When Bear was a toddler, he was about the cutest kid ever. And that cuteness is probably what contributed to his being spoiled with a capital “S.”

Even though he couldn’t read, he memorized the words to his favorite book, and would “read” it to any adult who sat down long enough for Bear to climb into his or her lap.

He dragged his blue blanket around like Linus, and was prone to shout Charlie Brown lines at inopportune moments. He was also a picky kid, who liked having things just how he wanted them. For example, he would spend hours on end sorting his cars, blocks or trains into a precise formation, and woe to the person who accidently knocked one out of alignment. G-man figured out Bear’s OCD-ish nature fairly quickly, and as brothers are prone to do, capitalized on it by subtly moving the toys around when Bear wasn’t looking. My husband and I just chalked it up to having yet another weirdo child, and played a customary round of genetic finger-pointing.

One day, my husband tried to figure out what to make Bear for lunch. While he was puttering around the kitchen, Bear toddled in, and stood in front of the food cabinet. Pointing far above his head, he shouted “Surprise Party!” Mind you, the poor kid could barely talk, and certainly could not put more than three words together at this point. Figuring that this was toddler speak at its’ best, my husband and I ignored him, and went about our business.

Unfortunately, this routine played itself out for several days, with Bear becoming increasingly emphatic as he pointed to the pantry, demanding “Surprise Party!”

Finally, my husband realized that there was only one way to solve this mystery. He picked Bear up and stood him on the counter in front of the open food cabinet. He told Bear, “Where’s the Surprise Party?”

And what did Bear do?

He grabbed a package of chicken-flavored ramen and slapped it into my husband’s hand. Apparently, the kids had a hankering for Ramen, and he wanted that for lunch…OR ELSE!

To this day, we are clueless as to why Bear called a 10-cent package of Ramen “Surprise Party!,” but the name stuck and that’s what we’ve called it ever since. I still wonder what is so magical about ramen noodles that my at-the-time 2 year-old equated them to “Surprise Party!” I guess that’s one mystery I never will solve…