For Landon's birthday I made an elaborate train cake and for Aidyn's birthday it was an intricate polka dot cake. For AJ's birthday I brought out the cake books and sat down with him, irrationally envisioning a bonding session over cake choices. Here's how it went:
Me: "Look at all of these cool birthday cakes! Your birthday is Sunday--what kind of cake do you want?"
AJ: [flips through the first book a little and then throws it down with a sigh] "I just want a brown cake."
Me: "Um...ok...we could do a brown football or a brown teddy bear or..."
AJ: "NO! Just a brown cake. With candles."
Me: "Ok. How about a brown cake with M&M's or..."
AJ: "NO! Just. A. Brown. Cake."
Me: "Ok, buddy."
Today I convinced him to choose a shape at least, so he has a brown triangle cake with four candles. And he's happy :)