Birthday Cake

Today was my birthday.  Now, not to downplay Heidi’s efforts, because she was wonderful and made me an apple pie and watched Firefly with me, but…. 

I have the sweetest little girl.  I’m quite sure that there’s never been a little girl sweeter than Elaina.  This picture is of the “birthday cake” that she made me this morning.  She sang “Happy Birthday” (an abbreviated form, not unlike something you’d expect to hear in a karaoke bar if the teleprompter went out), complete with clapping and saying “yea” as she had me blow out my candles.  She prepared this “strawberry cake” all by herself, unprompted by Mommy.

From the moment I saw her this morning, she was saying, “Happy Birthday”, and I got lots of birthday hugs and kisses before work. 

When I came home from work, she excitedly told me about the pie she made me, shouted “Happy Birthday, Daddy”, and then gave me another big hug and kiss.  (The pie “she made me” was actually the pie Heidi made me, but Elaina…um…helped--until she was just too much “help”). 

Heidi says that she didn’t coach Elaina to do all this.  I wasn’t sure she really would even understand that Daddies had birthdays, or that having a two-year-old daughter making a big deal about it would…well…be a big deal.  I guess, she did understand that, and I’ve only started to.