"Get up, stand up ..."

Sunday concluded a big weekend for me -- a trip to Knoxville.

I like going to Knoxville because I get to see so many people. And this trip was no different. Papa was tired from working half the night, so mommy drove us there. It was weird to see him in the back seat napping with me. Never happens. But mommy did a good job of getting us there.

We made a quick stop by Misty and Dwight's house to drop off Macy, then headed to El Charro -- mommy and papa's favorite Mexican restaurant in Knoxville. We met up with papa's college buddies Jeremy, Clark and Travis, as well as Travis' fiancee Erica. I remember meeting everyone a long time ago except for Jeremy; this was our first introduction. He's pretty funny because he can talk my language. We had a great time at the restaurant -- caught up on what's been going on, talked a little football, etc.

From there it was off to Nana's house, and it was like Christmas. She got me a choo-choo train, some clothes and a walk-behind toy that I can push once I learn how to walk. Speaking of, it's almost like I can handle that now. I've realized I can pull up and sit on my knees, so there's not much to that. How much more can there be, ya know?

Anyway, I had a great time playing with Uncle Matt and Nana with my new toys. Nana's friends Tammy, Katie and Brianna came over, and so did Uncle Mark's fiancee Kinsey. So we had a full house and it was great. I, of course, was the center of attention.

From there we picked up Rene and headed to Golden Corral to meet Jane and Papaw and Ray. Great time hanging with the family, although from what mommy and papa said the food at the Corral was a little rough. I doubt we'll be going back there. I, meanwhile, had bananas and some of my Graduates puffs. So no complaints here. Again, I was passed around the table and got to hang out with everybody there -- a common thing these days.

Finally, we headed back to Misty and Dwight's house, where I crashed. I didn't even get a chance to hang with Lyndsey or Ashland.

Sunday I did get to chill with my girls for a while before we headed over to Jane and Papaw's house. I was so tired from the previous day that I slept most of the time, so it's all kind of blurry. Sometime after that we made it back to Atlanta -- again, slept.

I wrapped up the weekend with a big ol' healthy portion of mashed potatoes and carrots. Um ... yeah.

Can't wait for this weekend when I get to spend it all with Memaw and Paw Arnold.

Hudson W. Pate

What a week

It's Friday, right? Wow, this week has flown by, but it's also been rather busy.

On Sunday I went to church, came home and napped with mommy while papa worked then went back to church for Church Conference. Apparently I stole the show by interrupting Pastor Jamie, but nobody really cared.

Tuesday night was rough. We went to eat with our friends Jason and Kati and we stayed out a LITTLE too late. I mean, 8:45 ... come on moms and pops. I let them know that I wasn't too thrilled. Still, I had fun seeing the Gardners again and catching up. It was odd, though, because a lot of random strangers started talking to me: the lady at the table next to us, her friends, our waitress. And oh yeah, I met a girl. Her papa introduced us. She's a little older than me, so I don't think it will work out. I doubt I'll ever see her again.

Thursday, mommy and papa must have learned from previous mistakes. We met up with our friends Rachel and Nathan -- this time at 6:30. That worked better for me. And again, we had a blast just hanging out and chatting. Of course, none of them gave me a bite of the chocolate lava cake. Thanks.

So that brings us to here, Friday. This weekend I'm headed to Knoxville to see some folks and hang out with Nana and Uncle Matt. Looking forward to it.

Oh yeah, this week I learned I like black beans. I discovered bread and realized I could probably eat a whole loaf. Well ... maybe just a slice.

Meantime, here's some random pictures of ... guess who?

Hittin' the pool

Unfortunately, summer is on the downside. School has started back for most, it's getting dark earlier, and even the temperatures are slightly cooler.

But for me, I hit the swimming pool.

I went swimming for the first time on Saturday. Me and mommy met up with Amy at Leila's house and jumped in. Not really, but it was still cool. The water reminded me of bath time. But at least in the pool I could kick and paddle like Mike Phelps (I can call him Mike, now, right?)

I gave it a shot with the dolphin kick, and I even tried a little freestyle stroke from my yellow floatie. What I DID NOT LIKE was my life jacket. Mommy put it on me, and I know it's for safety and all, but man, it clearly chokes a body. My head looked like it was going to pop off. So we quickly switched to the yellow float, which was much better. I still got to practice my swimming regimen.

It was a great time at the pool. We had a blast. And after the water, we just chilled on the chairs in the shade. Good times.

Hudson W. Pate

"Maybe he can be the next Michael Phelps."

Happy birthday to me. Happy birthday to me. Happy birthday dear Huddy Buddy, happy birthday to me.

Tuesday was my birthday. I turned eight months old, and as papa pointed out, that's two-thirds of a year. Can you believe that? I celebrated by having a solid day at daycare -- left in the same clothes I arrived in. I didn't sleep much because I was too excited about the day.

When I came home, I was exhausted so I slept a little bit. And when mommy and papa woke me up to eat at 6, I wasn't exactly peachy. Part of it was because I was tired. Part of it was because the birthday meal was something totally different: ham and apples (I know!), oatmeal (which is becoming boring), real bananas smashed up (weird) and a bottle (yay!). I survived it, and then the fun started.

Papa was singing the tune to Low Rider and playing with my bib while mommy worked the camera. I don't know what it was, but that bib and the sounds it made were hilarious. I have never laughed so hard. We were all out of breath from laughing.

Then it was time to crawl around for a while, which was pretty fun. I kept trying to get papa's crutch, but he never would let me have it. One day ...

Finally, I had been hearing mommy and papa talk about watching Michael Phelps swim to all his gold medals in the Olympics, which are way past my bedtime. It was bath time, so I hung out in the water while mommy scrubbed me down. Then, to rinse off, I showed mommy and papa how easy it was to swim like Michael Phelps. Or at least how easy it was to make a splash!

"Maybe he can be the next Michael Phelps," mommy said. She and papa agreed that wouldn't be a bad thing at all. But just seconds later, papa added, "... or the next Peyton Manning."

Hudson W. Pate

Back to the grind

The weekend is over and it's back to the old grind at daycare. I like it, though. Ms. Martha and the others at GSLC are really good to me. But I'm just like anybody -- I like my weekends. Even when papa has to work, I still get to chill with him and mommy. Sometimes mommy and I take off to Target or the grocery store (yawn).

This weekend? We didn't do anything! We hung out and slept a lot. I mostly played in the floor and crawled around a lot while papa worked.

On Sunday I went to church and had a good time, except for having to change pants (oops). After the service, I went into the sanctuary to hang out with Bill and Marlene, Justin and Amy, and Jamie and Kati. Mommy and papa kept telling them how I had learned to crawl, so Amy put me on the floor to show everybody. I got stage fright and cried. I feel embarrassed now, but I mean what can you expect? I'm cool in front of a crowd, but I guess after the pants episode I just caved under pressure. Oh well.

After the race on Sunday, papa finally quit hogging the computer and let me check my e-mail and get a blog in. Mommy and papa are just now letting me blog since they found out over the weekend I had been doing it all along. Gosh ... get up to speed, know what I mean?

Anyway, enjoy the week.

Hudson W. Pate

Game over!

Two days ago I said I was 75 percent crawling. Well today make it 100 percent.

On Thursday I waited until papa came home and we all three began playing in the floor. Of course, I sat there a few minutes before I made my debut. I took a few strides just to see if it could be done, and both mommy and papa noticed. So I got so nervous I peed on my clothes. Diaper change!

I thought about crawling to get my dump truck, which is my favorite toy because of the blue wheels. But no. Then I thought about crawling to get to the baby wipes holder, which is plastic and really unique. But no.

So then papa came over and showed me his crutches. I don't know what it is about them. They're dull and black, but they're really interesting. If I could only take a bite out of them. I digress.

Papa showed me his crutch while mommy was videoing, and so I just couldn't resist. I crawled around for about 15 minutes or so. It was fun, and that whole thing about one knee at a time -- not a problem at all. But I'm just not quite sure why mommy and papa kept saying, "it's over now," and "that's it; game over."

Later.

This crawling thing is cool

So I mentioned that I'm trying to crawl. Well, I'm about 75 percent there. That last part, about moving one knee at a time, it's tough to grasp.

When mommy or papa sit me down, I flatter them for a minute or two by sitting still. But then it's time to go. Sitting still is boring. So I quickly learned to flop over on my belly and from there it goes. Most of the things I like to chase are my toys, although papa's crutches are pretty dang cool, too.

At Vacation Bible School last week, Ms. Nina got on the ground with me so I could show her how to crawl, too. She learned pretty quickly, and I was impressed. She keeps me a lot of the times at church, along with Ms. Carol, so we're all pretty tight.

Anyway, gotta run for now. It's past my bedtime and nobody knows I'm on the laptop.

Later.

Hello to my fans ...

Well here it is ... the much anticipated first blog from me.

The last week or so has been really cool. Last week was Vacation Bible School at church, and I had a blast. It was great going around with mommy as she took pictures. And the music, man, it was wild. I was tired every night, but hanging out with all the folks at church and learning about God each night was really fun.

This weekend, I made a sign for Uncle Mark, who is in Iraq. I'm getting a care package together for him with lots of good things he needs. I can give you his address if you want. But I made a sign for him and took a picture to add it to the package. Pretty cool.

Well, it's late and I'm headed to bed. I'll check back in a few days and update you with what's going on.

Later.