Our Albert

For those of you who have not had the pleasure of meeting him, this the love of our lives, Albert. My parents cat, Blackie, gave birth to him (and a few others) the same time Brian and I first moved in together five years ago. He was the sweetest of the litter, so we had to have him. He is such a wonderful addition to our family, I felt he deserved his own blog...

Don't be fooled by his cat-like exterior, he is a dog trapped in a cat's body. He knows his name and will come to you when you call him. He is friendly to all of our visitors and is usually waiting by the door when I leave and come home. He goes on walks with Carson and I through the neighborhood and even waits by us if we stop to talk to neighbors. Best of all, he is so great with Carson. He lets Carson pet him, sometimes carry (ie. drag) him around the house, but will still put Carson in his place if he gets too rough.

We love him.

It's only just begun...

Well, I officially had my first public embarrassment via my lovely 3 year old. I knew the time would eventually arrive that Carson would do or say something to turn my face a bright shade of red in public. I was hoping it would take a little longer, or possibly be Brian, instead of me...

Last night Carson & I met my sister and her boys at a small Italian restaurant in Pearland. Ethan wanted to check the place out as a potential birthday party destination b/c they let the kids make their own pizzas, then they cook them. We were seated front and center next to the hostess stand, cash register and restrooms.

Half-way through the meal Carson announces at the top of his lungs "I need to go POO-POO, Mama! Hurry so I don't POO-POO on myself!!" (No, this isn't the embarrassing part...) So no big deal, I am happy to take my potty-trained child to use the restroom! We go in, he does his business and we go back to our table. On the way back to our seats Carson gets the strange notion that I now need to use the restroom as well. So he begins to yell "MAMA, YOU NEED TO GO POO-POO!!" I turn around and quietly tell him "no, I don't need to use the restroom." He obviously isn't buying it and continues to scream "MAMA YOU NEED TO GO POO-POO! HURRY MAMA, YOU ARE GOING TO POO-POO ON YOURSELF!" Again I tell him "really Carson, I don't need to go to the restroom." He continues and is now throwing himself on the floor screaming "YES YOU DO MAMA! YOU ARE GOING TO POO-POO ON YOURSELF, YOU NEED TO GO TO THE POTTY!!" At this point all employees and some of the customers are staring at me, and I can only imagine what they are thinking: does this lady have some previous habit of pottying on herself or what did she just do in OUR restroom. Joni, on the other hand is laughing hysterically. After a good couple of minutes debating with my child about my lack of needing to use the potty he finally stops the tantrum and moves on to something else, while I am forced to finish my meal with a restaurant full of giggling people.

I'm sure I will be able to return the favor in his teenage years.