I've been haggled!

If you're a new parent, take heart. It's only 2 years and some months until you don't have to deal with diapers anymore. I can't tell you the relief we're now feeling that LMA is about 90% potty-trained. She still wears "night panties" to bed (ie pull-ups) but during the day it's just regular underwear and the occassional prancing about with no drawers on, or what I like to call "The Uncle Chipper." It's a true blessing now that no money is spent on disposable clothing anymore. Now we're just working on the regular clothing that we have to buy every 2 months.

Which brings me to a conundrum Mrs. Austin and I have run into. LMA doesn't eat. I mean, she's capable of it, and we see her do it and somewhere in the forgotten worlds of possibility she's finished an entire meal, but for the most part she just drinks milk and water. Now I don't want to panic, I've heard other parents say that toddlers are picky eaters, but LMA is already small as it is. She's still wearing clothing with tags that say 12 mos! I'm a little worried, a little scared. I'm sure nothing is actually wrong with her, but you can never tell right? So every night becomes another bribing routine. "You eat one more beet and you can watch the Muppets." "One more bite of tofu and we'll go play outside." I don't like the fact that I have to bribe my child to get her to do something I think is right or needed. And with that statement, there are scores of grandparents just laughing their asses off. Now that I think about it, a story of me not wanting to eat pot roast comes to mind. I would stuff my face full of meat just to get it off my plate, but I wouldn't actually eat it. So there I sat with chipmunk cheeks just waiting to be excused so I could go spit it all out. Man I didn't like pot roast. Now I'm trying desperately to get this little one to eat her veggies, just praying I don't see pull a Dizzy Gillespe with some broccolli.

Pictures to follow on this. Our latest family outting was in sunny, sandy, surfside Corpus Christi. We decided 10 mins after leaving our house that we were going there. (Planning is not our strong suit, stay tuned from the Eddie Izzard in Denver post.) Both of us are sick with head/chest colds, so what better way to spend a weekend then driving someplace unfamiliar.

Truth be told it was fun. The sudden burst vacations and road trips tend to yield the most enjoyment for us. I'm sure mainly because there's no expectation, no stress from planning and no reason to fight over stuff that may or may not happen. We drove down 35 to San Antonio, stopped a couple times to potty and once in Buda to wait in apparently the only Subway in Texas for 20 mins while Saturday Business Atire Lady decides to haggle over her 27 turkey light sandwiches. We arrive in CC around 4 and just hit the beach running. I'm reminded of another story of me and my younger brother in Florida, seeing the ocean for the first time. Running like gang busters, we pitch into the oncoming surf to be greeting by a mouthful of salt water. Not what I, nor LMA was expecting. Oh the water was warm and delightful. LMA spent her afternoon chasing seaguls, running into then away from the surf and throwing as much sand back into the water as possible. Her 2 year old brain must have thought the water was broken because it was dropping all this dirt along the beach, all she was doing was helping it get it all back.

High point was burying daddy in the sand. We'd buried LMA earlier and that was cute, she giggled. While I was being covered in sand, my upper body already succumbed to the weight of it, I shout that my nose itched, like it always does when you suddenly can't move your hands. Well, Mrs. Austin just laughs and says I'll have to tough it out. Not Lil Miss Austin, she wants to help. Crunch! Face full of sand. Sand in tear ducts, nostrils, molars, ears. I'm sure it didn't occur to her that the hand she wanted to help daddy scratch his nose with was full of sand. A for effort, that's for sure. Lil demon.

Rest of they day was cool. Say a big navy type ship (USS Lexington) from afar, have to wait to go back with my dad cuz he loves that stuff. Ate at Joe's Crab Shack, which I thought was a bit cliche, but we were hungry and not picky and it was my idea so shut up.

I dig my family. I'm glad that even though we have a kid, some times we can pick up and just run off someplace. As much as I love, and could really use a 2 week vacation in Greece, these little weekend adventures are pretty cool.

As soon as I figure out the web site situation, there will be pictures. Oh yes, there will be. Don't try and stop me. I'm a blogger on the edge!!