Hendrik turned two yesterday! I want to say that I can’t believe it, but I can. Time is flying, but the last two years feel full of so much, and we’ve been so many places and done so many things that I wonder – has it really been just two years? What changes he’s gone through… and what changes we’ve gone through! We’re parents (!) of two (!!) kids, and I love them both to bits! Here are the birthday details:
We had a big birthday celebration on Wednesday night, after a full day of fabulousness. He woke up to balloons (“where did those come from?”), breakfast of choice (combo flakes), and then, after some hemming and hawing made it out the door with Gramps and Daddy, headed for the playgym. Steve hadn’t seen him in action there before, so he loved seeing how much Hendrik loved being there. Back home for lunch and then a nap and then in the afternoon he tackled some presents before a pizza dinner, cake and ice cream, a par-tay and more presents. Who was there? Grams and Gramps and Mom and Dad and Alana, Freddie and Shanti, Salvador, and Gwen and Arden – it was the perfect group.
And he was so well behaved all day long; the terrible two-ness that sometimes shows its colours stayed tucked away behind good manners, smiles and fun. One of the many tabs open one of two browsers is a (Pinterest) birthday interview; here are the questions I got to, with some interesting – and sometimes not-so-believable – answers:
who is your best friend? Gramps (said while colouring on Gramps’s lap)
what is your favourite thing to do? swimming
what’s your favourite colour? a pancake. orange.
what’s your favourite food? chocolate. (we don’t eat that much chocolate… really.)
what do you like to do with mommy and daddy? wash your hands
what’s your favourite game? pallavolo
what do you want to be when you grow up? be like daddy
what’s your favourite book? anybody at home? (other current faves – hippos go berserk, z is for zamboni, snail and the whale)
what’s your favourite number? two.
what’s your favourite animal? Dog (huh?)
what are some things that you remember? the spinny door (revolving door)
And that’s all we got to. And my take on the birthday interview? Unscripted? He is sweet and adorable, and so so so so huggable. He loves books and pallavolo and panda and ice cream and ipad time and dinosaurs and colouring. He is very independent, and sometimes quite stubborn; if he insists on doing something (“Hendrik do it Hendrik do it!”) he has to retrace his (or our) steps to where he left off, and do it all himself. He’s outspoken and has a massive vocabulary; he can say hello and thank you in four languages (English, French, Chinese, and sometimes Italian). He can use trainer chopsticks, do bumps and booms and blocks AND he knows the ready position. And here’s the most important thing: he is so so loved, by many; we……. are crazy about him! I want to bottle up his voice and hold on to and remember all of the sweet moments, the nuzzles and hugs and be able to recall them, always, as if they only happened a heartbeat ago. Sigh……. love! Happy Birthday Hendrik!
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