somehow, it’s been twelve years since this moment.
time feels like it’s accelerating.
when your kids are babies, they tell you this will happen.
the wise older folk do. savor it, they say.
and it seems so foreign, because those baby days feel like 57 hours each.
but here we are, our very last baby barreling towards her teen years, while that first ever, straight from the womb, side eye pic seems like only yesterday.
her birthday landed on a wednesday this year. the worst, right? we kicked off her day of celebration with some six am cinnamon rolls. i forced her to take a birthday pic before she was off to school, even though we have no good lighting in this dumb house and it was still dark outside. i dropped her off and then spent the next two hours racing to make her cupcakes before her 10:30 am lunch at school. she requested chick fil a, but had to settle for breakfast items, given the timing. she didn’t mind.
since her actual birthday celebration was immediate family only, and she only sits with a couple of friends at lunch, we opted for cupcakes. she’s so very much into wings of fire books right now and wanted intricate dragon themed cupcakes, but i managed to talk her into logos, with the promise of a big fancy cake for her friend party, over winter break. remember this information.
when she got home from school, i dragged her outside for a better official birthday photo. she insisted ruby join us. obviously.
so. her big gift from us was tickets to see the outsiders musical in greensboro. as you might recall, anna has been into the outsiders for some time, so there’s some trickle down “cool older sister” effect happening here. but it’s what she wanted, and she was kind enough to allow anna to tag along as a guest.
but i’m getting ahead of myself. first, we had to have sustenance. hazel wanted pizza, and i might have coerced her into going to homeslice pizza (owned by buffalo folk), where we stuffed ourselves with pizza and wings (and cupcakes).
and then. the outsiders musical. she loved it all. i fell asleep, but i bet it was good.
i think she had a fantastic actual birthday.
after christmas, we were determined to properly celebrate with a friend sleepover. she invited a few kiddos from school, but it’s still a wacky time of year to be trying to have a well attended sleepover, and only one friend was able to come. that didn’t stop them from having the best time ever. and since it was only one kid, i decided to keep it stress free and take them out for pizza.
and. while i was willing to make a big epic cake, when presented with the option to have the most enormous ice cream sundae bar, she jumped at the chance. i am unsure how they ate their creations, but they both sure did. every last bite. layers and layers of whipped cream, m&m’s, sprinkles, chocolate chips, nutella… oh to be 12.
in the morning, they enjoyed a much more nutritious breakfast, piling on the same volume and layers of toppings from the ice cream onto belgian waffles. they literally had 60+ servings of whipped cream between the two of them in these two “meals”. when i drove her friend home, i told hazel i had to run a quick errand, but it was really a surprise trip to have a quick hang with her moved-across-the-state-pal, ella, while her mom had therapy nearby. they were adorable.
anyways…..
the crazelnut is kind, generous, and compassionate. smart, hilarious, and snarky. she loves art and music and basketball. she is currently into the wings of fire book series, the dandies world (?) video game, stranger things, and of course, josh allen and the buffalo bills. she is a great friend to both her human peers and her loyal companion ruby.
happy birthday, hazel. we love your guts.
