The State Of Tate

I Rode An Ostrich

Need a Stand-In Birthday Girl? I'm Your Man!

Great-grandma Margaret couldn't make it to her own birthday party because she didn't feel so hot. Luckily, I was available to act as her stand-in. So I got the balloon, most of Granny G's dinner, and all the attention. Get well soon, Great-grandma! (But not tooooo soon, I mean, you know, take it easy, don't rush back in to your old habits to quickly, you could sprain something.)

 

Happiness is a Warm Crust

On Sunday Mornings She Likes To Read "The Times" AND "The Observer"

I KNOW! I'm As Shocked As You Are!

How I looked when they told me my mom WASN'T laid off today after all:

Now please don't make her commute to Menlo Park. See, my mom says that since the larger team is in Mountain View, the smaller Menlo Park team should relocate to Mountain View, not the other way around, and I know for a fact that my mom is a very wise and reasonable type lady and is also always right when it comes to matters of corporate relocation.

Mastering the Spoon

Donutz Make Me GoNutz

Today, my dad went to Psycho Donuts in Campbell. He returned with a plate of pure insanity. Call ME crazy, but I did the math: 3 donuts, 3 of us (not including Shroebean, who is allergic), so ergo, 1 for each. After exactly zero deliberation, I chose the Banana Cream Pie. I had just barely grabbed my first banana chip off the top, when I was told that, no, I was horribly mistaken, that I would not, after all, be partaking of 1/3 of the donut platter. Shocked does not even begin to describe my feelings.

 

A Lesson In Direction

Watermelon Girl Demonstrates "Paci-Toe"...

...It's sort of a poor man's Ring Toss, and works best when one's hat fully coordinates with one's double-collared bubble suit.

The Lower Lip That Ate Manhattan

18 Months of Pure Cuteness

Today, Tate is 18 months old. And for the first time since she was about 3 or 4 months, her clothing size contains her ACTUAL AGE. You heard me, 18-24 months on the outside, 18-24 months on the inside! She went to her check-up today with her beloved pediatrician, affectionately called "Remi" 'round these parts. And as it turns out, not only is she back on the chart, she is only in the 95th percentile for weight. I'll spell this out for you: FIVE PERCENT of babies her age are BIGGER THAN HER. Who ARE these mutant behemoths? She is 90th percentile for height, and 50th for head circumference, for those of you keeping track. And her cuteness factor? Well, I'll let you come to your own conclusion, but here's a hint:

He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother

We have similar interests, my brother and me:

Spring comes to State of Tate

First swim of the year:

Extreme footwear:

Playing With The Shoes (a nightly pre-bed ritual), and modeling a sweater knit by her Grandma Debbie:

Career Aspirations

Dad thought it was time I got some practical skills, so he signed me up for classes at Master's Trucking Institute in San Mateo. I feigned interest in the Big Rig Simulator 3000, but to be frank, the idea of a life on the road, with its greasy spoon dining, cheap women, crystal meth, and gallons of Mountain Dew, did not exactly light my fire:

I have other dreams. Dreams of sailing through life on a flying trapeze, my lone curl trailing out behind me. Nothing but some sand and my mom's arm for a safety net:

And if that doesn't pan out, I always have my safety career: rabbit statue:

First Haircut

Before The Haircut, I was a common tart - strung-out on cherries and showing leg to any guy with a decent mustache and fifty cents to his name:

But after The Haircut, I am a changed woman! Deadly serious, studious and intense, vowing to solve the world's problems one knobby farm animal at a time:

It was all going well until mom hit "cow", and then I realized she might be crazy

Sometimes I like to hide from mom and dad

It totally freaks them out when they can't find me.

She's mobile!

Her New Favorite Activity

We'd put this activity center away for a while and when we brought it back out, it was like a whole new toy for her:

Happy Valentine's Day!

Which one is for me?


The top one, the bottom one, AND the middle one!

Baby's First Puffet

"Puffet" = quiche for babies. It went OK. She ate about half before she rebelled.

Play Ball!

Breakfast at Flames

I like to go to Flames because they have good milk:


I also like to wear their lettuce:

From Uncle David's iPhone

Eating Leaves is Funny

We went to the park today. First we got in the swing. I LOVED it!

It's funny when mom pushes me and makes faces.

Then we sat in the grass. I tried to eat leaves.

They don't taste very good.

But it's funny to watch mom and dad freak out when I try to eat them:

It was a good day.

Miss Mootz Models Her New Car Seat

 

Thanks Granny G!

Bonus Pic: Dinner at 'Ramma's

 

Christmas Day

When I woke up this morning, I found...PRESENTS!!!

Dad and Mom helped me open them.

Mom and me next to Grandpa/Grandma's tree:

Merry Christmas To All, And To All A Good Night...

My Christmas Eve outfit this year included velvet knickers with a rhinestone button - my first bling!

I don't know it yet, but all these presents are waiting to greet me on Christmas morning...

Celebrity Lookalike, Part 2: Boo, from Monsters Inc.

Thanksgiving

I got all dressed up for Thanksgiving. I was really looking forward to celebrating:

But then Dad ruined it by telling me a story about Small Pox Blankets - I was SHOCKED!!:

The Afterparty

Well, I celebrated my first birthday the same way many babies do, under the watchful and adoring eyes of my grandparents... the difference is, I have five sets of grandparents, many of whom were once married to others of them. But they all behaved very nicely at my party — no hair-pulling and only a modest amount of name-calling. I, on the other hand, behaved very BADLY, by painting a nice Danish end-table with frosting:

But later that night, when I was all cleaned-up, I was sooooo cute and adorable in my PJs that my mommy and daddy had to forgive me:

Now that I am 12 months old, my teacher at school, Miss Gina, has decided I'm ready for a proper hairdo. So when mommy arrived to pick me up this week, she found me styled thusly:

The craziest part was, when we took out the rubberband, my hair just kinda...STAYED that way:

Whelp, I'll leave you with this final thought: could I BE any cuter?

Happy Birthday to Tate!

Happy first birthday, Tate! We love you very much.

Shroebean INSISTED on matching costumes...

...And then acted all aloof during what turned out to be the most difficult photo-shoot in history. Tate was aghast at his ill-mannered beastliness.

Frankly, the whole thing left her quite exhausted.

Stretching Out the 'Ol Hamstrings...

She Gets A Little Silly Right Before Bedtime...

Weekender

I don't need anything! Just my pacifier. And this ring. And my hat. And this baby ipod.

I was doing chest compressions on him like this, you see... but I guess it just wasn't enough.

Unlike most kiddos,I LOVEto have my cheeks pinched!

Harmonica Lesson with Grandpa Bear

Mommy calls it a "Bad Hair Day"

...but Daddy calls it "the Best Hair Day EVER!!"

It, plus a bit of drool, helps me intimidate these no-good catalogs...while I beat them into submission with my bare hands.

Vacationing, Wooberry Jones Fontaine-Style. Part Deux.

This week we went to Lake Tahoe for a Burge family reunion.

"Woobie on the Dock o' the (Emerald) Bay, Wastin' Time..."


I spent a lot of time with my cousin Sam. I really like her.


I also spent a lot of time with my younger cousin, once removed (or something). Don't worry though, Anders doesn't have a drinking problem. He cuts himself off after three.


Cousin Lily helped mom to feed me.


The youngest generation of Burges got to hang out in the hammock.
From left: Jack, Anders, Genevieve, Lily, me, and Sam.


Right before we left, Anders and I got our first balloons. We loved them!


We got home just in time to see Obama's speech. Go-bama!


Now it's time to get a little wild before school starts back up next Tuesday.

Vacationing, Wooberry Jones Fontaine-Style.

Daycare can suck it, this Woobie is on vacation! And this is just the first week:

Waiting for the Fairy Party to begin...



I worship my Uncle Chris because he reads Cousin Sammy and me age-inappropriate material...



Meeting Irina Ballerina for the first time - what do you have to do to get these adults to smile for the camera?



Catching up on my reading...



Getting in some facetime with my big brother...



Somebody PLEASE tell me that's not some kind of miniature poodle behind me? Seriously, guys, I am so NOT a poodle person.



Exersaucerin' to The Oldies...

And Now Back to Your Regularly-Scheduled Woobie

Okay, enough with the hotties, back to the star of the show... here she is enjoying her weekend.

I call this one Sitting Bull. The huge scar across her forehead is an artifact from a daycare buddy, the evil-intentioned Matteo, who mistook her face for a scratching post:

 


An impromptu eye exam from budding Opthamologist friend, Baby Jude:




Auditioning for The Blair Witch Project, III:

By Audience Request

Since the last post, there have been many requests for more photos...of Tate's "TOTALLY HOT Uncle Dan, OMG, is he available, how old is he, is he on MySpace, OMG?!" And so we take a break from Little Miss Sqweebee Jones Fontaine (her latest nickname), to bring you His Royal Hotness, OMG, And Yes, He's Totally On MySpace AND FaceBook:

And lest you think that is Miguel's ONLY hot brother, oh no, ladies, there's more where that came from... Introducing Uncle Dave...talk about your eye candy! Uncle Dave makes Uncle Dan look like Jaba The Hutt!

And though it might seem almost too good to be true, BOTH brothers have lived in Europe and are therefore skilled in the ways of love and also wine. Both are currently attached, but if I know anything about The State of Tate readership, it's that our readers ALWAYS get their man.

Uncle Dan's Goodbye Dinner

My Uncle Dan left again. I don't really understand what a Spain is, but apparently it must be cool if Dan likes it so much. Here is a picture from his visit:

We went to a special goodbye dinner for him. I put my foot on the table. It made Uncle Dan laugh, but I got reprimanded:

But I DON'T CARE! Here's a closer look at the foot - suckers!

I miss Uncle Dan.

My First Rock Show

Dad took me to my first Rock Show last week. His friends in Primary were playing a free concert. We had to watch from outside, cuz it was kinda loud. But I really liked it. Especially the drums. I could barely take my eyes off the drummer. Dad says this does not bode well for the future, as I will not be allowed to date musicians. I don't really understand what he's talking about, but I do know that I love music.  I think I am Primary's biggest fan. ClydeFrog and I even got the CD.

Blast From the Past...

Came across this tonight, from Tate's trip to Carmel at three months old... all signs point toward a future in law enforcement.

Cat Nap

Sunday in the Park with ClydeFrog

My First Jewelry

I went with Mom and Grandma to get my first "Soni Special", but I left with a "David Special":

Thanks for the anklet, David!

My Cat Suit Is Almost Finished

Thanks Grandma Debbie! :)

Umm...Mom...?