Happy Columbus Day

Happy Columbus Day! Note the applique on Tate's jon jon. Did I say I was going to stop dressing him for the holidays when he turned 1? Oops. I meant 2. So I have two more weeks...

Tate Words

IMITATE

I dressed Tate. Rob dressed himself. Looks like it was just a red and blue Polo kind of day.

Family Time

In the last month we have had lots of family time. First we visited Mississippi to see the Robertson side of the family. I posted an album on Facebook, but am reposting a few here for posterity. Tate really loved his Poppy, whether it was...

getting rides in the wagon...

...helping him do some work on the porch...

or crossing wobbly bridges to get to him....

Tate thought his Poppy was great!

Then, this past weekend we went to the Arlington Historical Society's Front Street Festival which featured tours of a log cabin that belonged to my ancestors.

A family tree that was on the wall inside the cabin. My mom's and grandmother's names are on here.

I wonder if P.A. Watson had any idea this bunch of relatives would one day be hanging out on his porch.

A 7th Generation Watson.

From his grandfather in Mississippi to his great, great, great, great, great grandfather in Texas, Tate has been getting to know his roots!

Tater Van Halen

I got my $9.99 out of this Hawaiian ukelele.

Update

So I did a night snorkel with Manta Rays tonight. It was a work assignment because I had to know all about the excursion since I will be taking 34 guests there on Friday night. It was pretty awesome.

And therefore I have to amend my previous post to say that work trips can be pretty cool. And my job is cool. It's just the trip's length and Tate's age that are making it hard. A shorter trip and an older Tater Tot would make for ideal conditions.

So, see, I'm not completely crazy.

Blog on Break

I'm working in Hawaii for the next 8 days without any time for the blog, but once again Rob is chronicling his (mis)adventures as a single Dad on Bongo Tomfoolery. Let's hope he has less to write about since last time I was gone for a week and Tate got the croup. And don't forget to click on his links. They are usually laugh out loud funny. I think he spends more time finding the links than he does writing the blog.

Anyway, I know a lot of people with children must travel for work, but that doesn't make it any easier. And I know that I get to go to fun places like Cabo and Kona and that people don't feel real sorry for me. But I still don't like it. Two years ago, I'd be living it up and planning my next trip. Now, I'm sitting in my hotel room looking at a picture of Tate and wondering what new words he is saying today.

I know a lot of people without kids say they don't want chidren because they couldn't do things like travel. I was one of them at one point. But now I know that it isn't that you CAN'T travel anymore it's that you don't WANT to travel anymore. And if something makes you wish you were home in a toy-strewn playroom with a sippy cup being hurled at you instead of on a beach eating pineapple, then that 'thing' must be pretty cool.

Ok, enough wistfulness. I have some pineapple to go eat.

Tate Words - College Football Edition

Thanks to friends Lauren and Jeremy who came up with a new "Tate" Word for us by giving Tate this t-shirt on our recent trip to Jackson. We had to swallow our pride to post this one, but in honor of the start of College Football this weekend...

Mississippi STATE

Hey, don't take my picture in this ugly maroon shirt!

See, even my Dad doesn't like it.

Tate tells us how he feels about State...Losers!

Rob asked that I point out that Tate scored as many touchdowns against Ole Miss last year as State did. He also said we can't make fun of the shirt and school that much since the shirt came from an award-winning BBQ champion and we want to stay on his good side....

Hotty Toddy!

Grandfathers

Tate is one lucky guy to have two doting grandfathers in Poppy and Big Guy.

Tate the Womanizer

When Rob dropped Tate off at daycare on Monday, one of the teachers made a point to stop him in the hall and tell him that all the teachers love Tate and "he is quite a womanizer." We laughed and figured she probably meant "Ladies Man" or "Flirt."

Um, no, apparently she meant womanizer.

Because today when I dropped Tate off, the mother of a girl in his class told me that last night they were saying prayers and her daughter repeated after her, "God Bless Mommy...God Bless Daddy..." and then there was a pause and the little girl said "And God Bless Tate!"

And when I picked him up today, he went up to each of the three girls who were left and gave them each a hug goodbye. One of them actually cried as we were leaving.

Yep, I think she meant womanizer.

In other news, Tate has become obsessed with airplanes. We have been making frequent trips to DFW's observation area lately where Tate loses his mind every time a plane lands. If you live in the area, it's a great, wide open (free) place to take your kids. (Yes, I've been informed it is also a high school makeout spot. My sister Nancy was the one who gave me perfect instructions on how to get there...hmmm...)

(Even womanizing the sculpture at the observation area?)

Budding Golf Fan

Tate was apparently paying close attention to Rob all day as he watched the PGA tournament. When the highlights came on, Tate started providing his own commentary. Luckily he didn't repeat some of the words Rob said and only imitated the sounds he made.