Molly and Spencer's 3 year anniversary

I just reread the post from April 29th, 2014 that shared in depth the truly special bond that Spencer and Molly have. I chuckled anew over a few of the stories. You might want to go back and read that one too as it sets the stage for this blog post and the big 3 year anniversary dinner/22nd birthday they had on Saturday.

Homemade strawberry cake

Spencers mom Cheryl reported that for the last few months he has been planning his 22nd birthday. Like three years ago, when this budding romance started, all he wanted for his birthday was "a date with Molly". This birthday was like the movie Groundhog Day. It was EXACTLY the same as 3 years ago. He wanted to go to the same Chinese Restaurant, he wore a plaid shirt, he wanted them to sit apart from the moms, they probably ordered the same exact meal, they didn't talk to each other at all during the meal, and we went back to his house afterwards for cake, ice cream and presents....exactly like 3 years ago :)

And yet, there were a few subtle differences.

This time when Molly scooted into the booth, Spencer went in next to her and they sat beside each other! Rico Suave.

1st date

3 years later

Another subtle difference is that they ordered for themselves and Molly used her "talker" this year. She wanted a lemonade to drink and ordered "Sesame Chicken"and pointed to the sweet and sour soup on the menu. Spencer ordered "won ton soup" and I'm not sure what for dinner. He also wanted egg rolls for an appetizer which I knew Molly would like too. But with the word "egg" in it....she adamantly said "NO" when I asked if she wanted one too. I knew that she would want it but she said "NO!" a second time (with her mouth) so she didn't get one. I couldn't see her reaction when they arrived at the table as I'm sure she was thinking "oh rats, I DO like those".

View from the mom table and blurry like my 49 year old eyes.

What's different this year too is that they ate their food without needing prompting from us. This is huge people as our kids are typically SO prompt dependent and I recall being shocked 3 years ago that they needed us to give them permission to refill their plates. So they ARE becoming more independent! The ultimate goal for sure.

I had to use this blurry picture too to show you exactly how they were throughout their entire dinner if we peered over at them. Immediately their heads were looking at us. Spencer was trying to listen to our conversation. Cheryl would say "talk to Molly", he'd turn his head to Molly and she would turn her head to the wall beside her. So there are still some Rico Suave Dating School lessons to learn (both the male and female classes). Because they both inhale their food so quickly (since no one talked), they were done long before Cheryl and I were. They kept looking over at us like they were ready to go. Once we got "to go" boxes, we were off to Spencer's house to continue the party with cake, ice-cream and presents.

Snuggling on the couch

Mary Poppins was on TV and they both happily settled in to watch it. They looked so cute all snug next to each other. However this is how Spencer likes to sit next to his mom too as his personal space is like glue. But I still think that it's cute that Molly stayed so close.

We then sang Haaaappy Birrrrrthdaaaaaay, ate cake and ice cream, we heard the story of the day Spencer was born, the moms had a little spiced rum cocktail and the kids enjoyed their time on the couch together. It was a wonderful December 12th.

Once in the car on the way home, Molly was SO giggly. I asked her if she had had fun on her date and she adamantly said "YES!"...and giggled some more. I love that these two seem to adore each other. It's not your typical dating relationship as three years later there still has been no kissing or hand holding. But maybe that's better? Love can be so confusing and not having those extra emotional strings keeps it simple. But who am I to say as I'm just the mom?