We all scream for ice cream

We had ice cream this evening after dinner. We fed Max and Kira first; they each got a small bowl of strawberry ice cream, with which they were entirely happy (because, hey, it's ice cream!). Then Alix brought out Mama and Papa's coffee oreo, which piqued Max's curiousity.

I gave Max a taste of my ice cream, leading to the following:

Max: "Can we switch? Let's switch. I can have your ice cream, and you can have my ice cream."

Max: "Can we trade? Please, please, papa, can we trade?"

Max: "Papa, will you share your ice cream with me?"

So, apparently Max likes coffee oreo ice cream.

Kira sings!

When my birthday rolled around earlier this year we were so overwhelmed by the buying house/selling house process that we decided to punt on most of the traditional trappings of the day. Specifically, no cake. This weekend, Alix decided it was time to remedy the situation, so she baked a tasty chocolate cake.

But this isn't about the cake.

While sitting around the table having cake and ice cream on Saturday, Max decided that we had to sing Happy Birthday. I was sitting next to Kira, and as we finished singing she made some noises and I thought to myself, "Hah, that babbling noise sounded a bit like Happy Birthday." Then Kira proceeded to sing Happy Birthday repeatedly. To quote the kids these days, ZOMG! It was especially adorable because she's not speaking yet -- her words are basically "mama" and "papa", with a smattering of signs thrown in for good measure -- so she wasn't singing words, but she had the starting consonants and the tune down.

I was amazed! Flabbergasted! That was just about the best birthday gift ever.