Not about the birthday — I think she knows; I’ve told it to her a million times now and I think she totally understands me. But about the puppy.
It’s supposed to be a surprise.
The one who can’t see his Halo girl cry, her daddy, is going to pick it up after work.
Anyway in this moment, my baby’s excitement is due to something else altogether.
It’s because we’re baking. And Halo loves baking as well.
She has to be present in the kitchen when I bake. She has to sit in that high chair and help me put the butter in the mixing bowl and measure out cups of sugar, add in a pinch of salt and everything.
And every time she does, we have little high fives.
But her favorite part is frosting.
I think she loves the colors. The brighter, the better.
And so I’m leaning across the island, flipping pages of an amazing baking recipe book that I found online, showing her all the pretty colors that she wants to see.
They have some elaborate decorations on their cupcakes. I’m an amateur baker; I can’t do all that but I at least know how to whip up some amazing shades so I’m asking her, “Okay, this one?”
Her answer is to chew on her teething ring we bought her a few months back when her first teeth started to come in and she was miserable, she still loves it, and scrunch her nose.
“Hmm… so not this one then.” I flip the page and show her a pretty green cake. “What about this one?” I ask excitedly. “How green it is. Look! So pretty. Like Mommy’s dress. See?”
I’m wearing a light green sundress with white flowers that Halo sees but instantly dismisses by shaking her head and making protesting noises.
“What? You don’t like Mommy’s dress?” I pout and she shakes her head again.
Narrowing my eyes at her, which only makes her giggle and chew on her toy, I say, “All right, girlfriend, I’ll remember this. I’ll remember what you said about Mommy’s dress. But for now we need to figure this thing out. We need to figure out what to color those cupcakes we made for Daddy and…”
I stop talking because that just gets her to another level of excitement, Daddy.
He’s not the only one crazy about his Halo girl actually. She’s crazy about him too.
You can’t say ‘Daddy’ in front of her, without her getting super excited. She’ll flap her chubby arms, wiggle her tiny body and laugh and chuckle and squeal, fill the room with her happiness and joy at the mention of him.
Like she’s doing right now.
And she’ll say random baby syllables. “Da da… Da da da…”
“I know,” I say, leaning further over to nuzzle my nose in her sweet smelling hair. “We made cupcakes for Daddy. He’s gonna love it, right?”
She wiggles her little body even more, opening and closing her fists, as if calling for him. “Da da… da da…”
I kiss her cheek. “Aww, I know. I miss him too. He’ll be back soon though. And then you can tell him all about your day. About how you made cookies with Mommy earlier and your birthday cake. And how we went to the park in the morning and when we came back, we picked out our outfit for tomorrow’s birthday party.” I widen my eyes and she does it too. “And oh my God, it’s so pretty, right? It’s pink!”
More random baby syllables and nodding.
I nod too to show her how excited I am, which I totally am. Because itisa cute outfit. It’s a frilly tutu-style dress and I got my baby some cute little pointe shoes to go with them.
Along with her love of baking and puppies and her daddy, Halo loves ballet too.
She loves to watch me dance. Sometimes I’ll do a twirl just to make her laugh. She especially loves it when I don the whole costume, leotard and tutu.
“Yeah, it is,” I continue, talking to her excitedly. “It’s pink and it’s pretty and it’s so cute. Just like Halo. And my Halo’s gonna look like a little ballerina tomorrow, right? Just like Mommy.”
She keeps nodding and I kiss her cheek again, making her laugh.
