07.17.05 - 11:30 pm

a birthday.

a beautiful sunny day. hot. christ, its already been a year? i completely remember sitting in the cool of my mothers house. it was quiet. ashton was meticulously dressed. what was he capable of saying back then? god, a whole year ago.
so now i had him again. im back at my moms. but not for long.

chuck e cheese. i received several warnings before hand about the low income stigma this place represented. how ghetto it was. i began to regret my decision to take ashton here, for fear of embarassing him and myself. but i was pleasantly surprised. the whole place seemed new. electric. clean. happy and fun. it didnt look trashy at all. this was going to be great.
immediately after we entered, ashton was off. we barely were able to check in before i had to run and chase him down. he was unstoppable from then on. every ride he sat on he was continuously looking elsewhere. every game he played he watched the others around him. he couldnt focus. too much to look at. too many other children. people. lights. noises. food. tokens and tickets. stimulus overload!
he begged to ride in the monster truck.
he went in the chuck e cheese car three times.
when playing the basketball games he would merely lift the little balls over his head for me to grab and shoot.
he loved putting in tokens.
he gave me the ticket winnings as if they were a nuisance.

he absolutely adored chuck e cheese. he would hunt him down. find him and hug him. he would point to his shoes. touch his nose. and hug him again. he loved that mouse.

we had a cake. lit a big wax number 2. he blew it out seconds after we had it lit, and before anyone could begin to sing to him. he then took it off the cake and promptly inserted it into his mouth as if it were a tasty morsel. a hot waxy morsel.

and then we left. he found his new tricycle at my mothers house. a red rider. perfectly suited for his size. when it came to nap time, he adamently refused to leave its hard metallic seat. its plastic covered handles. he adores it even today. relentlessly. to my disappointment he doesnt use the pedals, he pushes with his feet. even with my coaching and encouragement, he definitively states NO! every time i tell him to use the pedals to move.
my father tells me i was the same way.
our nap ran nearly two hours. and then it was off to wilsonville.

for bullwinkles. with the thorntons.

i can only imagine how endlessly perfect this day must have been for a two year old. fun. games. lights. food. cake. kids. rides. large furry creatures.

my son turned two on sunday.

it sounds so awkward to tell customers that i have a son that turned two. almost like im pretending to be my future self by acting out a role. that doesnt make sense, but how completely bizarre this all is.