When I went to get Red from his nap this afternoon he points to a book he was looking at and says, “What is Leo doing?” I think he was being obtusely instructive, as we frequently are. He’ll ask a question and we’ll put it back to him, “Well, what do you think?”
So I said, “Looks like he’s making something.”
Redding says, “Yes, he baked a cake. We can bake a cake. We’d be just like Leo.”
Seriously? With a lead-in like that? How could I ever say no?
I asked, “What kind of cake would you like to bake?”
After a little consideration, he replied, “Orange.”
Thinking to myself that I can not make an orange cake, mostly because I’ve been out of red food coloring since Andrew requested a red velvet birthday cake, LIKE TWO YEARS AGO… I have some kind of mental block about picking up food coloring of any variety, but especially red. OK?
I said, “I don’t think I have a recipe for that. There are lots of different kinds of cakes I do have recipes for chocolate, yellow, spice cake, gingerbread, pumpkin, even coffee cake.”
He picked coffee cake. Then he got giddier and giddier as he asked me what we’d put in it and I listed off the potential ingredients.
The boy is deliriously happy. I love it. As someone how genuinely enjoys baking, not just for the end product, but just because it is a little bit magic, I can’t tell you how pleased I am that he is so interested.
The funny thing is? He probably won’t eat coffee cake, or any other kind of cake. He doesn’t like bread, most crackers, eats only the frosting off of cupcakes, won’t touch the chocolate chip or pumpkin muffins I make all the time…
He is an interesting child, but he’s all mine and I couldn’t possibly love him any more.
Mar
04