Did you get it? My joke? In the title?
"60? D'OH!"
Clever, right?!? If you aren't getting this years from now when you read this, ask your Daddy to break out an ancient copy of the Simpsons collection that we will undoubtably still have on hand.
Not only will he be so happy to do so that his head might pop off, but it will actually shed a little light on this subject title. D'OH meaning - SHOOT! or something like that and DOUGH meaning Poppa Dough.I'm so impressed with myself right now.
All right - enough said. Actually, I think enough was said about 800 words ago, but I digress... :)
Well, this weekend, your Poppa Dough turned 60! Can you believe it? MY FATHER - 60!!!
How dare he! Doesn't he know what that means to ME?!? It means that he is a senior and I'm - gulp - middle aged! Ouch. Just typing that caused my hand to cramp and now I have to take a break.
(Come on now, 60?!? Really?!? 60!!! REALLY?!?... Maybe that doesn't sound so old after all!)To celebrate the occassion, we decided to surprise Poppa Dough with the family meeting down at the Lake for a celebration. Matt and Lisa couldn't be there because they are having a baby. Probably one of the best excuses ever in the history of excuses. We can't wait to meet the new family member!
So, Dad was actually surprised! And I sound surprised when I say that because that's a big deal in this family! Kelly and Bobby had Dad convinced that Kelly was working this weekend, Clay and I were busy with his traveling, etc, and Grandma stuck to her story through tremendous pressure from Dad that her knee just wasn't up to it!
The result? SURPRISE!
The next day was crazy and fun and extremely challenging for you, and then that night - perfect!
We had a day of rain that came down in spotty clusters, so it was a little too cool to go out and show off for Grandma in the water, but there was a window of opportunity to take her for a ride and the rest of the family did so while I stayed back at the room with you to get you to take a nap and your Daddy worked on school stuff.
You were having a tough time this past weekend with changes in routine. Those upset you as a general rule, but you were struggling so much with it this weekend, that I arrived at the conclusion that NOW was the time to wean you from your pacifier. It was time. 
I put you down for nap and you said "MY BEE-BAAAA! Mommeee - git it!" and I thought.... hmmmmm. Perhaps it's gone far enough with this thing. So, I explained that you were a big boy now and you didn't need pacifiers anymore because Bee-Baahs are for babies.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!! BEEEEEEEEEE-BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!BEE-BAAH, BEE-BAAH, BEE-BAAH, BEE-BAAH, BEE-BAAH, BEE-BAAH, BEE-BAAH, BEE-BAAH, BEE-BAAH, BEE-BAAH, BEE-BAAH, BEE-BAAH, BEE-BAAH, BEE-BAAH, BEE-BAAH, BEE-BAAH, BEE-BAAH, BEE-BAAH, BEE-BAAH, BEE-BAAH!"Anyway - you get the picture.
This transition has not been easy for you. The two nights that we have been binky free, you have cried yourself to sleep screaming for Beee-Baaaah to come and rescue you from the torture of life and stress and all that is bad in the world.
Part of me wonders... is it really so bad? To let you keep this binky?
But then the other part of me says - it's not so bad for you to experience change and challenges like this that don't seem to be fair or have solid reasons behind them except that life throws change your way and you sometimes have to accept it and move on.
And, in so doing, gain confidence in yourself and your ability to adapt and handle these challenges.
A little deep for a toddler with binky-separation-anxiety, but it's the philosophy that is helping me keep my nerve on this decision when it seems like it's unfair to put you through this when it hardly seems like the worst thing in the world.
Anyway - back to the weekend.
I swear to god - in this picture we started out joking around, but she was actually almost in my nostril and I thought - I will PICK HER NOSE, BY GOD, if she thinks she is going to win this one - she is WRONG!
That's normal.... right?
I just don't know WHERE they get this stuff from!!! :)
So, we gave Poppa Dough his presents from all of us which consisted of a balcony chair apiece and Mom gave Dad the table and a little accent table. 
Poppa was surprised by the first one and then feigned surprise rather well on the following ones. 
You boys were treated to little matching sets of chairs by Meemaw who picked them up on her own just because.
After naptime, we played at the little playground area with Erin, Brett and Calum and that was a blast! 
You guys were adorable on the slide together!
The swings presented more of a challenge because there was only ONE toddler/infant swing.
So, we went back to the slide!
You took a pause here to watch the Shanks interact with each other and were very entertained by them. 
I'm pretty sure they were making Calum laugh and you were enjoying the show.
The playground also had this really cool swing for two that you loved going on with Calum.
Look, Calum!
Over there!
WHEE!
At this point, Calum had tired of the swing and I tried to get you to move on, but you ran back,
crawled into it from the bottom,
and situated yourself on the swing.
Here you are waiting for the swing to magically begin swinging.
"MO MINUKES, Mommy!" (More minutes, Mommy! - I usually say five more minutes and hold my hand out like this so you are using my own phrase against me, except MO' MINUKES is more vague, leaving the door open for further bargaining when the five minutes are past....)
And here you are telling me "moe tyme, Mommy" with one finger raised to indicate just one more time is all.
Then, spent some time in the pool with Mommy, Kelly, Bobby and Poppa Dough himself.
You are still very timid of the water and getting water on your face so it says a lot about the trust you have in Poppa Dough that he went to him in the pool like this.
It was great to see.
Back up at the room afterwards, GG continued the tradition that she started with her grandkids of singing "Boom, Boom, Ain't it GREAT to be CRAZY" to you and Calum.
And, in the tradition of your parents before you, you were both thrilled and probably wondering on some level if GG wasn't a little "Crazy" herself.
And finally we were off to dinner at the Blue Heron!
What a restaurant! The meal was a special treat from Grandma who said she wanted to do something special for her son since it was his 60th Birthday! 
I swear to god - there was a bottle of wine on the menu that cost $13,000. I am not kidding. Entrees for $100 apiece. I mean - REALLY? This stuff exists? A cup of coffee for $50? That better be the best poop-inducing cup of joe I ever drink!
Okay - I shouldn't say poop on this blog. That was wrong and I apologize.
After appetizers and after ordering, we each read a Top Ten list of sorts that we had created for Dad - ranging from 10 characteristics that Dad had, to memories, to word associations, etc. Each was personalized to the presenter with the way they interpretted their top 10's and they were all fantastic!
Grandma wrote a letter to Dad that made me cry and I wasn't the only one.
The reading was followed by a dinner that was unbelieveable. I can see where they got their prices. The food was unmatched. 
And you and Calum were SOOOOOOO GOOD that we were able to stay for a whole evening! I don't think we left until after 8 and we arrived at 5:20. I had little to no hope that it would go that good and yet, it did. That was your gift to Poppa!
But the laptop with movie options helped, too. :)
Yes - I drank a nine ounce glass of wine. Why do you ask?
We sang Happy Birthday to Poppa which is your favorite part of any birthday party....
and then you charmed us all by giving a hug and kiss to your cousin Calum.
"Maaah cuzzin Cawlum."
What a great night! Kelly and I accidentally ended it in a drunken shopping spree at the mall. Don't ask how it happened. A threat was made about leaping out of the car, husbands were abandoned with a sad, tired child in the backseat and clothing was bought. I'll post pictures of those two dresses later when I get the chance to take pictures of them. Anyway - it was a great weekend for a great guy!
Love,
Mommy
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