happy Birthday' accompanied by Mom and Dad via cell-phone and Skype (cell phone for the audio, since Skype's sound-transmitting software had apparently been shut down in honor of Ebby's birthday and we could only get video on it). We then offered Ebby some cupcake, prompting this response:

"What is this garbage?"

Apparently the name (or middle name, in Ebby's case) 'James' imparts a general distaste for things the rest of the world views as delicious. Just like his uncle, Ebby was at first perplexed and then revolted by the cupcake I had slaved over for countless minutes. Good thing I used a mix and packaged frosting, or this rejection would have cut deeply.

Here we have Ebby's initial reaction to his birthday festivities. Though it may appear that he is running to Joy, the monitor with my parents on it, and me in turns because he's so happy to see us, the truth is that he was scared of the balloons. That fear had passed by the end of the night, and he destroyed several to celebrate having overcome his fear. And to teach the balloons to never cross him again.

True horror