Riley's fourth birthday

The downside of a near-holiday birthday is that few friends are in town on your actual birthday. The upside? You get to celebrate twice, once on a convenient day for your friends and then again on your actual birthday. Riley shared his second celebration with his favorite buddy, Jack, and the good people of Benihana.  












Once the chef started firing up the grill, Andy told the boys to cover their eyebrows lest they get cinged by flames. They dubiously, but dutifully, complied.

And they spent a ton of time perfecting their chopstick skills, which is quite important for Rilz because sushi is -- by FAR -- his favorite food. My theory is that sushi is the 2014 San Francisco equivalent of Chicken McNuggets in my childhood -- bite-size, adorable, and delicious. So it should not have surprised me that we trekked to a Japanese grill for his birthday, and he still ordered the only thing on the menu not cooked by the performing chef: sushi, of course.

While the 4-year-olds enjoyed a night out, their siblings enjoyed their first official play date. Glen Park Babies: The New Class!

Back home, Rilz delighted in the custom ice cream cake he enthusiastically designed at Mitchell's, including picking Rocky Road ice cream and a clown design. The lucky kid also received a bounty of gifts, which he's been enjoying ever since.








He's bananas for math and science so this math set from Fiona was a hit. Similarly, he loved the light-up moon gifted by neighbors, Rusty and Kevin. He keeps it at the foot of his bed and uses its remote control to cycle through the phases of the moon. Such power!

He has been equally enamored by the powers of Spider Man. When friends, Aine and Cora, gave him the famous red mask, he'd never heard of Spidey or any super hero for that matter. But he instantly dug the concept of super powers and spent the next two weeks ensnaring mom and dad in make-believe webs.

More smiles for a giant talking Plane and -- the biggest hit of all -- an Angry Birds play set. We have learned recently that if Cousin Rene is into something, Riley soon will be, too. That makes Cousin Rene the most popular gift-giver in our house; he inspired Riley's Angry Birds obsession and stoked it with this awesome gift.