Happy Birthday to The Roc!

The Roc turned four today, and we celebrated with a matinee and a trip to Toys R Us to spend his birthday money. I suggested a fancy Lego house. We also perused the Lincoln Logs, Playmobil, and Thomas the Tank Engine aisles. But nothing seemed to interest The Roc.

Then we saw it. A toy garbage truck. Perhaps the only toy garbage truck in the world The Roc doesn't already own. His face lit up. He carried it all the way to the checkstand, then asked me to take it out of the box so he could play with it in the car on the way home. He still had some birthday money left over, but he didn't even want to look at any other toys. You'd think he had never seen a toy garbage truck before, though he has a whole fleet of them in different shapes, sizes, and colors.

"Doesn't he already have that garbage truck?" Daddy asked me when we got home.

"No," I said. "This one's a recycling truck, and it's green, and it's a front-loader."

"He has a green front-loader."

"This one is bigger. And it makes noise. And it's his birthday."

What can I say? I lobbied hard for that Lego house. But secretly I'm glad that even though The Roc is getting older and taller and less dependent on me, some things haven't changed.