The Amazing Growing Boy

With Tate still too young to wear his Borat costume, Halloween was pretty uneventful in our household. Despite not dressing up, though, Tate has embraced the Halloween spirit by becoming his very own superhero – The Amazing Growing Boy.

Like most babies, Tate lost weight his first week, dropping from 7 lbs. 1 ounce to 6 lbs. 6 ounces at his first pediatrician visit. One week later, though, he was a robust 7 lbs. 10 ounces. And this past week, Tate tipped the scales at 8 lbs. 11 ounces. The Amazing Growing Boy is certainly following his old man’s footsteps when it comes to weight gain.

One of the pictures below shows Tate ready to pull an Incredible Hulk and bust out of the sweater his parents bought him in Portugal. The other picture shows Tate modeling a Halloween outfit from his neighbors Ava and Olin.

WANTED: Mr. Wiggles

Please be on the look out for a cute little boy that shows a continual ability to slither out of any situation. The suspect, Tate Logan, has demonstrated escape artistry not seen since Houdini. From busting out of swaddles to wriggling on the changing table, Tate is very slippery.

Favorite hangouts include the changing table, his snuggle rest, the cradle swing, his stroller, and his mommy’s arms.

Known aliases include: Mr. Wiggles, Tater Tot, The Hedgehog, Tate the Great, CC, Snappy, and Teen Wolf.

If you see him, please approach cautiously and use both hands!

Grandparents

All it took was one rough night in the hospital before Rachel and I made the emergency bullpen call to the grandparents. First-time Grandmother Barb pitched in with a great 1^st meal back while Grandfather Norm used his surgeon hands to clip Tate’s nails. Grandma Barb also made a return visit a couple of weeks later and provided great help while also celebrating her 60^th birthday with her Grandson Tate. Meanwhile, Gigi and Papa showed their experience by providing huge help as well. Gigi spent two nights on the family couch, preparing great meals and taking care of Tate and his parents, including handling one 3:30 a.m. meltdown. Papa held Tate all day and helped Rachel and I get some much needed sleep.

I’m sure it won’t be the last time we say: Thank you!!

Welcome Tate

At 12:20 p.m. on Thursday, October 12th, Rachel and I finally met our first child, Tate Logan. The moment of birth was unforgettable -- our first glimpse of Tate was his matted down hair (and he has a lot of it). Because we chose not to know the gender, we had to wait until the Dr. delivered the entire body before realizing we had a son. Tate arrived healthy weighing 7 lbs 1 ounce and measuring 20.5 inches long.

While Tate was the star of the day, Rachel was the star of the week. The week started off when Rachel attended her regular Dr. appointment on Monday and the Dr. discovered that Tate was in a breeched position.

While we prepped for what could possibly be a scheduled c-section, we were instructed to show up at the hospital the next day for an external version, a procedure that tries to turn the baby around. The external version calls for a physician, using ultrasound as a guide, to physically manipulate the position of the baby by placing pressure on the mother's stomach. It has roughly a 65% success rate, but most procedures are done at about 37 weeks, when there is slightly more room to move the baby. Even if successful, about 10% of the time the baby returns to the breeched position on his/her own.

It's not the most comfortable thing in the world, but Rachel did great, and fortunately, the Dr was able to successfully turn the baby around. We think the procedure helped speed up the labor process, as one day later, we checked into the hospital as Rachel began her 20 hours of labor. Words cannot express how proud I am of Rachel for delivering our healthy child.

Happy Birthday Tate!

The Human Incubator

It's only fitting that the first post of this blog belongs to Tate's mother, Rachel. For the past 40 weeks, Rachel has been the source for all of Tate's food, water, shelter, and comfort. She's taken such good care of the little guy.

Rachel even served as a tour guide, as Tate has already traveled to Portugal, Paris, Charleston, D.C., Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Phoenix, Las Vegas, and San Diego.

We kick off this blog by thanking Rachel for being a great mother and taking such good care of Tate these past nine months.