April Babies

 I have two April babies. My second and third children were born in April, five years apart. On Shulamith's fifth birthday when Isaiah was brand new, she brought her friends over, one at a time, to peek at him sleeping on the couch. "See how small he is?" she would say to each friend.

That was 25 years ago. Or was it? It doesn't seem that long. She was a little mama to him right from the start, and even today, she likes to be the "mom," telling him what he ought and ought not to do. Every young adult needs two moms telling him what to do, so it's all good.

Today we celebrated both their birthdays. I'm pretty sure it's the first year we have done a dual celebration, but we were all out of town two weeks ago on Isaiah's birthday, so today served double duty.

As in many families, it's our tradition on the Sunday family celebration for the guest of honor to choose what we eat for dinner. I started with Shulamith, the pickiest eater in the family (well, on the entire planet, truth be told, but..). She couldn't decide. I'm a terrible cook, so the choices are fairly limited; still, she didn't know.

So I asked Isaiah:

Me: What do you want for your joint birthday dinner with Shulamith?

Isaiah: Hmm. What is her least favorite food? Sushi. And some sort of fruit, ah, I know! Sushi and raspberry pie.

Back to Shulamith.

Still no idea. Finally, at the very last minute (like I was going to the store right then), she decided on nachos and ice cream sundaes. Done.

It was a low-key celebration. We are all tired from a long couple of weeks. But it was still nice just to be together. We never know what to get Isaiah, the kid who wants nothing. So in the running for the recipient of the lamest birthday gift ever, Isaiah opened a Barnes & Noble gift card and a package of Red Vines. Now he can go buy another long, boring book to read, or in Eli's words, "This looks like one of those awful books I was supposed to read for history class, but didn't."

Shulamith is much easier to shop for. I can always think of dozens of things she would like. I settled on a denim jacket, exactly like the one my mom bought for me when she was in town for Eli's wedding. Every time I wear it, Shulamith tells me how much she wants it. Mathew, on the other hand, was less than impressed: "It looks like the 90s." We tried, with zero success, to convince him that denim jackets are back. We're right, though.

Happy, happy birthday to my second and third children, my precious April babies. I love them so.