Happy Birthday, Ethan

I'm so far behind, (yah, still :) But I feel like I forget so much with all of the backtracking, so I'm skipping ahead and will toss in oldies when I can...


We celebrated E's birthday on Sunday. Its really crazy to see him get older. I remember, love struck, wishing him a happy 16th twenty one years ago......

P thought a good approach for future birthdays (starting, um, Sunday..) was for everyone to get gifts regardless of who's birthday it was. Slightly comical, since neither E nor I ever do gifts for our birthdays :) He formed this brainchild as he counted his pennies on the kitchen floor. Then he realized he could probably buy his own gift, there was such a Big pile of change to count. (His plan to make money by watching the sidewalks is working out pretty well. He finds loose change every day, and if that isn't enough, he merely asks random family members to donate spare change to his cause :) So he began trading quarters for "paper money." Then he worked his way through his dimes, nickels and pennies, "xchangin, BB, I'm xchangin my money for paper money from Mama."

Looking at his little pile of dough, he sighed, and said if only he had a big head. A wha? "A Big Head Mama. If only I had a Big Head, then I could use the Big Head and two Little Heads to buy that nail toy I want." P has been lusting after one of those old fashioned nail press games (where you push your hands against the nails and whalah! there's a hand print in the nails!). But he finally chose a dragon puppet last time he entered the toy store to purchase the nail toy... Yah, last time, when he entered the toy store with one twenty and two ones. Ahhh, one Big Head and two Little heads ;)

So I briefly mentioned that the numbers in the corners were typically how the paper money is differentiated, but he thought that was a bit silly and much preferred Big Heads and Little Heads. E popped out of the shower right then and he, apparently, looked ripe for the taking. ""Papa. Papaaaaa. I was wondering," said the Little Man, "if you would want to give me a Big Head for your birthday. I only need one, so that I can have one Big Head and two Little Heads."

I wish I would have gotten a pic of E's face :)

At any rate, E's birthday started with a trip to the toy store (which was out of the nail toy! P persevered though and found something to take its place, hehe.) And then we headed south to a cemetery.

I know, that doesn't sound so appealing on cyber paper. But its one of the city's most unused green spaces, and gorgeous to boot. E was feeling a need to get out of town (we had hoped to actually leave town for the weekend, but alas, that didn't happen) and I hoped this would at least feel like we were somewhere else. And it did.



It was gorgeous. Rolling hills, perfectly pruned trees, nooks and crannies to wander through. E felt like he was wandering somewhere in New England and I, therefore, felt like a successful wife, rather than an underachiever who hadn't gotten us out of town :) The Little Man felt like he'd died and gone to heaven, there were acorns and pebbles and the Most Enormous Pinecones he'd Ever Seen lying everywhere, just begging to be collected. And collect he did. Until his wee bag was overflowing...

P, wishing he could collect this spider web. So he insisted I take a picture. As I fairly failed at capturing the glint off of the web to his satisfaction (if you click the pic so its bigger, there's a partial web, but only a partial), P informed me that Aunt Alicia can photograph spider webs :) He seemed miffed that I would have a short coming, which truly tickled me...



We scooted back north through our hood, hanging out in a community garden, just enjoying the twilight, until our tummies rumbled. The day ended with a shared pumpkin cheesecake topped with a broken candle and an off tune serenade. E acted like he loved it. Which is just one more reason we love him. Our devoted, dashing, discerning, darling E. Our strong, semi-silent ;) super sensitive man, who chugs away every day to keep us afloat. My sun has risen and set with him for over twenty years, and I'm still excited (ridiculously so) to see him every evening. I know P only sees one sun in his sky right now (and I'm enjoying the hell out of my star status), but he's so amazingly lucky to have such a fabulous father (that will, one day I'm sure, eclipse me entirely in the Little Man's mind. And that's cool too :)