It was not hard to come up with a theme for Derek's birthday party. He has been collecting and even building his own Rubik's cubes for over a year now and he can solve every one of them. His collection has been growing to the point that he is actually building a display for all of them. When he packed to go to Disneyland his biggest concern was which cubes would get to go along with him and how would he fit them all in his backpack.
The table and food were done in bright "cube" colors (almost, the food didn't quite measure up to my expectations, especially the blueberry yogurt) and the gifts were wrapped in those same colors with graph paper letters to spell out his name. He was very excited to come upstairs to the smell of chimichangas (which had nothing to do with the Rubik's theme but happens to be one of his favorite meals) and all of the side foods creating an edible "cube".
The cake had to fit the theme but this is where my lack of Rubik's knowledge became so obvious. To be honest, even holding a Rubik's cube makes me anxious. As I was putting the colored squares onto the white fondant (white instead of black because he thinks the cubes with the white background are "sweet"), Justin came in and watched for only a second before stating, you have two blue centers. So? Um, yeah, so there is only supposed to be one center of each color and each color needs 9 squares. I had calculated six. . . three across and three down. I am not mentally equipped for such a challenge and I forgot to check Rubik's for Dummies out of the library before taking on such a challenge. Justin and I had a good laugh at my expense and then named the cake the IBC Cake. Impossible Birthday Cube Cake. Not only can it not be solved because it is a cake but even if he could pick up his birthday cake, snap in the piece that had popped out, rotate all those colors and attempt to solve it, well, it's impossible.
After we all enjoyed dinner and attempting to mix up cubes well enough that Derek couldn't solve them, we headed to the basement for our activity.
We had sixteen balloons blown up and taped up on a board in a 4x4 cube. Each balloon had 1-3 items (coins, $1 bills, candy). We took turns with blowing darts (yes, we have those on hand at our house) popping the balloons. When the items fell out of the balloon that was popped, the person who popped it would tell Derek that many things that they like about him. It was a fun combination of competition, weaponry, kind words and laughter (mostly at Erika and I who had a hard time getting the blow darts to actually pop a balloon compared to Nathan who popped one every time it was his turn). It has been fun to watch back over the videos and to hear the kind things said about Derek.
Derek could not decide what gift he liked the best: the whales from Vivien, the Dremel from LeRoy or the random cubes (80's key chain cube, sudoku cube, weird shaped cubes) from the rest of us. Derek spent that evening, and many days following, sitting in the chair with his whales and cubes.
Now he is planning for his first date, which by tradition will be with his mommy. Happy Sweet Sixteen, Derek!!
Things we like about Derek (list taken from balloon activity):
creative
hard working
is good at cooking
makes everyone feel included
builds cool things
smile
is amazing at the cello
sweet laugh
can reach really high things
strange dancing
pretty cool
extremely handy to have around, can do anything
good at Rubik's cubes
fun to play with
sexy deep voice
good at Wackee Six
always up for an adventure
Derek now stand a very tall 6' 3.75". LeRoy is so convinced that Derek grows every week that at least every other week he convinces Derek to stand again the door frame so that he can check.
His growth marks are there for the last two years. From age 14 to age 15 Derek grew a full three inches which left stretch marks along his back that look like whip marks and many nights of painful growth spurts.
Derek thinks it's quite funny to ask for his bedtime hug and I walk over to the stairs so that he can step down two steps for his hug or I'll stand on the couch to get the hug. The Sunday that he was ordained to the office of a Priest we were taking some pictures outside and we all found this picture funny. He likes to stand behind me and imitate what I'm saying to the person I'm talking too.
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