Not Easter's Birthday
On Saturday I told Louis we would be celebrating his cousin Paul's second birthday.
"Not Paul's birthday," he said. "My birthday."
A bit later I told Louis we would be going to his friend Owen's birthday party on Sunday--at the train museum. A party at the train museum sounded just fine. But again Louis thought it should be his birthday.
"Your birthday was in November," I told him.
November. Long enough ago that Louis thought it should be his turn again and near enough that he remembered the fun of being the birthday boy.
So we sang "Happy Birthday to You" to the Cat in the Hat. And to the puppy dog. And to Baba. And to Mama. We even sang it to Louis a few times. We placed wooden trains in boxes and gave them to each other and pretended to be surprised. We said "thank you" and "oh, wow" and all the right things.
Then Louis and I headed out to the grocery store to get ingredients for Paul's cake. Because Paul is also a train enthusiast, we picked out candy for train tracks and for the hoppers to carry. (And the birthday boy loved it.)
While we were shopping for hopper coal, Louis and I paused by the Easter display.
"Oh, look at the chocolate bunnies!" I said.
"A chocolate bunny for Louis?" Louis asked sweetly.
"Those are for Easter," I told him. "Easter isn't for a long time--not until after Mary's birthday."
From his seat in the cart, Louis gazed longingly at the bunnies.
"Yes," he said. "It's not Easter's birthday."
Poor Easter.
Still, our non-birthday boy managed to summon up a cheese smile for his 2-year-old cousin.
Happy birthday, Paul!
"Not Paul's birthday," he said. "My birthday."
A bit later I told Louis we would be going to his friend Owen's birthday party on Sunday--at the train museum. A party at the train museum sounded just fine. But again Louis thought it should be his birthday.
"Your birthday was in November," I told him.
November. Long enough ago that Louis thought it should be his turn again and near enough that he remembered the fun of being the birthday boy.
So we sang "Happy Birthday to You" to the Cat in the Hat. And to the puppy dog. And to Baba. And to Mama. We even sang it to Louis a few times. We placed wooden trains in boxes and gave them to each other and pretended to be surprised. We said "thank you" and "oh, wow" and all the right things.
Then Louis and I headed out to the grocery store to get ingredients for Paul's cake. Because Paul is also a train enthusiast, we picked out candy for train tracks and for the hoppers to carry. (And the birthday boy loved it.)
While we were shopping for hopper coal, Louis and I paused by the Easter display.
"Oh, look at the chocolate bunnies!" I said.
"A chocolate bunny for Louis?" Louis asked sweetly.
"Those are for Easter," I told him. "Easter isn't for a long time--not until after Mary's birthday."
From his seat in the cart, Louis gazed longingly at the bunnies.
"Yes," he said. "It's not Easter's birthday."
Poor Easter.
Still, our non-birthday boy managed to summon up a cheese smile for his 2-year-old cousin.
Happy birthday, Paul!
Haha! When will it finally be Easter's birthday? haha!
ReplyDeleteRita, You are going to think I am 100% crazy. For all these months I have many blogs in my 'favorites' including yours. I know Louis has been a member of your family for quite some time but still check for pictures now and again. After months of checking I had kept ending up on the same post (Dec 09 I think?) I assumed you no longer updated your blog. In any case, tonight I FINALLY realized that when I saved it under my favorites it was not on your home page but on that particular date. I have spent the last 30 minutes looking over tons of pictures of your beautiful family. What a threesome you are. Louis could not be any cuter. I loved the picture of him in that cool car...and the one with him putting the bunny whiskers on. I will have to check back more regularly now. LOL
ReplyDeleteWhat a joy he has within him, Rita!!! So cute and that cake! WOW!!!
ReplyDelete