Stinky Pooh-Pooh, Throwed Rolls, Papa's B-day

We left my parents' house at the crack o' dawn Sunday morning so we could meet Tim's family for lunch at Lambert's outside of Springfield, MO. It was Papa's b-day, and his birthday wish was to have lunch with his grandson.

Alex slept hard for the first three hours of the trip and finally woke up to eat a little something. We made a quick bathroom stop and got back on the road, however, Tim and I were the only ones who actually used the bathroom. Alex decided to wait until we were on the road to...how do I put this...make a seriously stinky pooh-pooh in his pants. He was basically asleep when it happened - a pretty impressive feat if you ask me - so instead of waking him up and throwing us off schedule, we decided to ride it out. Gross, I know. But he didn't seem to mind. In fact, I'm the only one who suffered, having to endure almost two hours of incredibly noxious fumes wafting up from his carseat. Ughhh, I gag at the thought...

It was freezing cold and raining by the time we got to Lambert's, and of course, I had to execute a stinky pooh-pooh diaper change in the backseat of the car, in the freezing rain, with no coat on, before we could go inside.

Grammy, Papa, Auntie L, cousin Ashley, and both Mamaws were anxiously awaiting our...er, Alex's arrival. Lambert's was packed, as usual, so everyone had plenty of time (an hour and a half, to be exact) to play with Alex before we got to our table.

Everyone in the restaurant loved his hat and he drew lots of adoring looks while we were waiting in line. I think he's starting to get used to being oohed and aahed over. We try to remind him to stay grounded so he doesn't get a big head, but he sure does lavish the attention. "I'm still Alex from the block," he assures us.

After all the gorging I had done during our two day Thanksgiving fiesta, I had completely sworn off food and had planned not to eat again until Christmas. I knew that just wasn't a realistic goal, so I compromised and had the low-cal fried catfish platter with mashed potatoes and fat-free gravy. Papa tempted Alex with some fried okra, but he had more will power than I and refused the offer. In fact, he forwent food altogether, and instead, opted for a liquid lunch. He had delicious bottle of formula and even managed to feed himself.

We handed Alex around the table like a "pass around" - blackeye peas, fried taters, macaroni and tomatoes, Alex...but he didn't seem to mind. He even caught a tossed roll, with Grammy's help.

Papa was happy that he got his birthday wish and Alex was happy to spend time with his Papa.