The Twins Turn One Before Halloween

The twins turned one this week, so the whole family gathered on the back deck in Los Angeles for a party that leaned Halloween — grandpa showed up in a shirt covered in jack-o'-lanterns, and one of the balloons tied to the patio chair was a Frankenstein head, floating next to a big silver number one.

Presents first. My Pal Scout, a green plush dog, was the hit of the bag, though their big sister claimed it for inspection before either birthday boy got a real turn. The boys mostly sat on laps and pulled at the tissue paper while everyone else did the unwrapping.

Then the smash cakes. Two little monster cakes with candy horns and googly eyes, one blue and one green, one per high chair. They approached them differently — one went face-first and ended up with blue frosting across his chin, the other kept poking at the green one like he wasn't sure it was food. The dogs stationed themselves under the trays and waited.

By the end the blue monster was missing most of its face and both boys were done, red pants covered in crumbs.