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So said Frédérique to me today, via email. She was talking about the picture I used on the blog to celebrate her daughter Manon’s birthday on Sunday, specifically how Manon & Chloe have become such good friends. Back in 2000 when Manon was 5 and Chloe was 7, who could have predicted that they would describe themselves as sisters today?

But I want to go a step further about life’s good surprises and mention how much I appreciate receiving that email from Frédérique today, seeing that it is her birthday. A year ago today our families were together to celebrate at Les Carroz. I took several pictures of Frédérique that day with her birthday cake but she wouldn’t let me use any of them on the blog.

This year, however, I get to use this one taken in Nantes earlier today by Laurent and sent to me via email.

Happy birthday, Frédérique!

Today’s Prompt: Share a “good surprise” you’ve had lately.

At what point do you stop referring to someone as your friend’s kid sister or, as in this case with today’s photo, my wife’s kid sister? Heck, come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever referred to anyone as anyone’s kid sister. So I probably don’t know what I’m talking about and you should get on to reading the rest of this post.

Speaking of which, this post that is, today is Melinda’s kid sister’s birthday so I went searching through the family archives for a suitable photo and found this one. That’s Melinda, the big sister, next to Brenda, the kid sister, and both girls in front of Michele, the mother. I think it’s a great early 70’s shot. And given the fact that I am the kid brother to two older brothers, I think I can relate to Brenda’s hand being on her head.

Oy vey.

Today’s Prompt: Share a story about a sibling.

Today’s photo was taken shortly before yesterday’s; you know, before Chloe was astounded by having her dinner arrive with a poached egg on top. I chose this photo because it includes Manon, daughter of Frédérique and Laurent, our dear friends in Nantes. As the title of the post indicates, today is Manon’s birthday and I’ve chosen this photo (and posted it to Manon’s Facebook page) to celebrate.

Manon is 17 today so given this picture was taken in the summer 12 years ago, she’s 5 in it. Chloe is 7. I guess they’ve gotten older since then. Go figure. I don’t think I’ve aged at all.

I even ran for 2 hours this morning, without stopping. I couldn’t have done that 12 years ago.

But, um, this post is about Manon.

Today’s Prompt: How have you honored the birthday of a friend’s child?

Back in 2000 our whole family had our first trip to France, this one courtesy of Melinda’s grandfather. He had the brilliant idea of treating his entire family (and I mean entire family — daughters & their husbands, grandchildren and their spouses and his great grandchildren, of which Chloe and Ella were two), to two weeks in France to celebrate his 90th birthday. He said he’d do this instead of there being an inheritance and, like I said, I think that was a brilliant idea. We spent a week in Paris and then a week in a villa in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. And each place we went, a birthday party was held for him.

Today’s photo comes from one of our birthday dinners in Paris. This was one of the fanciest; in fact, the Boudeau family traveled from Nantes to be present. Accustomed to meals out involving things like pasta, chicken nuggets or a hamburger (you know, from an American children’s menu), Chloe seemed more than a little surprised when her meal arrived with a poached egg on top of it. As I recall, the meal was delicious.

Today’s Prompt: What’s a crazy eating out story you have?

Chloe called hers a “baby.” In fact, she had quite a few “babies.” In today’s photo is Chloe with the “Mickey Baby,” so named for having Mickey Mouse on it. And, yes, if you haven’t figured it out, I’m talking about pacifiers.

Chloe was a pacifier kid. As she got older the rule in the house was she could only have them in her crib. So sometimes she’d want to crawl into her crib for a quick “hit.” Melinda and I, if we weren’t laughing about her chain-smoking pacifiers (she’d pop one in her mouth, give it a few “pulls,” then move on to the next, then to the next, etc, etc), were concerned we were setting her up for a lifetime of addictions.

What a relief, the day the Pacifier Fairy came and took them all away…

Today’s Prompt: For you parents, any worries you had about setting up your child for a bad habit?

So I told Chloe that I want to honor her birthday throughout this week by posting a picture to her Facebook page each day. So far, I’ve used the photos I’ve been using here on the blog, including today’s. In fact, I posted this photo with the caption, “Is this what Chloe looks like without makeup?”

I hope she appreciates my attention. At least I know she’s used to my “sense of humor.” She’s experienced it for 19 years and 2 days.

Another interesting thing about today’s photo is that it was taken on Halloween night, 1998. Chloe’s & Ella’s cousin Olivia was born the day before and we all went to meet her at the hospital with the girls dressed in their Halloween costumes. Somewhere around the house is a picture of Chloe looking just like this with her 1 day old cousin. Funny stuff.

Today’s Prompt: What’s a fun way you relate to your family?

Today’s “photo” is a scan of a post-it note I put in Chloe’s lunch back in April, 1999 (when Chloe was 5 and in kindergarten) and on which I had drawn a comic featuring my alter ego Heartman. Each morning I’d pack her lunch and quickly draw a Heartman comic, each one having to do with something that I’d recently done, most commonly with Chloe. She’d discover the comic in her lunch and even though I knew she couldn’t read the words, there was enough familiarity that she’d figure it out. For instance, each comic included Heartman saying, “Hi, Chloe!” This one has us doing something we’d done together the night before, make pudding.

I got to thinking about these little comics when we were in Chloe’s dorm room over the weekend. She has several of them taped up on the wall above her bed.

Today’s Prompt: Share a family ritual.

There are some very special days in my life but February 28, 1993 ranks right at the top. It was, of course, the day Melinda gave birth to Chloe. I remember the day, and the one before it (considering Chloe was born at 3:04am), quite well. It involved Melinda going to a baby shower for some other mom-to-be and me staying home with a cold. It involved me dozing on the couch at 7:30pm on 2/27/93, groggily watching Hockey Night in Canada on TV when Melinda emerged with the following statement:

“When do you think we should start timing these contractions I’ve been having?”

Less than 8 hours later we had become parents.

Happy birthday, Chloe! To celebrate I’ve chosen this photo of you when you were two, one of my all-time favs.

Today’s Prompt: Have a birthday (literal “birth day”) story to tell?

I used to play a bit of poker when I was younger and learned that nothing beats a Royal Flush. But on Saturday I learned something that’s better than that! That’s right, it’s a pair of Ellas, on evidence in today’s photo.

My cousin Eric and his family live in Squamish, BC, a short distance from Quest University and Chloe’s dorm. We stopped by their house on Saturday afternoon to not only connect, but to have the two Ellas meet. If you haven’t figured it out, Eric and Jenny, his wife, have a daughter named Ella (and another younger daughter named Zadie). They are a wonderful family and much fun to spend time with. They have also invited Chloe over for dinner a couple of times. She reports that a home-cooked meal really hits the spot.

Today’s Prompt: What’s your best “poker” hand, metaphorical or otherwise?

It’s Chloe’s 19th birthday on Tuesday so to celebrate as a family, yesterday Melinda, Ella & I drove up to Quest University in Squamish, British Columbia where Chloe is a very happy first year student. We hadn’t been up there since late summer, when Melinda and I dropped her off to begin her university experience. It was great to see her in her element, and wonderful for her to show Ella, her little sister, around.

Melinda had reserved for the four of us a night on the town in Vancouver, about a 45 minute drive from Quest along what must be one of the most beautiful stretches of rolling highway in North America. For dinner, we had Chloe’s favorite food, East Indian. The restaurant at which we ate was very unique in decor and presentation. We sat on what I can best describe as a day bed and ate incredibly delicious food served buffet style off our laps (yes, we had plates). We then stayed at a very cool hotel in Vancouver that has recaptured a 1960’s feel. It was like something out of Mad Men. Very hip.

This morning we drove Chloe back to school and I snapped several pictures in her dorm room, this one being my favorite.

Today’s Prompt: Recall a place you stayed in college (dorm?) or an early apartment.