Yes, I turned the Big 3-0 on Thursday. Big whoop. Not much has changed except that I am older, fatter, and more tired than I was on Wednesday. And now my parents feel really old since they have a child who has been alive for three decades.
Other than that, things are pretty much good on this side. I had a fabulous birthday, starting with the INCREDIBLE Jason Mraz concert that Tim took me to on the 14th. I knew we were going because I had to arrange for (approve of, administer background checks and drug-screenings for) the babysitter since it was on a Monday night and Grammy couldn't be here. What I didn't know is where our seats were or the fact that we had fancy tickets that got us into the VIP lounge before the show.
The concert was at the Nokia Theatre in Grand Prairie, which is an awesome venue, and after we chatted with friends in the lobby for a while and checked out the VIP lounge for about 3.5 seconds, we headed to our seats. And while I assumed that our seats would be somewhere in the upper bowl, or maybe we'd be lucky enough to sit somewhere in upper portion of the lower bowl, we headed straight towards the stage, where a ticket agent led us into the pit...to our seats...in the 6th row. O.M.G. We were pretty much dead center, sixth row, and if you ask me, they were the best seats in the house (if you check out the seating chart here, we were in section 104, row F, on the aisle).
Anyway, it freakin' rocked, and Jason was amazing live, and we had a great time. I determined that the concert tied* for first place in my "Best Concerts of All Time" list - and I've been to a lot of concerts.
On my actual birthday, I got lots of nice Facebook messages and phone calls and gifts and songs from friends and family. And, first thing in the morning, Alex sang me a rousing rendition of the Happy Birthday Song, which he is sort of obsessed with since we've been to a couple birthday parties recently.
Tim took us to dinner at a great cafe called Bolsa, where he had gone on some work-related lunch outing and had been dying to take me. And I'm so glad he did because the food was soooo good (it's one of those places that serves only market-fresh and seasonal items, so there is no freezer on the premises). I really want to get into details about the bruschetta tasting plate and the beautiful, golden sear on my scallops and the sinfully delicious leek butter they were drenched in, but all that foodie type of talk comes across so pretentious-sounding that I will just relive the experience in my head and spare you all the yummy details...
Anyhoo, it's not necessarily the kind of place that most people might take a two-year old, but we tend to blatantly disregard the unspoken rules regarding "child-friendly" restaurants if it is a Thursday night and we arrive before sundown. Plus, we always bring our own high chair and sit out on the patio, if possible. Luckily Thursday was a perfect night to sit outside, and we had a great dinner.
Alex had an order of pepperoni flatbread - basically pizza on a superthin crust with spicy pepperoni and fresh mozzerella and basil - and meeeeowwwww, I think it might be the best pizza I've ever had. Alex ate three pieces, plus he had a few bites of my scallops - loved them! - and a few bites of his daddy's quail - loved it! - and that was all he had because we were unwilling to share anymore (we bought the kid an $11 pizza - for crying out loud, child, eat your pizza and leave my food alone).
Of course, we had dessert, too, because what is a birthday dinner without dessert, and we settled on a peach and blueberry crisp.
So it was a fun, fun birthday night with my boys. I am very thankful that we can go do these kinds of things together to celebrate special occasions. I have a such good little boy and a great husband. Love you guys! Thanks for the great birthday!
*In case you were wondering, the other first place winner was the Sondre Lerche concert we went to in Grantham, PA, when we were living in Philly while I was in grad school. The venue was a tiny room at a tiny christian college in Nowhere, Pennsylvania, and it was like being at a concert in someone's living room. We had front row seats -which really wasn't that big of a deal considering the "nosebleed section" was about twenty feet from the stage - and got to chat with Sondre afterwards.
So...back to Labor Day weekend. The plan for Sunday morning, post-Dave & Buster's, was to stick with our normal Sunday morning routine - go to Sunday school, stay for the 10:50 service, come home for a quick lunch, then put A to bed for his nap. But, long-story-short, Tim had a lot of work to get done, so we decided to play hooky from church, and A and I ended up at Six Flags with the rest of the gang from Eldo.
Originally, we decided against taking Alex to Six Flags because there aren't many rides for him to go on, and by the time we got there when it opened at 10:30am, we'd only have about two hours to play before we'd have to head home so he could take a nap. But then, I thought, why the heck not? I knew he'd have a blast, much more so than hanging around the house. And as far as his nap went, I figured I'd just take the big stroller, A could fall asleep or not, and if he was too miserable and crabby, I would just take him home at that point. (I think I might have mentioned it in a post or two or twelve, but I am totally neurotic and not at all laid back, especially about things like my child's nap schedule. So for me to take Alex to Six Flags with the intent to "wing it" at naptime...well, let's just say I've come a long way.)
Not surprisingly, he had an awesome time riding the rides he was tall enough for. He's 1/2" shy of making the 36" minimum on most rides, so his options were few and far between. We started with a Batman jet ride...something or another...and I rode with A just in case he decided to freak out. And he did freak out...when the ride was over and we made him get off. Unfortunately, the ride operator (is "carnie" the appropriate word here?) did not give into his puppy dog eyes and his desperate pleas for "one mo' ride!"
So off we went to find some more "Alex-appropriate" rides. He ended up on the river barge ride with Grammy and Poppa...
...the train with Grammy...
...the semi truck ride with Poppa...
...the carousel with Uncle Chris (where he decided he no longer wanted to have his picture taken and kept saying, "Mommy, no picture a Alex!!"...can't say I blame him, either, what with that awful hair)...
...and spent the rest of the time bonding with Auntie L (who is preggers and can't ride anything).
But if he had had his druthers, I'm convinced that Alex would have ridden every ride there - yes, even the upside-down ones. Nonetheless, he just loved being there - the sights, the sounds, the smells...
Turns out, A did sleep in his stroller (only after Grammy swiped a rocking chair from somewhere, coaxed him to sleep, then stuck him in the stroller), and got a decent nap, considering the circumstances. As usual, I had nothing to worry about...Poppa had no problem napping either, and Grammy didn't even have to rock him.
Now that A is talking more, we have added prayer to our normal bedtime routine. After we read some books and sing some songs, we lay in the bed and thank God for all of our blessings. When we first started, we would say "Dear God, thank you for..." and then list the names of our family members, friends, possessions, etc., and Alex would repeat each one as we ticked things off the list.
Now, when we say, "Time to pray", Alex immediately folds his hands and says, "Dear God, thank you for..." and starts to list the things he is most thankful for. Last night, that list went something like this:
Dear God, thank you for...my bunny rabbit...thank you for apple juice...thank you for Daddy...thank you for cheese...thank you for the letter L...thank you for apple juice (again)...thank you for the number 5...thank you for my comfy bed...amen!
I guess we all know where his priorities lie. I mean, apple juice trumped daddy, and mommy didn't even make the list. Can apple juice fix you breakfast or drive you to the park or CHANGE YOUR POOP-FILLED DIAPERS???!!!! I didn't think so.
At some point in the recent past - I think it was two weekends ago - a big crew from Eldo came up to Dallas to go to Six Flags and shop and do other fun Dallas-y stuff, so we met up with them at Dave & Busters on Saturday night to have dinner and blow some money in the arcade.
I don't know if you know this, but Alex loves attention and really thrives when thrown into situations where lots of people are involved. He had a ball at dinner, being goofy and entertaining the masses with his lemon-eating and nonsense-spewing and other generally adorable behavior. He ate more chips than anyone at the table. Seriously. I kid you not, ask anyone there. The waiter refilled his basket twice, and every minute or so, Alex could be heard hollering for "mo' guacamole!"
Alex would have been completely satisfied had dinner been the main event that evening, so when he found out that the restaurant was at an arcade, well let's just say he probably would have skipped chip-eating altogether had he known there were arcade games to be played. He loved playing Wack-a-mole with his dad, coin games with his Poppa, and riding a bike with his Grammy.
Little did he know, we would be on to bigger and better things the next day. In fact, little did I know, either...
