Second Birthday

The Puck was two years old that rainy morning in April. OLeif and Collette greeted him with a chorus of “Happy Birthday” after Puck called his usual morning “Mama!” Being sung to was a novelty and he bounced happily up and down in his crib, giggling.
Cards were opened. And Puck received his first gift of the birthday weekend — another set of rubber bouncy balls. This time they were transparent and filled with fish.
It was over to the Silverspoon’s next to celebrate the big day.
“Neena! Paw-paw!” Puck cried, as they pulled up the driveway.
A triple decker cake was already waiting on the kitchen table, iced, and embellished with colored sprinkles and red hots. There were also blue and yellow streamers hanging from the light above the table. And three wrapped gifts.
Puck was learning the art of opening presents. He was ready to plop himself in his high chair and begin the task.
The first gift was a play cash register. This could have easily occupied him for hours, placing the plastic coins in the slots and pressing buttons.
Then came a set of water balls for the bath tub, a twirling plastic wind-catcher, which he could watch from the kitchen while he ate meals.
And then, the pièce de résistance — a play vacuum cleaner! Puck was thrilled with this gift. He wheeled it around for the rest of the day, cleaning the carpets, and the furniture with the little plastic dust-buster. He was one happy birthday dude.
While Puck amused himself with these things, Denae retired outside with Theodore and OLeif, who were busy raising the frame for the new deck. They finished this just as more rain came in on the horizon.
Later that afternoon, OLeif left for a half hour at the McCrae house to snap photos of Mollie. She had artfully crafted a prom dress covered entirely in coffee filters. It was a thing of fashion. Quite impressive.
“She should send that in somewhere,” said Denae. “That’s just great.”
Meanwhile, Puck was busy having them give high fives to his vacuum cleaner and preparing to eat bowls full of steak, mashed potatoes, and berries in the kitchen while watching “This Old House” in the reflection of the framed print in the living room.
It had been a good second birthday. And there would be another round of it tomorrow.