The world of cake and icing and sprinkles is new to a 1 year old. The colorful, fun, enticing cake in front of them might look interesting, but touching it is a totally different matter. The texture of the sprinkles stuck to their icing covered hand can be quite puzzling. A first child has rarely had any type of interaction with sugar and sweets and cake before.

The more cautious take their time. They poke and prod at the cake trying to figure out what the heck it is. With a little help from a parents finger they’ll try the icing. Sometimes their eyes glaze over and they dig in mouth first. Other times they wince and the icing comes right back out of their mouth with a look of disgust.

Sometimes getting past the mound of icing and to the fluffy cake does the trick. Usually less sweet than the icing alone, kids tend to react better to being fed a pinch of it. This also helps them realize there’s many layers to this unknown concoction. Sometimes they enjoy the mess more than they do actually eating it. Once they realize they have the free range to destroy something, they enjoy it. When they discover that they can wave their hands and icing and sprinkles will shower everywhere, they repeat it over and over and over.

Occasionally it requires some forced smushing assisted by a parent or two. Bottom line, there is always a mess. The way that mess comes to fruition is a toss-up.