Happy Things, Puck!

It was a big day in the little Silverspoon house. Shortly after 10:30 that morning, Puck was baptized before the church, holding a white cloth napkin in his hand to catch the drips of water sprinkled on his head. When I opened my eyes from the prayer, I saw him scrubbing the top of his damp hair with the cloth.

“My head’s still wet, Mom!” he whispered loudly to me as he took his seat.

And later, when he experienced communion for the first time, he took the little cup of wine from the tray as it passed him. I somehow failed to notice his reaction, although Julia and Hans filled us in on it later. As soon as he took a whiff, he must have known he was in for some trouble, judging by the look on his face.

“But then he drank it! And he held it in his mouth for like a minute!” Julia laughed.

Someway, somehow, it’s gotta go down.

“I hate wine!” Puck declared sometime later during lunch.

Fortunately, for future reference, grape juice is also an option.

In a warm afternoon and some cool wind over at the Big House, 19 of us gathered together in the back yard to celebrate the baptism and Puck’s 9th birthday one day early, with grilled burgers and Snicketts-style mac ‘n cheese. Some badminton; no one was very good at that. And Francis and Ansel took the four-wheeler up and down the street for a few rides.

After awhile, the boys struck up a billowing blaze in the bonfire with all the landscaping bushes recently torn out for the upcoming foundation repairs. Because no Snicketts family party is complete without some kind of roaring inferno. Chocolate chip cookie cakes for dessert accompanied by “Happy Birthday”. And piles of gifts including a giant Millennium Falcon Lego set which about put Puck over the moon.

Later, Heidi spent some time entertaining Yali by sitting with him on the four-wheeler for awhile. Yali was on his best behavior and had even given her – of his own accord – a hug for playing with him throughout the afternoon.

“He likes me the best of all the kids!” Heidi concluded with a satisfied grin.

No one could deny that Heidi had a very special place in little Yali’s life. Then Francis pushed them around the yard on the four-wheeler, engine off, before everyone began to part ways for the evening. And big brother packed up a whole shelf’s worth of birthday goodies.

Puck was a very happy young man that evening. And in the earliest hours of the morning – 3:56 to be exact – he would turn a big nine years old.