happy birthday

a recent favorite photo

Tim rode the express train of presents from Christmas to his birthday, and by the time the day finally arrived, he was indifferent. That doesn't mean that he didn't have one hell of a ride.

Because his Aunt Melissa was here and left on the 9th, we decided to have Tim's party before she departed. There is a family restaurant in town called Chuck E Cheese that serves pizza and is tailor-made for children's parties. One large area is dedicated to birthday parties with long tables and a stage with larger-than-life sized animatronic muppets that perform songs and do a birthday show. My parents opted out of the event; it's loud, full of running screaming-with-laughter-most-of-the-time kids, and the food isn't made for an adult pallet. So it was just Paul, Melissa, Timothy, Luke and me. Because of this, we didn't book a party and sat in the other part of the room, which is filled with every kind of imaginable arcade game. This suited Tim just fine.


extreme concentration on a video game


playing with aunt melissa


riding the monster truck

He checked out the other room, barely even glanced at the birthday parties in full swing, and spent his time with his Dad and Melissa pushing buttons, pulling levers, bopping gopher heads, driving cars, and flying planes. Tim loved it from the minute we walked in the door, and Paul was pleasently surprised to find some games he wanted to try. I'd prepped him and Melissa for a place only a child could love. To be fair, it's been cleaned up since I last visited it about twenty-five years ago. It's a lot like Pizza Planet in Toy Story but without the outer space theme (for those of you who know that movie as well as we know it.)

From there, we went to Mom and Dad's for cake, ice cream and more presents. Tim had opened his gifts from Paul's side of the family at home that morning on Skype so that Jenny and Neville could be part of the festivities. Mom baked a peanut butter cake with peanut butter frosting for Tim and topped it with a Buzz Lightyear action figure. Tim likes the idea of cake but not the reality, so little of that was consumed, but he plowed through his ice cream with relish. Mom also had a cake for adults because she didn't think we'd like the peanut butter. I did. The minute that cake hit my mouth, I was transported back to my own childhood birthdays. Delicious.


his cake with buzz still reigning over the table


toy story dominated


blowing out his candles, the yellow one is for luke


Tim received gifts from our neighbor, so the birthday bonanza continued. And he even got to celebrate the day after his birthday because he had nursery school. I brought in blueberry muffins, alphabet cookies (store bought as required) a Mickey Mouse balloon and candles. The kids sang to him and he got to wear a crown.

He knows he's three now and will hold out his fingers appropriately. However, I don't think he's connected birthdays with being born yet. That's okay. It'll come. He came home from school on Tuesday and told me that today was Tuesday and that it began with a 'T'. A few weeks ago, he came home and put out his hand and said, "Hello, I am Timothy Attridge." We shook hands and I said my name and nice to meet you. They do a good job at his school, especially since he's only there for two mornings a week.

Thanks to everyone out there for celebrating his third birthday with him. He loved the cards, presents and e-cards.