Happy Birthday to Ruthie

Yesterday was Ruthie’s 4th birthday so we threw a dinner party in her honor. We began talking about it several weeks ago when, with pen and paper in hand, I asked what she wanted for her party. It was funny how precise she was, and how reasonable. I had wondered what I would be getting myself into by asking her, thinking there would be much tears and drama if I could not provide ponies or bouncy machines or any other high expectations. As if she had been preparing for this conversation her whole life, she confidently rattled off the following:

“I want a cake with pink frosting and red strawberries, and red balloons and red streamers.”

First of all, there was no mention of Dora in her request, which made me want to check her birthmarks to see if she’d been body snatched. Second, what is with the introduction of red? My girl is a Pink Lady and wants nothing to do with anything that is not pink. I was really surprised by all this, but she stayed true to her requests for weeks, continually checking in with me to make sure I remembered the pink cake with red strawberries.

And what birthday celebration would be complete without a little mishap to end the night with? After many folks had cleared out and there were just two families left visiting with us, Ruthie came up from downstairs where we had a table set up with craft supplies for all the kids to create with. She had taken a scissors to her hair – a small chunk out of her bangs and most of her pig tail that was on top of her head.

Such is life. It happens to every kid, and I know it will grow back. I’m just glad she didn’t cut into some other poor kid’s hair!

(our flickr set is here).

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