What with our verbal skills and, you know, fully formed skulls, we adults have many things babies do not. But one thing we lack is a socially acceptable method of plunging face- and mouth-first into birthday cake.
Advantage: babies.
Mostly because “how could we say no to dat cute widdle face?”, babies have suckered us into giving them entire, wholly disposable cakes on their first birthdays in a ritual known as “Cake Smash.” We partnered with Clorox to round up the cutest, messiest and jealousy-inducing-est examples of babies going to town on their first cake.
Prepare to live vicariously as freshly minted 1-year-olds encounter for the first magical time all the glory that is cake.
At first they’re all like, “What is this mysterious, colorful and apparently flammable block that the Large Ones have given me?”
Video courtesy of Preston Parker.
Then confusion sets in. After all, up until this point, parents have frowned upon babies’ whole putting-things-in-mouths routine. Now suddenly it’s all, “Go ahead, play with your food! Bibs are totally optional!”
Video courtesy of Malinda Massey.
So what’s a budding human to do besides embark on this new adventure? (Albeit with prudent levels of suspicion.)
Video courtesy of Katie Connor.
( ... Of course adventures are tiring business, and sometimes they require additional frosting -- er, study. Additional study.)
Video courtesy of Aaron Kotyluk.
But, finally, the epiphany: This cake stuff -- it is not bad. It’s like finger painting. Mixed with sugar.
Video courtesy of Katie Connor.
“No, really” -- munch, munch, munch -- “have you guys tried this stuff?”
Video courtesy of Alicia Rydman.
Then follows the thrill of discovering that the cake belongs SOLELY TO YOU. “It’s mine!”
Video courtesy of Malinda Massey.
"That said, Large One, I grant you limited access to the sweet frosted block to facilitate expedited frosting delivery."
Video courtesy of Kristen Ness.
New uses for cake emerge. Frosting, it turns out, makes for excellent war paint.
Video courtesy of Patricia Paré.
We can certainly learn a lot from this precocious child: Always get on the phone and order more cake before your current cake runs out.
Video courtesy of Alicia Rydman.
And from this one: every outfit goes with cake. (No matter how formal the necktie.)
Video courtesy of the Daily Davidsons and Tiffany Darlyn.
But maybe the best thing babies can show us is this: Lean in to cake. Also, life. Lean in to cake and life!
Video courtesy of Sheree at Posh Classy Mom.
We’re not even going to bother with captions anymore. We just wish it were socially acceptable for us to do this with our cake.
Video courtesy of Devin and Erica.
If there is a moral to this story, it’s that cake rules. Babies rule. Cake and babies rule.
Video courtesy of Todd Farino.
Even when babies are not diving headlong into frosting, their clothes tend to get a bit ... messy. Luckily, Clorox’s stain-removing and color-boosting laundry products can handle all your clothes’ worst stains. (So they can have their cake and eat it, too.)