Rowan Tree and Red Thread

Yesterday was my daughter Rowan's 3rd birthday. sammywol made the now traditional fabric-painted t-shirt with a big number '3' on the front, surrounded by firework explosions in a variety of colours. This was the first thing Rowan put on when we came downstairs. I'd taken the day off so as to better celebrate the day.

Once sammywol and my mother, who was visiting, were up, the present opening began. Rowan really is a perfect person to give presents to. She immediately broke into "Oh wow!" and "Tank you!" before she'd got the wrapping paper off, and made an honest to goodness attempt to play seriously and intently with everything she received at some point during the day. Her trainee roller-skates were well received, much to the relief of us two, who were wondering if she'd keep us to vague promises of a bloody enormous sit-on digger or dump truck. Roller-skates are a much more elegant solution to travel requirements in an already over-stuffed house.

Later her maternal grandparents arrived and we went into town for lunch in Milano's, a pizza restaurant downtown. Milano's is very popular with Rowan, as she invariably gets to watch the pizza making, gets given a paper chef's hat, and scoffs most of a pizza all to herself. Our waiter was a saint and was particularly attentive to Rowan, providing her with said chef's hat, vanilla ice cream in a coffee cup (?) and an enormous blue balloon to take away at the end of the meal. He presented the ice cream with a birthday candle in the middle and sang "Happy Birthday" without a care for the copyright nazis.

After lunch we came home and prepared for our neighbours to drop round. Two boys, one more than a year older than Rowan, one about a year younger, both delighted to get stuck into the cake, sweets and somebody else's toys. All amused themselves for a while before the boys and their mother staggered the 15 feet down the road to their home, promising Rowan an away fixture at their place on Friday.

Rowan, sugared-up and exhausted, remarkably went to sleep without much of a fuss, obviously a much more mature girl, now she was three.

In other news Valentine's Day is hear, it's nearly 22:30 and I still haven't made my card for sammywol. I must sign off and get out the pens.