These boots were made for walkin'

I realize it's been a long time since I last posted a blog entry, but, well, I've been a little busy.

Busy walking!

It's true. Click on the play button on the video above. Mommy and Papa had been encouraging me to take some steps, and I took one or two steps on my own two weeks ago. But nothing more than that. So, after the teachers at school kept telling me the same things, I wanted to give it a try. I was so nervous. But I did it.

On Wednesday last week, I took off at school. Walked about six or seven steps. So I did it again. The teachers were going crazy, clapping and congratulating me. They even called Mommy at work to let her know what I had done for the day. And they turned on the recorder at the front desk and recorded me walking. When Papa and Uncle Matt came to pick me up, it was the first thing my teachers said. And they wanted me to show off to Papa, too. So I did. Took eight steps in a row all by myself.

So since then, I've been working hard on walking. I can take about eight to 10 steps in a row before I start losing my balance. What do you expect, you know?

But that's been my highlight of the week and I wanted to share with everyone. Meanwhile, I'm gearing up for Thanksgiving. I hear it's quite a good time -- and good eats.

Most of all, however, I'm thankful for God, Mommy and Papa and Macy, my family in Tennessee, my friends in Tennessee and Georgia and all over the country (some of which I've yet to meet), my buddies at school, bananas, playtime, cameras, blogs, formula, good food, laughs ... and I'm especially thankful for you.

Hudson W. Pate

One more month to go

On Wednesday, I turned 11 months. Can you believe that? One more month and I'll be talking in years. Man, time flies. But it's cool because I really am becoming a big boy now. This week, I started playing peek-a-boo with Mommy and Papa. It's pretty fun; I recommend it for all to enjoy.

Last weekend had its ups and downs, but we'll focus on the ups for one reason -- they're worth remembering.

But first off, let me explain the video above. If you didn't know it was a video, then simply press the triangle "play" button and turn the volume up. I have finally gotten Macy to come around and play with me, and I think she likes it. Yeah, I still try to pet her too hard, but she's learned to live with it. I noticed that, like me, she has toys too. And I noticed that Mommy and Papa grab her chew ring and throw it, and she runs after it. So what did I do? Take a guess. Mace Dogg is a good playmate, and I'm really glad she decided to be my friend instead of running from me.

So back to the weekend. Friday got off to a bad start because I had to go back to the doctor for a fever. Doc said the pneumonia was still there a little, so she gave me some meds. Yuck. As soon as I took it the first time, it made me puke and I couldn't really stomach anything the rest of the day. But by Saturday, I was fine. In fact, I was hungrier than ever.

We had made it to Knoxville Friday night, and I was glad to have a good night's sleep at Nana's house. It was so good to see Nana and Uncle Matt again. But Saturday was a whirlwind of a day. We had breakfast and then went to campus to drop off Papa and Uncle Matt so they could go to Tennessee's Homecoming football game (don't ask how that turned out!). I made Mommy snap a picture of them walking away. I'll go with them one day.

They had a good time at the game. Me? Well, the sickness went away, but it went right out into my diaper! Yikes! Mommy and Nana didn't seem too happy about 1) cleaning me up once, 2) having to take me to Aunt Irene's house to clean me up a second time AND give me a bath there, 3) clean me up a third time and go to K-Mart to buy some emergency clothes! That's right -- you read that correctly. So I had to wait in the van in nothing but my skivvies. What's a guy to do?

Anyway, we made it through the weekend and I'm feeling a lot better. This sick stuff is for the birds, and I'm going to have a talk with my classmates at school -- we got to put a stop to spreading germs! Despite some of the other hardships of the weekend, we pulled through and it was really fun to hang with Nana and get to play with Uncle Matt all weekend.

Alas, another week. In the final pictures below, Papa and I caught a little more shuteye while Mommy got ready Wednesday morning. And lastly, at AWANA Wednesday night, Nati Grace hooked me up with some hot dog. I like hot dogs, but I liked them a little better when Nati shared it with me. What's that? Is she sweet on me? You'll have to ask her.

Hudson W. Pate

What a week

I know, I know. It's been forever since I've blogged. But seriously, I've been a little busy.

Nana and Uncle Matt came down last Saturday, hung out and then took me to see Mommy at the Fall Festival. Great time outside enjoying the warm weather. The rest of the weekend was OK, but I was still recovering from the pneumonia. Yuck.

On Monday, Uncle Matt, Papa and I carved our pumpkin. Well, they carved, I coached.

On Tuesday, Papa had his wisdom teeth taken out. He wasn't the same -- I hardly talked with him for a day or so. But he's cool now. I had a blast with Nana and Uncle Matt, especially when he pushed me around on my push-car toy thing that I love. Nana and Uncle Matt left later that night after I went to bed.

On Wednesday, Grammy, Memaw and Paw came down and surprised me at school. I was really confused. So confused that I didn't trust them at first -- Ms. Faith had to carry me out to the car and buckle me in. Papa was there, so I figured they were legit. After that, we had a great rest of the week. I peed on Grammy. And all three of them watched as I got more comfortable pushing my car and walking behind it. I'm getting the hang of this walking thing -- and it's much easier on the knees.

Grammy, Memaw and Paw stayed through Saturday -- I took a nap and when I woke up they were gone. The rest of the weekend flew by. Went out to eat Sunday with the Autons, the Kimms and the Weavers, then went out Monday with the Weavers again. I like restaurants, except I can't crawl around. So I make people like Justin carry me out the door on their shoulders. Much more entertaining from a higher-up perspective.

The biggest thing of the week? Halloween. I was a monkey for Halloween, and I must admit that the costume was absolutely great. We got some pictures around the house, then went to Bill and Marlene's house to trick-or-treat with Billy and Kailynn in their neighborhood. Billy was a mummy, and Kailynn was a princess. When we came back, we went to visit our neighbor Babashadei and his daughter -- we're cool and almost the same age, I just don't know her name (oops). And then, I was pooped.

And without further ado, the pictures ...

Hudson W. Pate