The Ten-Month Mark

Mark Hanley, at Ten Months

The measurements: Let's be honest: I'm a bruiser. But I also don't think I've grown that much since last month, when the doctor told mom and dad that most of me is in the 70th percentile (head=95th due to big brain). They had a hard time believing that 30 percent of kids are bigger than me.

Best friends: Grass (I like to pull it out and scatter it all over me), swimming pools (fun because they are full of water for me to play in and drink), tiny plastic balls (great for rolling and banging together), books of any kind (but especially the ones where you lift a flap and an animal appears! Surprising every time!), and - best of all - doorstops (they make this really loud BBBBWWWWOOONNNGGG noise, and if you pull on them enough times the rubber stopper on the end comes off and I can try to swallow it before mom catches me).

Enemies: Solid foods. At my last checkup, the doctor gave mom and dad permission to feed me this junk. It doesn't matter that I only have those two bottom teeth (and no tops), the doctor said, because I would gum the food and swallow it, no problem. So they gave me cornbread. I crumbled it up and squished it into my hair, which was fun, but when I tried to eat it I choked and gagged. So they tried watermelon, which mom said is the closest you can get to water in a solid food. They cut it up into tiny pieces, but I still looked at them like they were insane when they put it into my mouth. Don't they know food is supposed to be mushy, not made of tiny squares? I tried to swallow, but it wouldn't go down. I gagged. I threw up. Then I cried. Mom said no more solid foods, at least until my top teeth come in. I say good riddance to bad rubbish.

Just found out about: Uncles! I just got my first one on Saturday when my Aunt Megan married Uncle Josh. I even had a front seat for the whole wedding experience because both mom and dad were in the wedding party. It was a fantastic day. My Aunt Megan looked beautiful and was very happy, and I got to meet and hang out with lots of members of my big, boisterous family. If I hadn't cashed out during the dinner, I would have also seen my mom and dad "go big" and dance the night away.

I'm not so sure about: Uncles! Mine is kind-of old, and he's always telling me lies about the Brewers being the best baseball team in the major leagues. I'm only a baby, but even I know that's not true.

Favorite activities: Crawling. Everywhere. For weeks, I had one foot sort of stuck on the other one and couldn't really get going. Then, almost overnight, I figured out the crawling thing, and now I can go wherever I want! It is great! I can roll my ball under the TV, then get under there and try to retrieve it. I can chase the dog. I can get his toys and put them in my mouth. I can find small fuzzies on the floor that my mom missed with the broom, and eat those, too. I can climb into the pantry or under the kitchen table, where I can bang on the chair legs. I can try to climb the stairs and pull up on the furniture. I can hold onto the couch and do a wobbly stand up. I can make my parents very, very tired. It is awesome.

I have a crush on: Adeline Babler. I heard her dad once pitched against Jayson Werth in the state baseball championship. Plus, I don't know any other girls who aren't my cousins. Cousins are great - I know, because I spent the weekend hanging out with LOTS of cousins - but you can't have crushes on them. It's illegal.

Major accomplishments: Crawling, pulling up on the furniture, wearing shoes for the first time, learning to shoot a slam dunk (admittedly, my basketball hoop is eight inches off the floor), saying "BA BA BA BA BA BA BA" really loud and at inconvenient times (like when we're in the library or when Grandpa Mark is trying to make a wedding toast), learning to hang up on people (although I usually use it on my grandparents - oops - instead of annoying telemarketers).

Congrats Megan and Josh!

No pictures - yet - but what a fantastic day and fantastic new couple: Mr. and Mrs. Jankiewicz!

Mark of Fridays: Unfrozen in Minnesota

Last week, The Family was lucky enough to go visit some of Matt's college friends, Luke and Eric; their respective wives, Tracy and Teri; and their equally respective children, Addy (3 months) and Carson (22 months). The picture on the right is an optical illusion: Mark is much bigger than Addy. But Addy is almost as cute as Mark.

Mark loved the zoo and seeing kids his own size. He also loved pulling out as much of Luke's grass as possible, staring at it and then letting it fall on the blanket that was brought out so that he didn't pull out all the grass. Ah, well.

Mark also loved visiting the zoo. He, of course, liked the monkeys. Who wouldn't? Inexplicably, he also loved the zebras. He started shrieking in delight and clapping when he saw the zebras walking. Odd.

And Mark liked meeting some new best friends. They're great kids in a great fan club.

Stadium seating: Target Field

If you've read Matt's previous baseball-stadium rankings, then you know that the worst stadium Matt has ever been to is the Metrodome. It wasn't even close.
The fans there were great - perhaps the best in baseball - but that was the only thing that horrific stadium had going for it. Because it was really a football stadium (the Vikings still play there), it was an unnatural place to watch a game. The sight lines were horrible and the field itself was worse. The outfield wall was a Hefty bag. Seriously.
But this season, the Twins moved to a new ballpark, Target Field. Matt had heard rave reviews and then Lynne - the greatest wife ever - got him tickets to a July 1 game as a birthday gift. Is she the best or what?
So, Matt headed for the Rays game, joined by college friends, Luke and Eric.
Let's start here: Target Field is very, very nice. It lived up the advanced billing. And while it's not on Matt's all-time top tier of stadiums, it's not far off, either. The park is picturesque and has a nice blend of history and modern features. And you can tell they put thought into how the park can be uniquely Minnesota-n, if that's a word.
We'll begin with parking, which was easy to get to and reasonably priced, especially since Eric paid. (If you go, try to arrange that.) The stadium is in downtown Minneapolis and easy to access from public transportation.
Outside, there's statues of some of the Twins greats, including Kirby Puckett, Rod Carew and Harmon Killebrew. Alas, no Hrbek. And the members of the Twins Hall of Fame are pictured on a bridge near the stadium. These are the kind of features that Matt believes start to separate good parks from great parks. You need to tell visitors the story of the team. (Ahem, Cubs.)
No one does it better than the Tigers, but the Twins have a nice start. The Kirby Puckett statue is particularly well done in that respect because it shows him running the bases after hitting a home run to win Game 6 of the 1991 World Series. That image immediately evokes memories and inspires shared stories. Those stories create lifelong fans.
A little more history would have been even better. There was precious little about two World Series championship teams. Matt never understands why teams don't give fans more access to the trophies or other relics. Fans worship the players on those teams. Let's see something from it. (And while you're at it, add a Penny Smasher, Twins! C'mon!)
We'll transition into one of Matt's few dislikes about the park - albeit one that comes with a caveat. The concourse around the park was really crowded. There wasn't much space between the seats and the concession stands so it felt hectic and distracted from enjoying the amenities. The caveat is that the stadium is still new. A lot of people arrive early and wander around, just like Matt. So, this may ease up as the novelty wears off.
As for the park: wow. The field is beautiful. The scoreboard includes the largest, crispest TV screen Matt's ever seen. And the Twins - Paul and Minnie - from the team's old logo shake hands when someone hits a home run. Unique and cool.
There's also plenty of little nooks that make the park pure Minnesota, which is what the best stadiums get right. The team's organist sits in the middle of a heated bar where you can eat sandwiches and chat with her. Nice. Matt got a picture with her, but it didn't turn out. Electrical engineers don't know how to work flashes, apparently.
Matt also had the Tony Olivia Cuban sandwich and, after peeling off the pickles, enjoyed it very much. Plus, the pregame show takes place in the outfield so you can watch Ron Coomer and Roy Smalley break it all down. The hosts took pictures and chatted with fans who must have felt like they were part of the "Twins family."
Matt, Luke and Eric's seats - bought off stubhub because everything is sold out - were in the next to last row, just to the third base side of home plate. The view was fantastic and unobstructed.
Overall, a wonderful place to watch Joe Mauer play baseball. (Which is not something to take for granted.)
Oh, and the game? Well, the Twins managed to pull a full Cubbie. Even Luke - a Cubs fan - described it as such. They went from up one with two outs, two strikes and nobody on in the ninth to losing in 10. Ah, well.
In interest of full nerd disclosure, it should be noted that Matt, Luke and Eric spent at least an hour discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the Twins' scorecards. Three grown men, sitting next to each other, scoring the same game, critiquing the number of lines available to write in pitching changes. (Got have a souvenir!)
It will be interesting to see how the new stadium changes the crowd. It got loud in the Metrodome a lot and at the right times. The fans knew their baseball and didn't wait until the ninth to stand up. They knew a hit-and-run situation in the sixth could be key and got appropriately excited. As Luke pointed out, those fans had to like baseball because there was no other reason to go to the Metrodump. Now, this new stadium is attracting an extra 12,000 people and some of them are stadium-gazers. They're at the game because it's the cool thing to do. Nothing wrong with that, but it changes the dynamic a bit. For instance: a lot of people left with the team up one run in the ninth.
In summary, this is a beautiful stadium. If you asked Matt what stadiums you had to see, Target Field might not be first on the list. But if you were going to Minnesota, Matt would strongly suggest a trip to Target.
Last note: it's still fair to question the wisdom of building an outdoor stadium in Minneapolis, but it won't matter because the White Sox are going to keep the Twinkies out of the playoffs anyhow. Oh yeah, we said it.

The MH stadium count remains at 14, since the goal is to see every team's park, not every stadium ever.

Here's Matt's updated ratings of the fields he's visited:
First tier: Fenway Park (Boston Red Sox), Comerica Park (Detroit Tigers), Petco Park (San Diego Padres) and PNC Park (Pittsburgh Pirates)
Second tier, but still close behind: Busch Stadium (St. Louis Cardinals), Camden Yards (Baltimore Orioles)
Third tier, and still close behind: Target Field (current Minnesota Twins), Miller Park (Milwaukee Brewers), Wrigley Field (Chicago Cubs)
Fourth tier, and still nice stadiums: Coors Field (Colorado Rockies), Citi Field (Mets) and Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles Dodgers)
Fourth tier and not-so-great stadiums: Shea Stadium (old New York Mets), U.S. Cellular Field (Chicago White Sox), Yankee Stadium (old New York Stinkees)
Sixth and a very bad stadium: Metrodome (old Minnesota Twins).

You can read ESPN Page 2's review of all these stadiums right here, although it's getting a bit really dated!

More non-baseball Minnesota pictures to follow!

Mark of Fridays: milestones in understanding

It's official: Mark understands more words and phrases than Jack.

On Mark's scorecard: "give a kiss", "so big", "clap", "hi", "no", "Mark"

On Jack's scorecard: "no", "sit", "good boy", "ball", "Jack"

Mark's tally: 6 words/phrases.

Jack's tally: 5 words/phrases.

Mark is the champion!

However, in words spoken, they're still deadlocked. We'll keep you updated.

(And, yes, that has nothing to do with the picture.)