I'm pooped

Easy there, amigo. It's not what you're thinking.

I know last time I wrote, it was clear that something I was eating didn't sit well with me. But that's not what I mean here.

Things got back to normal a little after the weekend with memaw and paw Arnold. Wake up, daycare, eat, play, sleep. But this past weekend, Nana and Uncle Matt came down for a quick visit and some really good times.

When they got here Saturday, we immediately went shopping. Not the best scenario in my book, but anytime I can get out of the house, I'm all for it. Later that night, when we got back and when papa got finished working, we all went to LaFonda. Never heard of it? You're missing out ... see for yourself. It's the best Cuban food around, or so says mommy and papa. It was late when we were there -- a little past my 8 p.m. bedtime. But I still had a good time dancing to the music and checking out the scenery (ask Uncle Matt, he knows).

Sunday we went to church, and I don't know if it was the fact that I stayed out late or what, but I was a little fussy, I'll admit. Mommy even had to come calm me down during service (oops). It was a lazy day after that, just sitting around, napping and eating my biscuit bars (mmmm, although messy).

Monday I got to lay out of school and stay home with Nana and Uncle Matt. We had fun playing around and I showed them how I can crawl all over the house. Papa and mommy tell me they give me a workout, but I think it's the other way around.

I don't know what time it was, but last thing I remember was playing under the table and then boom -- I was out. I must have fallen asleep right there. Oh well, what can you do?

Hudson W. Pate

I'm a star, but I'm not Hollywood

Alright, whew. It's back to the old routine. That's nice, but I will say this -- the last couple of weeks have been amazing.

This past weekend was big for me. While mommy and papa and Grammy were in Los Angeles, I spent some QT with memaw and paw Arnold. And what a time we had. I'm sure they're still tired from chasing me around the living room, but it was well worth it. At least as far as I'm concerned.

Papa left on Thursday, and when I got home from daycare, memaw, paw and Grammy were there to greet me. We had a fun time together that night, but the next day was sad -- mommy and Grammy left for L.A. I was sad for a minute, but then I realized it was just me, memaw and paw.

We played in the floor, paw chased me around while I crawled everywhere. I even started climbing up his knee.

Memaw fed me some new foods like peach Jello, chicken and some beef. I really liked the chicken, but it also resulted in a few more diaper changes. Or was it the formula? Memaw did that like a pro, too. A side result was a little more bathing. I'm OK with that; I like splashing in the water.

I slept all night every night for memaw and paw, and I'm sure they liked that. I figured by the time we went to bed, I was worn out, they were worn out, so it suited us all if I just went ahead and slept until 6:30 instead of waking up for an early-morning chat.

When I did wake up or let out a yell in the middle of the night, Macy came to check on me and then nudged memaw's arm to make sure she was awake. She was, but Macy was persistent. My big sister takes care of me. We're cool like that.

As much fun as I had with memaw and paw, the time went by faster than a Wal-Mart diaper. On Monday night, mommy and Grammy were almost home when I went to bed. Paw was watching Tennessee and UCLA (papa was at the game) while memaw fed me before I went to bed. The next thing I knew, it was morning and mommy and Grammy were back. It was good to see them, but mommy had to go to work. And by the time I was eating my 9:30 meal, papa was home. How he could go to the football game and be home the next morning, I haven't quite figured out.

It was good to see mommy and papa; I've been crawling all over them and hanging out to try to make up for lost time. It was good, though. I needed my space from them for a weekend -- just don't tell them that. But the weekend was one I'll never forget. I'll get some pictures from Grammy's camera in a few days.

Thanks memaw and paw. We'll do it again sometime soon.

Hudson W. Pate