5 Weeks Old

Tate is 5 weeks old today. It used to bug me when I would ask someone how old their baby was and they would say, "17 weeks." Why not just say 4 months and a week. I have now come to realize that the whole "4 weeks in a month" conversion factor is a bit skewed. Tate is 5 weeks but he technically turned a month old 4 days ago. Anyway, come December 23rd, if wish Tate a happy 2-month birthday, I will likely admonish you by stating that Tate is in fact 8 weeks and 6 days old. So there. At his doctor's appointment today, Tate weighed in at 10 pounds, 6 1/2 ounces (89th percentile). He was 21 3/4 inches long (59%) and his head size was in the 80% bracket. In short, he is a stout little bugger with a large dome, much like his father. The doctor said that he is doing great! My brother started a blog where he is posting his pictures. It's great Check it out here.

Big head, even bigger heart.

A Wii Little Guy in the Canyon

Melissa bowled a 279 on the Wii yesterday. It was one of the most impressive things I have ever witnessed a human accomplish. All strikes and one spare. I wept uncontrollably. She even bowled (not the big score) while holding Tate in the baby bjorn (one of the most useful/dumbest looking contraptions ever invented). Tate is doing really well. He still eats and poops a lot but he is now coupling that with more awake time which is delightful. He has his 5 week check-up tomorrow. He is stoked!

Mrs. Earl Anthony.
The canyon & property from the sky. We live in the circle.

12 Days of Christmas Are Pricey

According to this article on CNN.com it would cost $78,100 to buy the 364 items. Each item was considered for a day's rental cost. Pretty pricey. Yesterday Justin took Tony, my dad, and I flying. It was for my 22nd birthday. Long story. It was a lot of fun. We flew over Mt. Diablo, the delta, the mothball fleet, Las Trampas, and my homeland, the canyon (I'll post a picture of the aerial view of our house tomorrow). It is a little freaky flying with Justin. Melissa made him promise not to kill me and he told her that his motivation was that if I died, he would die too. After weighing these ramifications, he decided to let me live. Here are some pictures:

We all fit in a cockpit that was 3 square feet.
The mothball fleet.
Flyboys.
They called shotgun.
The tree under which Mel and I got engaged (Las Trampas).

Tate's First Thanksgiving

Yesterday my family (and probably yours) celebrated Thanksgiving. We started off the day with out annual Turkey Bowl football game. Keeping with tradition, my team lost. We had heart though. After the game we went over to the Conley's to eat dinner. I dominated in Monopoly which is another Thanksgiving tradition. Chris and Josh cried. Pletcher took it like a man though. Speaking of Pletch, he joined us for our Thanksgiving festivities. It was a lot of fun having him there. Dinner was really good. We went over to my Auntie Ann's for I won't get in to any of the details, but Josh won Risk. That is enough about that. We enjoyed some nog and coffee and prepared for yuletide merriment. Though Tate did enjoy his first Thanksgiving, he is quite anxious for next year's festivities when he can eat more than just milk. Emery and Lindsey visited us today and brought us lunch. Tate threw up on Lindsey to show his appreciation. dessert and Tate got to meet his Bowen great grandparents for the first time. He was rather excited. Tate was passed around quite a bit as everyone wanted a chance to hold "the world's most perfect child" (Former President Clinton's words, not mine). We ate pie and I harassed my cousins. We then headed back to the Conley's to play some more games.

Turkey Bowl 2007.

"Thankful for the day when I can choose my own clothes." - TateInsert clever comment here.

Put UR Hands Up!

Mel, Tate, and I had a grand weekend. On Saturday we went to Las Trampas with Justin and Tyler and our parents to take our dogs on a hike and to take some Christmas pictures. It was a lot of fun. The grandparents are trying to make it a Saturday tradition. After they we went over to the Mayerson's new house and had dinner with them and their family. A wonderful end to a splendid day. Tate is quite the traveler now. Tomorrow Tate turns 1 month (can you believe it???). Last night we went over to my parents and had dinner. Mandie and the Ton were in attendance as well. Justin had to take pictures of hands for one of his school projects and he chose to shoot Tate's paws because, as one pediatrician put it, "he has the greatest and most spectacular hands that man has ever seen!" Here are some of the pictures for his assignment and some other pictures of him in his diaper because, as one historian put it, "he may be the most adorable baby to ever wear a diaper."

All of our hands (the small one is Tate's).
Baby-Daddy. Daddy-Baby.
Familia.
"Cutest baby in the world." - The late Ronald Reagan
Profile.
9 poundsish.
We are so proud of each other.

Edge: A shop for men, not boys (or girls for that matter)

Last week Jake and I were asked to lend our good looks and stunning physiques for some photos to be taken for an ad for Edge Shop for Men. Since we both are quite accustomed to modeling, it was extremely natural being in front of the camera. Ok, not quite. Justin took the pictures. Amy Mayerson set the poses. It was hilarious. The shop is promoting some of their sports themed apparel and they wanted to do a "Vs." theme. In the end, our heads were chopped off because Jake looked too modelish and not "Vs.-ish" enough. It was fun though. Here are some of the highlights.

They cut off the ugly parts.
Hut, Hut, Hike.
William Rast, 32. Vintage Sport 49'ers T, Medium
Vs. epitomized.
Why the Raiders will never win.
Jamarcus in '08.
Alex Smith is a girl.
Need I say more?

Tate's Due Today

The Nourishment Room is Worth the Price of Admission

Tate celebrated his 3 week birthday by sleeping, peeing on 3 of his outfits, and relaxing. I plan on doing something similar for my birthday next year. The handsome devil on the right is me when I was a lad. People say that Tate looks a lot like me. Poor kid. I should be getting all of the pictures on Friday that my brother took at the hospital. At that point I will finish writing the baby story and post the pictures here. Until then, enjoy this excerpt from the video that I made documenting Tate's birth. Melissa doesn't want me posting the whole thing on here so next time you are at our house you can ask to view it.

Little Drummer Boy

Tate is 3 weeks old today. That's kind of a big deal. He is also still 4 days shy of his original due date. He has always been really advanced that way. I uploaded the new song to the Santa's Little Helpers page and I would like to tell you that we recorded this pathetically entertaining song in a couple hours one afternoon but that would be lying. In fact, this song took about 2 weeks to finish. There are 6 guitar tracks, 6 vocal tracks, 3 synthesizers, and 3 different beat tracks. Enjoy. Here are some new pictures of Tate and his sporty sweat outfit:

Unseasonably cool.
Big yawn.
Golden retriever for sale: Friendly, likes people.

Double Chins & Santa's Little Helpers

Double chins on adults: Ugly/Gross

Double chins on infants: Adorable/A Promising Sign of Growth

Tate continues to grow and his daily hours of awake time continue to increase as well which is fun. As previously referenced, he is developing a double chin. Here he can been seen modeling an outfit from LoJo. He is going longer between feedings as well. I forget who made the following point but it was a good one: At which point do we begin to refer to "feedings" as "eating a meal?" Feeding sounds very animal-like. Enough deep thoughts. On another note, a couple years ago I began writing and recording ridiculous Christmas songs under the collaborative alias, Santa's Little Helpers. Josh Perry and I have spent many an hour slaving over these tunes. Some of our collaborators include Melissa, Nicole Gillette, Dan Gillette, Justin Cochran, Ashley Clark, and Katie Perry. These songs are now available for your listening and downloading pleasure. I make this announcement on the eve of debuting the newest song in my repertoire, "Little Drummer Boy." That song will be featured later this week after some fine-tuning is complete. Here is the link.

www.virb.com/santaslittlehelpers

7 pounds, 8 Ounces of Pure Brains and Muscle

Tate had his first doctor's appointment on Tuesday. He has the same pediatrician, Dr. Trotter, that Melissa and I had growing up which is kinda fun. I say "kinda fun" because Tate doesn't share in our fondness of Dr. Trotter. You see, Tate lost a bit of his foreskin in a battle with Dr. Trotter's scalpel and as such, he holds a bit of animosity towards him. In other news, Tate has gained nearly a pound since his birth. He now weighs 7 lbs., 8 oz, or roughly the weight of a gallon of water, but slightly heavier than a gallon of gasoline. He is a fine young lad and Mel and I are having fun being parents. Last night the MSM had its annual scavenger hunt. I showed up in the MSM room in the afternoon to get some stuff ready and lo and behold I found 5 decaying pumpkins from the previous week's Halloween festivities. This was one of the grossest things I have seen in a while and considering Tate has pooped and peed on me in the past week and I witnessed (and filmed) Mel's C-section, I believe I have a wealth of recent gross experiences to draw from. As I picked up the pumpkins to move them, they melted in my arms. It was disgusting. I am doing ok now though. As a gift to you, click this link to download the new Switchfoot song, featuring Matt Theissen of Relient K and the singer from Ruth. Enjoy your day.

Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can't Lose!

Melissa and I bought season 1 of Friday Night Lights right after Tate was born and have pretty much finished it in the week that we have been home. I read an article online by one of my favorite writers praising the show so I decided to give it a try. It is a pretty amazing show and I highly recommend it (if you liked the movie or not). It reminds me of Freaks & Geeks a bit which is probably why I like it so much. It is more of a social commentary and story about life than one about football. Enough shameless advertising. Yesterday Tate picked his nose. Though I was not there to view it, it still makes me quiet proud. Below you will find the proof. In addition to digging for gold, he can wave and even opens his eyes occasionally. He is growing up! Happy 2-week birthday Tate!

It only took 2 weeks.
He is very serious. Seriously.
Hi.

By the way, Allison won our baby guessing game that was posted on the blog. However, the site's scoring system was funky. Allison guessed that Tate would weigh 15 pounds. Maybe she thought the question was, "how much would 2 Tate's weight?" Anyway, congrats Allison. And, while we are on the topic of cheaters...Jake put in his guess while Melissa was in labor. Cheaters never prosper Jake!