for my birthday

Somewhere along the way Ada has picked up on the fact that you get stuff for your birthday. And recently we have been having a lot of birthday talk. Two of her best buddies at school just had birthdays which is probably contributing to this new favorite topic. Her teachers also have managed to teach her when her birthday is... Ask her what her last name is and Ada will tell you 'Ada', ask her how old she is, and Ada will tell you, "five", but ask her when her birthday is, and Ada will confidently tell you, "August 15th!!" And then she will launch into a list of what she wants for her birthday. A party, a bike (a PURPLE bike), a party, a dress, a party and a bike. But she is also taking this into her daily negotiations. We were recently at Sea World and we told her she could pick out one item from the Shamu store to bring home. She quickly picked out a nice stuffed Shamu that she could easily snuggle up with. But as we walked around the shop she spotted some Shamu slippers and she started her well honed negotiation skills. When we held firm on the one item rule she switched gears and put the slippers back on the rack and said, "I want those for my birthday". Fast forward to that night at the grocery store. Needing to distract Ada while Elliot waited in line, I took Ada into the seasonal items aisle. She immediately went to the pool noodles and picked out a giant pink noodle. She did her best Luke Skywalker impression and then tried to get me to pull out the other giant pink noodle so we could do a little fencing in the aisle. When I told her that we needed to put the noodles away and that we didn't have a pool and therefore didn't have a reason to buy a GIANT pink noodle she again threw out the "I want this for my birthday". Ok honey - we'll buy you a worthless piece of foam for your birthday just because you asked for it. Got it.

The birthday list goes on and on. We are going with the flow and telling her to put it on her list. I just hope when August 15th hits Ada is happy with what she gets (a bike) and has forgotten all of the other tiny items she adds to the list over the next 2 and a half months. Otherwise I am expecting one HUGE tantrum.