4/18/11

a league of their own

7 months, 3 days PB.

one of my favorite comedies ever - tom hanks played another classic role before he started winning oscars the next two years.  it also produced the memorable quote, "there's no crying in baseball!"  i have to say - it was tom hank's underrated comedic work that made me love his movies.

Answers to prior blog pictures:  1,2,4,6 - me.  3,5,7,8 - HM.  pretty crazy, huh?  i'm jealous of her resemblance to calvin....gummy smile and all.  if only his head looked more like a pill....

todays post revolves around sports; baseball in particular.  cal's first astros game was this past weekend.  uncle H was able to snag some dugout level seats along the first base line.  HM was appreciative to mention that we didn't have to breath lighter air in the nosebleeds -- her way of sarcastically telling me that the first time taking her to the field-formerly-known-as-Enron was not satisfactory.  thanks babe.

"hey, my pacifier is dirty now"



















we were only about 5 rows up from this point, but as you can see we were pretty darn close.  good luck bringing you back to this spot buddy!

as a sports fanatic, i like to get into playful debates with HM on how i plan to build an athletic team from my offspring.  obviously, she prefers for them to be intellectuals first.  given our gene pool, i usually concede that our kids will have the greatest chance of success through education (and HM's slave driven study methods).  BUT, i always mention that i will do my very best to ensure that ALL of our kids have decent athleticism.  boy nerds who throw/run like girls typically get bullied (unless they run like serena williams, but then that's just plain scary).

i would like to mention that out of the three professional sporting events that cal has attended - the home team has won all of them.  good luck charm, possibly?  maybe a texans game next year for the little fella.  and even though cal was in a public place, he was NOT a fan of the roller coaster cheers and quietness a baseball game brings:

apparently, there IS crying in baseball!

-EZE

on a side note - 3 yrs ago, HM and i hosted a rehearsal dinner with our family and close friends.  we still talk about our wedding like it was yesterday....happy anniversary, my love!

4/4/11

love and basketball

6 mths, 2 weeks, 6 days PB.

11 years ago i saw this movie about a young boy and girl who grew up together, successfully played basketball into adulthood, and fell in love throughout that time. i became a big fan of sanaa lathan afterward. in the new age of couples meeting online, i guess i'm a sucker for stories about childhood sweethearts that end up together.

as i'm writing this blog, the NCAA division I men's basketball championship is being played about a mile from me. the teams aren't very interesting, so i decided to use the time to catch up on updating.

keeping up with the childhood theme, HM asked me to scan some our baby pictures to compare them to little cal's. we've noticed our friends and families are split in their decisions regarding who calvin looks like. of course, HM and i both WANT to think that he has more genial features of our own, but i've decided to let the audience decide. here are 8 old school pictures for you to debate on. there are 4 of me and 4 of HM. take a guess on who's who? i will post the answers on my next blog:







don't be discouraged, it can get confusing...even for HM and i!

and so i don't skimp out on my promise from last month, here's a long picture update of calvin since the beginning of the 2011:

1/1/11 started off with a bang as cal attended his first wedding reception. the bride and groom are nothing but inspiring, beautiful people who i'm not particularly close to but greatly respect and admire. cal was tired afterward, but still sported his onesie tuxedo in style. (he also liked our 1 ft xmas tree)

cal's 4 month checkup came in the middle of january. the doc says he's healthy and right on track with 'his' growth curve. i'm just glad he's on a curve at all. as you can see: short, fat body with a big head. you go boy!

later in the month, we took calvin on a nice saturday morning stroll to the houston auto show at reliant arena. i used to attend these regularly before i met HM, but there doesn't seem to be much excitement around new cars anymore. what was once a 2 week event has turned into a sad 5 day snoozefest. porsche didn't even represent! in any case, we came, we saw, calvin slept. what car did daddy like the best? james bond's ride, of course.


speaking of (who should own an) aston martin, we spent our tradition gambling chinese new years at uncle H's house. baby cal received his first li xi money! normally, i don't celebrate chinese new year, but i'm happy to take a holiday from HM. cal benefits from free money, but i'm not totally sure if uncle H gave him his 'extra cash' stash. do i see clouds outside?! kidding, people....

calvin's first super bowl was exciting. he boldly predicted the outcome by showing the true colors of the winner! black and yellow, WHO?!

february starts the season of love. and what better way to show my boy how handle his business than to treat the ladies right from the beginning! below, cal shows off what i call, 'the sneaky surprise'. baby hailey might be 6 months older and much taller, but she never saw what was coming. never underestimate the little guy!


the next two pics are for auntie NT. cal's first road trip (post delivery) brought us to the san marcos outlet mall. he quickly displayed his knack for modern furniture. what expensive taste you have, my son! he apparently got it from his momma. can you guess which chair is from pottery barn and which is from restoration hardware? shouldn't be too difficult! i absolute dig this first picture....totally enjoying the moment.

our next stop was into austin to visit auntie G as she completed her vicious half marathon. why run in the hills when you can run on flat ground in houston?! anyways - afterward, we had to stop by good ol' salt lick to celebrate. and since cal already enjoyed eating it while in utero, we let him chew the menu instead!

when people say that baby stuff takes over your home, they weren't kidding. i can bet that most babies would be fine playing with a plastic bottle or remote control. but after about 2 minutes, they need something else. this is why i think the baby business has grown into this booming market. in any case, HM and i went out and got him his bumbo seat for easy feeding. notice his feet don't touch the ground - just like his daddy...
a careful eye will notice a difference in the next two pics. yep - those are two different 'activity centers'. HM was all about craiglisting these massive (and expensive) space wasters. after a complete wash down and disinfection process, baby cal ecstatic with his new toys. the second picture shows his love for bacon (or ham) at an early age....


since it's taken me so long to update, we had cal's 6 month check up a few weeks ago. basically, the same info from his 4 month visit, but i noticed his head circ % is getting larger. in honor of this, i give you a beaming shot of his massive noggin.


although HM is a super advocate for breastfeeding, over the past month HM has started feeding cal some solid foods. basic items mainly, but sometimes it's fun to watch cal try some other stuff. we now know that he likes broccoli cheese soup! thanks mom...i'm trying to watch my sodium!

...and finally back to basketball. calvin got his first TWO rockets games within 4 days of each other. i won the first tickets at a work lunch raffle and the 2nd set were given to me by our communications/relations team to our company's suite! he got to meet our CEO and some friendly RPD's. i guess he's a good luck charm since the rockets won both games in a somewhat of a disappointing season.

reflection moment




















cal vs yao's shoe
















i hope everyone enjoyed the post! it's fairly difficult to load pictures 5 at a time (and sorting through hundreds of choices!), but that's my fault for lack of updating. HM's schedule has not been forgiving either. unfortunately, april isn't looking too much better. don't forget to make your 8 choices above!

-EZE