...remember me? I used to frequent this website quite often, dropping in the occasional tidbit of wisdom, charm or even a witty remark or two.

Today is finally slow at work after 2 months of seemingly never-ending furnace replacement after furnace replacement (I'm tied to the heating and cooling industry). Plus you know, a baby and all makes it a little challenging to get a chunk of time to put in a good solid effort an update/blog.

In case you forgot, or are new to the show, my wife and I had a baby in June. Cooper will be five months old on Friday already, and it's absolutely true when they say babies change every day. He's now to the stage where he can roll with ease, and sit up on his own for long periods of time. He goos, gaas and even grrs as well as drools with the best of them. Coop clocks in at 17 pounds 2 ounces and 27 inches (as of last Monday). He loves being sung to. Mom does much more singing than I do; I sing the ABC's and that's about it (Well, he really likes it when I "doot--doot--doot" the Super Mario Bros. theme, but that's not really singing, is it?). We also read to him everyday and I like to think his favorites are Hop on Pop and The Very Hungry Caterpillar, but he'll listen to just about anything, even some Tom Clancy, if you smile when you read.

I can't not post pics, can I?

2 weeks (No he didn't get into the blueberry patch, he's a breast feeder, he had thrush and that's iodine.), 5 Weeks, 7 Weeks, 11 Weeks, 3 Months, 3 Months, 3 Months, 4 Months, 4 1/2 Months, 4 1/2 Months

I finally caved in and got a cell phone. I've never, ever owned one and was fine with that. My wife's been hounding me to get one ever since Cooper came along, and at work my partner and I decided to get a plan for the two of us. I wanted nothing fancy, just a simple easy to use flip phone. I sent my partner to go pick out a plan after discussing what we wanted and he couldn't resist getting a couple of Blackberry Curve 8330s. Oh, well. I'm not gonna lie, it's pretty cool, but I'm not nearly savvy enough to figure out how to use it to it's full potential. My jealous wife showed me how to use it. I now know how to call, text and play brick breaker on the can.

The Colts are 8-0 and ready for another "Game of the Century" against the Patriots next Sunday night. So, that's cool. The Tigers lost the division on the last day of the season after being in 1st for roughly 5 months straight. Not cool. Plus the Yankees won the World Series. Also, not cool.

I don't get a chance to play Nintendo much. I've played Rock Band 2 maybe three times since Cooper was born, but I'm not complaining. The only other significant gaming I've done is play through Super Mario World for the SNES in preparation for the New Super Mario Bros. Wii game which releases next Sunday. It looks awesome and I will be purchasing it that day. Not gonna wait until Christmas.

We switched over to DirecTV last Friday. I've had DISH Network for over two years now and when I tried to upgrade to HD in the spring the installer said there wasn't a spot on the property to put a dish that would have a clear shot at their HD satellite in outer space. I was a little reluctant to make the switch, cause DirectTV is more expensive, but they can provide HD and they do have more channels available, namely the NFL and MLB Networks. I'm already enjoying my football in HD, and looking forward LOST in Hi Def glory in January and HD Tigers games in the summer.

Until next time, take it easy fellow TV.commers.

Nearly a full week has passed since Baby Cooper joined us and the verdict is in: He's awesome.

Mom's been breast feeding him every two to three hours or so, he's only cranky when he's hungry or gassy, but that's pretty much universal for all babies. At nighttime he's been doing a surprisingly good job. The last 3 nights he has had his last feeding at 11:00 or so and slept 'til 4:30-5:00 in the morning, which is awesome for Mom (Dad pretty much sleeps right through it).

Cooper has succeeded in peeing and (nearly) pooping on Dad already. I got to change the very first diaper, which is always the thick black tarry (thankfully not smelly) meconium. He's since moved on to nasty stinky poop and a couple of days ago wasn't quite done filling his diaper when Dad went to change him.

As for who he looks like, for now the overwhelming consensus is me.

Today is a bit exciting, because my wife's younger sister who had to leave and go to gymnastics camp in Wisconsin on the day Cooper was born is coming home today and gets to see Coop for the first time. He was born at 11:02 and my sister-in-law had to leave the hospital to catch her boat in Ludington at 6:30.

Cooper already has a couple nicknames, the aforementioned Coop and the totally unforeseeable "Pooker". Our twin nieces are nearly 2 and are building a vocabulary, but are a bit sticky with the pronunciation of certain words; one of them being Cooper which comes out as Pooker. Suggested nicknames that were rejected and forever forbidden are CJ (his middle name is my name, Jared) and Mini Cooper.

As for life outside of the baby, there isn't really much. Which is fine. My wife is on 12 week maternity leave and I was already back to work on Monday. I pretty much had to be or else shut the shop down. It's just the two of us and my business partner's back is, to put it bluntly, effed up. He's largely immobile and when he does move, it's not very well. He's on Vicodin, Valium and Ibuprofen for the pain and it looks like he's going to need surgery of some sort. He'll see the doctor to determine exactly what they have to do on Tuesday.

I'll be getting some more pictures up of the little guy soon and more often. Word on the street is babies change very quickly and that you should take lots of pictures. Will do.

Take it easy, everyone. And Happy Father's Day early to anyone who applies.

Just dropping in to say that our baby boy finally arrived late Saturday night. 8 pounds 6 ounces and 21 inches. His name is Cooper. Mom's doing great and the baby is very healthy after spending nine extra days in the womb. Obviously sleep has become a commodity around here, but the reward heavily outweighs the consequence. I'll be getting around to some pictures sooner or later, but for now I just wanted to make the announcement.

Take it easy.