The display case is filled with beautiful goodies; miniature tarts stuffed with glossy fruit, tall cakes decorated with tiny flowers, thick donuts covered in colorful icing and over-sized cookies littered with giant chocolate chunks.
Grandma orders her sundae and looks back at me.
You ready, babe?
I leave the case and join my grandmother at the ice cream counter.
Can I have a banana split?
Her wide grin spreads slowly across her soft cheeks. Well, it is your birthday, so I guess you can have whatever you want.
The excitement rises in my cheeks. Mom never lets me get banana splits.
One banana split for my oldest granddaughter. She winks at me, pays the cashier and leads me to the small table along the wall. We sit and wait for our gooey treats talking about my new shoes, Sunday school, Grandma's garden, baking pies, little siblings, anything that comes to mind really.
I love my Grandmother. She always listens to my stories but never makes me feel silly or babyish. Today is always our special day. Every year, near my birthday, I get to spend one day all by myself with her. That's not easy with so many cousins and siblings. Seems there's always some other little kid around. We shop for brand new shoes and get ice cream. She does it with all her other grandchildren, but i just know she loves my day best. I can feel it.
The man working at the shop delivers our ice cream. My banana split is huge, I've never seen so much ice cream.
I thought maybe you were going to get that pink donut?
I shake my head. No way. It's too hot outside. Ice cream is perfect.
She nods in agreement.
I take bite after bite, watching the ice cream begin to melt. The three colored sauces swirling around one another, turning from their distinct hues to a brownish gray.
Grandma finishes her sundae, How you doing?
I sigh, Getting really full. But I keep eating. Wasting food is not allowed, especially when I've chosen so extravegantly.
Babe, you don't have to finish it. Just eat what you want.
I smile and put my spoon down. Grandma really is the best.
This piece was written in response to a prompt at the Red Dress Club: write a piece, fiction or non-fiction, inspired by the delicious shot. Word limit is 600.
Like I said yesterday, I'm having trouble organizing my thoughts into stories lately. As soon as I saw this picture, I knew what I wanted to write about, but I'm just not sure the story came across the way I wanted it to. Constructive criticism welcome...
This week has been sort of crazy...aren't they all though?
But in particular, I've decided that I need more stability in my life, so I've been pushing myself to get things organized at my in-law's house. I have not made it very far. Also, I'm doing a bit of contract work for my old company. So that hasn't left much time for blogging. I love my blog, but money's always going to win out. So if anyone wants to pay me to write my blog every day...speak up...PLEASE!!!!
See, although we moved here 2 months ago, I don't really feel like we've moved. You know? We've been in Richmond every single weekend of those 2 months getting the house ready, packing, moving stuff, etc. Now, that we're past that stage, I feel the need to become a bit more settled.
The basement, which is basically where my little family has it's living space, is a wreck. I mean we have the main area set up nicely, but the kids toys are everywhere - awe, just like home :)
The storage area of the basement is nightmarish! As we unloaded our cars each week, the stuff that needed storage just kind of got tossed in a pile. So now that needs to be a bit more organized and neat. Especially if Ainsley every wants to use her trampoline again.
So that is my goal. To have all that cleaned up by Freddie's birthday party...next weekend. Ahhhhh! Lots to do, and very little time to do it.
Speaking of birthday party...can you believe it? I can't! I can't believe that my little monster will be 1 next Friday!!!! Where has the time gone? So in honor of the approaching birthday, here is a little update on all that Freddie's doing these days...the good, bad and ugly.
The Good
I always heard that second children don't talk as early as the first. So, I gotta say, that I'm a bit blown away at all that Freddie "says." Here's a list of his most common words: -Baaw - Ball. The kid loves a ball. The only thing that excites him more than a ball is the song "Baby Beluga." -Baa Baa Baa - Baby Beluga. My MIL has this song on a CD and Freddie asks for it. Ainsley learned this song right around her first birthday. Freddie will say Baaa, Baaa, Baaa while he rocks back and forth and tilts his head to the left - BUT only the left. He doesn't go right. If you don't believe me, watch this...
-Nigh Nigh - I believe this is Night Night. But I think he also uses it for Nanny. He always says it when we're saying good night to everyone. He also says it when I have gone past bedtime. But I also randomly hear him say it when Denise is around. So maybe it has a duel meaning. -Ahhh Daaa - All done. I'm trying to teach him signs, so he says this with great enthusiasm while vigorously shaking his hands in the air. -AHhh DoTT - He says this a lot, I'm thinking it's "What's that?"
-Uhhh Ahhh - Uh Oh...everyone's favorite
Then of course we have the Muma and Daada which are always wonderful to hear.
Freddie can also wave bye-bye, clap, do the sign for "all done", I think he may be trying to do the sign for "more" but it looks like clapping, dance, play patty-cake, feed himself, drink from a sippy cup and stomp around the house. He is not graceful (see the ugly section).
The Bad
-He LOVES the toilet paper roll. Don't turn your back on him in the bathroom because in less than 5 seconds he can empty the roll of toilet paper by spinning it with is fat little hands.
-He bites. I have the bruises to prove it.
-He hates any activity where you are forcing him to be still: diaper changes, getting dressed, getting undressed, strapping him into his car seat/stroller/highchair, wiping his nose.
-He doesn't really like the dogs to be near him - probably because they either knock him down or lick his face until he can't breath. BUT, he loves the dog bowls. Sometimes I'll look over and see him concentrating very hard with his mouth closed. That's the sign for "I just put a piece of dog food in my mouth and it's really hard and I'm not sure what to do with it, but interesting flavor." Also, I have to hide the water bowls or he'll soak himself.
The Ugly
HE IS NOT GRACEFUL!!!
He did this while walking. Really. He falls, randomly. I know that he just started walking, but I don't feel like Ainsley was this klutzy and she was pretty brave at this age. She wasn't really apprehensive about walking. But then again, maybe I was just more on top of her all the time. Who knows the reason. But he literally was walking towards Ainsley's doll house when he fell face first into it, broke one of the windows and was stabbed in the head with the jagged end of the wood. I saw the broken window first and I gotta say that I was sure we'd be making a trip to the ER. But he's good. I think it looks worse than it is.
