Felicitations!

This week I put all drama aside and focused on my little girl, Lanes, because she turned four!!  I was so excited and happy about her birthday. It’s so hard to imagine she is getting to be so ‘big’. When she sleeps at night, which is just about the only time she is peaceful and not outsmarting me, her face looks just like it did when she was a wee baby. I couldn’t help but give her some extra squeezes (much to her chagrin) and gurgle about her being ‘my baby’ (to which she screams ‘I’m not a baby!’).

We started out the week really well. My sister’s classmate from high school (and now my friend) and her family were visiting and spent the day with us on Monday.  Lanes got to stay home and she was delighted to have three playmates.  It turns out a lot of museums and centers are closed on Mondays, but we had some fun in the park before we were rained out, and we went up Burnaby Mountain and to a lovely dinner. It was a really nice day and we hope they will stop by again! Hint hint.

On Lanes’ big day I decided to send cupcakes to school. That was not one of my brighter ideas since I didn’t factor my graceful ascent up the hill to drop them off. I was battling the rickety stroller, lassoing a dawdling birthday girl, hiding from the dandelion haired enthusiastic Mandarin-only speaking neighbor, and trying to catch a bus all at the same time. Net result, most of the cupcakes had a face plant.

The good news is that preschoolers are not a discerning bunch when it comes to sugar. They saw cake and colorful frosting and I was the favorite mom for the day. They didn't care that all the icing was splotched together and some of the cakes were dented. They looked like Picasso cupcakes. I wanted to stay and hang out a little but I had to run down the hill to go for one of my infamous driving lessons.

The lesson hung over me like the one storm cloud on a sunny day, determined to rain on my parade.  From now on, I have to drive into Vancouver for my lessons and it makes me super stressed out. I nearly took out a pedestrian (well not really, he was well on his way to the other side—no pun intended) and almost got sideswiped while turning right because I couldn’t see an oncoming van due to the slope of a hill. The instructor was scolding me so much, he was stuttering.

At the end of my lessons,  three things would be possible: a.) I’ll actually get my license, but right now outlook is not so good, b.) I’ll need therapy from the trauma that is my lessons & I’ll stick to using buses, trains or my legs c.) my instructor will need therapy and the shock of dealing with me will cure his narcolepsy. He might be seen carted off in a straight jacked yelling ‘Fail! Fail! Fail!’.

Any old how I was relieved when the lessons were over. I never should have scheduled one for this week, let alone on Lanes’ birthday. I was a little stressed and shaken after my lesson but pulled myself together. Luckily, there were left over cupcakes, and I was right as rain soon after I ate, well, two. As soon as my diligent spouse, P, got home, we took Lanes out so she could have a good time.

She got a gift certificate to ‘Build-A-Bear’ and she had a fabulous time stuffing a white bear with colorful polka dots. Then we took her on a train ride in the mall and we went out to dinner at ‘Red Robin’ where she was delighted because one of the waiters did a wonderful Scooby impersonation and she got a big red balloon. She also got a birthday ice cream, but she was so busy playing, that her father and I had to eat it for her. Hmm. Or should I say yum!

On Saturday we had a party for Lanes at the Burnaby Village Museum. All Lanes wanted for her birthday was a party and a Spiderman cake. All week she was singing ‘Spiderman cake, belly button belly button, Spider man cake’. I question her choice of lyrics, but it was funny to hear her wake up singing this song.  

When we went to order the cake, the lady taking the order put her glasses on top her head, came out from behind the counter, pointed at Lanes and said ‘wait, this cake is for a girl?’. She found it fascinating that a four year old girl was so adamant about Spiderman. That’s Lanes for you. We don’t question her anymore, just go with the flow.

Lanes was delighted when she saw all her friends at her party and I think all the kids enjoyed their two rounds on the carousel (it dates back to 1912).  The weather was kind and it was a fabulous day. The only bad thing was that the red dye from the birthday cake was everywhere.  I had splotches of red icing on my green dress in the most unfortunate places because a certain birthday girl was running around me with sticky fingers.

My parents were finally on their way home to Sri Lanka, via Vancouver. We didn’t know until the day before the party that they wanted to come out of the airport and spend five hours with us. So after everyone went home, we did a mad dash to pick them up. Lanes thought it as a fabulous way to finish off her party. She was really sad when I explained they were only coming for dinner and they have to go back to their own home.

I was wondering if security would pounce on me and tackle me to the ground because by that time we got to the airport, my eyes were popping out of my face due to exhaustion, my hair was defying gravity due to the heat, and I had accumulated even more blood red splotches all over my dress. They would never have guessed it was icing!! But everything turned out ok.

So now all the celebrations are over, and everything is back to ‘normal’.  Lanes is in preschool right now, probably refusing to eat her lunch at this very minute. P is at his temp job,probably praying they will keep him. I am about to sign off and investigate some strange noises that are coming from downstairs. Never know what goes on in our crazy a$$ ghetto fabulous apartment. More madness next week…