History Recap / StevenUniverseS2E26StevensBirthday

It's the morning of Steven's birthday, and despite having stayed up the previous night with Garnet, listening to her story about how Ruby and Sapphire met, Steven seems wide awake and full of energy. The Crystal Gems are gathered around the picnic table, all except for Peridot, who is still working on the drill. They ask her if she'd like to take a break and join them. She replies by clicking her welding goggles into place over her eyes and walking off without another word.

-->'''Greg:''' Baby. Toddler. Um, Whaddayacallit ... adolescent? Adolescent. Adolescent. Adolescent. You stagnated for a while there.

-->'''Steven:''' I just had a magical growth spurt! ... Just now.

--> '''Steven:''' [panting with effort] All I have to do is keep this up for the rest of my life and no one will suspect a thin--

-->'''Steven:''' When Connie grows up and becomes President, what's that gonna make me?! ''First boy?!''

-->'''Garnet:''' My power means nothing to an infant.

* AdultFear:
** Greg admits that he doesn't know what will happen as Steven gets older, if he'll stay the same or if he'll age slowly.
** Amethyst gets an OhCrap expression when she realizes that her moment of stretching gave Steven the idea to shapeshift into an older person. She warns Steven that shapeshifting for such a long time has consequences.
** When Steven reverts back to being a baby, the Gems have no idea what to do to change him back. Greg and Connie are barely keeping their cool, although Greg gets to relive raising Steven as a baby.

* RealityEnsues: Connie is surprised that the Gems don't know what to do about Steven-as-a-baby's incessant crying. Greg reminds her (and the audience) that up until recently the Gems had very little experience with humans and even ''less'' so with human infants, meaning he raised Steven up to a certain point by himself.

* {{Constellations}}: Connie and Steven look at the stars and make up constellations. Connie sees one that looks like Dogcopter and she names it [[CanisLatinicus "Canis Helicopterus"]].

* FountainOfYouth: Steven is temporarily turned into a baby, thanks to a combination of over-using his shape-shifting powers and nerves about appearing too young for Connie.

* MayflyDecemberRomance: Connie and Greg discuss the possibility that Connie will get older and Steven will remain the same. Steven even brings up the possibility of paedophilia.
-->'''Steven:''' When Connie grows up and becomes president, what's that gonna make ''me''? ''First boy!?''

* BreatherEpisode: The episode is a break from the Cluster plotline, which is lampshaded by Steven at the beginning when he asks if it's OK to stop working on the drill like this. [[SubvertedTrope It still gets relatively serious though.]]

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: When Steven ducks behind the barn to stretch himself again, he notices too late that Amethyst and his dad are also hiding there... and Amethyst is beating Greg's piñata (as in Greg is holding a piñata for Ammy to hit). Also note Amethyst and Greg's formerly close but now weird and estranged relationship.

** Amethyst and Greg when they see Steven in normal form.
** Connie when Steven turns into a baby.
* OlderThanTheyLook: It turns out Steven is actually much older than he looks but hasn't physically aged since early adolescence. Connie, by comparison, is a little more than a year younger. (Steven has literally just turned 14 in this episode, and Connie says she's 12 & three-quarters, making her almost exactly 15 months younger than him.)

* VoicesAreNotMental: Steven gets an older voice after getting bigger, which is achieved by Zach Calison using his ''[[DawsonCasting natural]]'' voice instead of the higher register he usually voices Steven with.

The next morning, Connie wakens and the shirt baby Steven was wearing is completely empty! She picks it up and shakes it out, fearing Steven is microscopically small! Connie flies out of the tent in a panic, calling for everyone, but Steven is standing outside, wearing the shirt she gifted him, and he's back to his "usual" size. He sheepishly apologizes to her, saying he wanted to look older for her. She assures him she's okay that he may not age like a human, and as Connie does so, she notices that Steven has a facial hair.

* VoicesAreNotMental: Steven gets an older voice after getting bigger, which is achieved by his actor using his ''[[DawsonCasting natural]]'' voice instead of the higher register he usually voices Steven with.

* OlderThanTheyLook: It turns out Steven is actually much older than he looks but hasn't physically aged since early adolescence. Connie, by comparison, is a little more than a year younger.

* EmptyPilesOfClothing: Connie freaks out upon finding the shirt Baby Steven was wearing is now empty, fearing he aged back even further into a zygote. Then she pops out of the tent and realizes he has returned to normal and was changing into his new shirt.

* VocalEvolution: Steven gets an older voice after getting bigger, which is achieved by his actor using his ''[[DawsonCasting natural]]'' voice instead of the higher register he usually voices Steven with.

* OptOut: Peridot skips the festivities and doesn't speak for the episode.

* TheReveal: The episode begins with the revelation that [[CheerfulChild sweet, naive little]] Steven is actually '' [[OlderThanTheyLook 14 years old]]. ''

* MayflyDecemberRomance: Connie and Greg discuss the possibility that Connie will get older and Steven will remain the same. Steven even brings up the possibility of {{Shotacon}}.

Put on your party hat and get your noisemakers ready, 'cause today's a very special day for our protagonist!

-->'''Garnet:''' My power is nothing to an infant.

* RealityEnsues: Connie is surprised that the Gems don't know what to do about Stephen-as-a-baby's incessant crying. Greg reminds her (and the audience) that up until recently the Gems had very little experience with humans and even ''less'' so with human infants, meaning he raised Stephen up to a certain point by himself.

* TheReveal: The episode begins with the revelation that [[CheerfulChild sweet, naive little]] Steven is actually [[OlderThanTheyLook 14 years old]].

Put on your party hats and get your noisemakers ready, 'cause today's a very special day for our protagonist!

* ShipTease: ''A lot'' on Steven and Connie.
* ShipperOnDeck: Greg, Garnet and Pearl for Connie and Steven.

* {{Rejuvenation}}: Steven is temporarily turned into a baby, thanks to a combination of over-using his shape-shifting powers and nerves about appearing too young for Connie.