Festival of Reid, part 2

July 26, 2007 by Barbara.

I woke Reid on her birthday by singing “Happy Birthday to You.” Some of you have heard me sing and will think that it was a cruel thing to do to a sleeping child but Reid still likes to hear me sing.

At daycare, Reid’s friends and teachers sang to her and gave her a sticker, a card and a pencil. She also had a cupcake with a candle at afternoon snack. I suspect that she also got to go first all day because at supper she insisted that I pour her milk first “betause I’m the birfday durl.” Ken *always* gets milk first if Reid is in charge of the order.

When we got home, there was a message from Melissa and her kids singing “Happy Birthday to you” and wishing Reid a great day. Reid had the biggest smile on her face by the time the message was over - it spread over her face as she listened, just like they say in books. I have to confess that a message was probably better than live. Reid doesn’t always want to talk when people call and the excitement of her birthday might have made it impossible.

Reid had received a number of presents in the mail or through Uncle Roger’s courrier service, that we decided it would be less overwhelming if we let her open some before supper. On Saturday, she had dragged the stool to the bookshelf where the presents were. When asked what she was doing, Reid just said, “I need it.” We explained that she had to wait for her birthday and she reluctantly agreed.

What a girly girl, she is. She oohed and ahhed over the clothes, was delighted by the yellow rubber firefighter boots and stopped to play with the toys and books.  (Thanks to everone who sent a gift. The thank you cards will be coming soon.)

Aunty Amanda joined us for supper. Reid chose chicken curry and ate like a trooper, though it was a bit spicier than usual. She just needed to add more “cream” (plain yogurt) and even let me help her. We were both focused on getting to the cake, I think.

I’d purchased a cake from Loblaws that had characters from Madagascar on it. Reid had no idea what their names were but liked them for being zoo animals. I asked her to take them off of the cake so that I could cut it. Being a helpful sort of kid, she licked the icing off of the bottoms. When the icing was gone, Reid dipped the hippo back in his icing lake. She also swiped the icing letters that spelled her name off the top of the cake. Once I handed her a piece of cake, though, Reid took only one bite before declaring herself full. By this time she had enough icing on her hands that when she rubbed them together they made that wonderful sucking sound you get with fingerpaints. Two napkins and a wash cloth later, Reid was clean enough to carry to the bathroom to wash up.

Once the rest of us finished our cake and ice cream, Reid opened presents from Aunty Amanda and Aunty Jane (Amanda’s mom) and us. She wasn’t really interested in the cards - is any kid? - but again liked the presents. Fortunately for her, I misplaced the card I’d bought for her. If when I find it, I’ll have to give it to her. But if it doesn’t mention the number 3, maybe I will hold onto it. Yes, I am that cheap. Reid will look at her cards when we get home, I think, because she took down and looked at the cards that Ken got for his birthday.

Reid crashed pretty quickly that night. Being a birthday girl is tiring work, don’t you know.

Ken and I had each left work about half an hour early. I think that was key to us being able to enjoy Reid’s birthday. I’ll have to remember that for next year. Buying the cake was important, too. I would have been stressed trying to get the cake finished Tuesday after gymnastics. I had some many ideas of what to do but ultimately, I decided that I *had* to make the curry because that\’s what Reid definitely wanted. She\’d asked for a chocolate cake but I knew that she wouldn\’t eat much if any.

Okay, I’m done patting myself on the back now.

 Edited timestamp to place post closer to Reid”s birthday. I’m controlling like that.

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