Happy Birthday, Dominic!

And he said, “Almost two.”

Everyone laughed.  Therese corrected, “No, you’re two now.”

But he kept saying, “Almost two.”

Dominic and I didn’t start the day off on the right foot.  I got there early to help decorate the community center.  My dad was getting supplies from the car.  My mom was in the kitchen organizing.  Therese was in search of scissors and tape.  So I was in charge of watching the birthday boy.  It was just me and him.  With everyone gone, he asked loudly, “cookie?”

I pretended to ignore him.  All family members have explicitly been told not to give him sweets, especially since the kid kicks and screams whenever he gets his teeth brushed.  

“Cookie???”  He asked louder.

“No Dominic.  No cookie.”

“COOKIE, COOKIE, COOKIE!!!”  He screamed.  His eyes watered up.  A few tears trickled down his face before he wizened up, and wiped his face.  Then the kid gave me the evil eye.  Seriously.  Great, I thought, he hates me.  The birthday boy hates me.

When my mom walked in, she asked, “What happened?”

“He wants a cookie and Tree said no.”

“Then he can’t have any.”

“Well you tell him that then!  He seems to love you and dad and Tree, but gets mad at me when I say no.”

Despite the animosity, Dominic had a great time.  I think all the kids had a fun time.  Wow, there were a lot of kids there.  Therese has a way with getting kids to have fun, singing songs and stuff.  Damn, I had just as much fun, running around playing choo-choo.