Comments

  2. PaulBC says

    Happy Birthday Iliana! My son turns 17 today (October 13) and it’s also Paul Simon’s birthday as well as that of one of my neighbors.

    Popular date.

  3. Reginald Selkirk says

    You’ll never guess what she got for her birthday.

    We don’t have to guess, we know that you gave her spiders.

  4. says

    And, of course, her favorite “holiday” character will be the Grinch (“You’ve got spiders in your smile, Mr. Grinch”). How can any guy with spiders in his smile who engages in warfare on excessive bell-ringing and overcommercialization of holidays be that bad (even given that probably fatal episode of hypercardia suffered toward the end)?

  5. PaulBC says

    You could play Paul Simon’s “Have a good time” for her tomorrow. Though age two may be a little early to start that degree of cynicism.

  7. A. Feesh says

    I think you have a beautiful Shelob you’re hiding in your underground lab until you can see your granddaughter in person. She will forget all about that awesome bicycle when she rides around on her eight legged drive.

  9. Tinjoe says

    I am incredibly jealous that your granddaughter has taken to a balance bike. My kid got it into her head that peddle bikes were “real” bikes and refused to use her balance bike.

  11. brightmoon says

    Awwww Happy birthday! My oldest got a bike from my father who refused to buy training wheels for it. My son complained about not being able to balance it, so jokingly I told him to cuss it out then get back on. I was shocked when he followed my advice and was riding around by the end of the day

  17. kestrel says

    Happy birthday, Iliana! And many happy returns of the day. Looks like she’s having fun.

  19. Rob Grigjanis says

    I wonder if your name is related to the Greek ήλιος (ilios) meaning ‘sun’.

    Anyway, happy birthday and keep shining, little one.

  20. ANB says

    I second what chigau said. Whatever it was.

    I guess I have to start a blog to show off my 2 year old granddaughter.

  23. Lucky Catnip says

    If this child isn’t drawn to the color pink and likes things more traditionally marketed towards boys are you going to assume they might not be a girl after all? I’ve been reading a lot of stories lately from parents whose boys like the color pink and when they do these parents always assume their child is trans. Is your family teaching this child that they won’t know whether they are a boy or a girl until they’re older? Or are you following what seems to be the trans preferred method, seeing what gendered toys they are drawn towards? Being such a woke family I would assume that you’re avoiding the color pink at all costs. Does she even know the color pink exist yet or would that be too sexist?

  25. says

    Whoa…Lucky Catnip is the TERF berating me on YouTube for not listening to what TERFs say, on a video which is nothing but me responding to stuff TERFs are saying. And now they’re here with this bogus bullshit about a “woke family…avoiding the color pink at all costs”.

    Pink is a perfectly nice color. It has nothing to do with sex or gender, but with the cultural baggage you’re carrying around. Iliana knows her colors, she’s a smart cookie.

    She’s also two years old. We’re not worried about sex at all, yet. She gets to choose who she’s attracted to, not us, and not goddamned you at all. We care that she’s happy, healthy, curious, and smart, and while you might be projecting a desire to shape the sexuality of a two year old, because you’re a fucking TERF, we’re not.

    Jesus. This is a thread about a happy toddler having a birthday, and a fuckwit TERF barges in with their poisonous nonsense. Not any more, at least — BANNED.

  27. birgerjohansson says

    Speaking of catnip, is she big enough to have cats/dogs around?
    I ask because it may be to her advantage to be exposed to the substances that may cause allergies at a later age. But this prophylactic approach may need more than one animal at a time.
    Hmm….capybaras are big enough to not being vulnerable to getting trodden on by children. Or very large dogs. Vietnamese pigs, once they reach a certain size.

  28. birgerjohansson says

    FYI, until the beginning of the 20th century the ‘color coding’ of children’s clothes was the other way around!
    .
    And in many Asian countries white, not black, is the color of mourning. High heels was once a male thing if you go back 3-4 centuries.

  29. Larry says

    Lucky girl. When I was two, we didn’t have strider bikes. We had to put wheels on the dog and ride it and we were darn glad to have it.

  30. maireaine46 says

    Happy Birthday, Iliana ! What a beautiful name, and beautiful girl. My grandson had one of those strider bikes and he never needed training wheels, went right to a regular little bike. He went for a 4 mile ride with his uncle when he was 3.

  31. stroppy says

    birgerjohansson @ 27

    I was 2 when I got first a cat and then a dog. We accumulated other critters after that, and along the way I was carefully instructed in how to interact, and was thereby somewhat socialized with the help animals. The downside, if you can really call it that, is that I came to realize, in the words of Jean-Paul Sartre, that “Hell is other people.”

  32. says

    When Iliana was born, her mother had a cat, Midnight, she’d had for many years and was deeply attached to. The cat died of old age a short while ago. So yes, Iliana has been exposed to animals, but no, the family is in no rush to replace a beloved pet. Too soon.

  34. voyager says

    Happy Birthday, Iliana. Gosh, those 2 years went fast!
    She looks right pleased with her new bike.

  36. magistramarla says

    Awww. Happy Birthday, Iliana! Such a lovely little girl! My youngest grandchild, Landon, was 2 on September 1.
    He also received some sort of bike for his birthday. I think it was the same sort of thing.
    He, his brother and three of his cousins are all in Houston. I wish I could see them!