FOUR

We have a four year old in these parts! Asher the Kid had a birthday on the 20th. He was so excited about the big day, and because he has yet to fully grasp the concept of dates and time, asked for incessant updates as to its arrival. We almost made a paper chain (which, pathetically, would have made me feel a little more like the hands-on, crafty mom I wish I was), but he caught on to the calendar numbers before we had to dig out the glue. Phew.                    

I felt a tinge of sadness as we tucked him in the night before - the last time we'd see our boy as a three-year-old. But there were only smiles the next day. Since his birthday happened to fall on MLK Day, Daddy was able to spend it all with us, and Nina and Poppy as well! Cha-ching! We figure between weekends, possible snow days and MLK Day, Asher will be off school on his birthday roughly 38% of the time. Not bad for January! ...but his pinata dreams may never be fulfilled, poor chap.

Now, because we are equal parts loving parents and poor white trash, we decided to take our son to Chuck E. Cheese's this year instead of throwing him a party. He'd never been and we had a coupon.

Have you ever been to a Chuck E. Cheeses on a national holiday during a polar vortex? MADNESS. It's the Mecca of long lines, germs and noise. Formerly stir-crazy kids yelling and darting all over, arcade games going off at various registers, a visual assault of bright color at every turn....Asher's paradise.  

We arrived before noon, ate surprisingly good pizza and blew through 40 tokens. Andrew hit a big 150 ticket bonus on the gator smash and tried not to act exited....a couple of Asher's sweet friends came, who mostly got lost in the mayhem. The above picture was taken around 2:30 when the lunch crowd had died down...but trust me, the place was wild. 

So we also spent a lot of time in the much safer, quieter little kids area.

 Preston loved this slide!

  

 I mean, really loved this slide. 

Just kidding. This is of course baby sign language for "Why do you have me in this hellish indoor carnival when it's my naptime?"

 His standard pose of the day.

Does anyone else have vivid memories of being slightly traumatized by the elaborate animatronic shows at Chuck E. Cheese's in the early 90's? I was happy to see they'd scaled back to just one character. Still freaky.

Am I sounding negative about this whole thing? Because it was actually really fun! And Asher loved it so much, which is what really counts. There is nothing quite like watching your child experience things for the first time.

After Chuck's came cake and ice cream. Ash man requested a strawberry cake this year, and we added cream cheese icing to make it extra good. 

 "FOUR!" And yes, that's Preston in the background eating a spoon full of frosting.

 So thankful for the beautiful relationship Asher has with his grandparents. They are such wonderful people.

Asher, our beautiful first born baby who is growing up before our eyes....you are such a good, funny, smart, sweet, special boy. You bless our lives in so many ways, and teach us something each day. We want to be the kind of parents you deserve. Which is a pretty tall order. Wishing you a year full of growth, discovery, laughter and joy. Mommy and Daddy love you so!