MPM Explodes, Creating the Best Night of Max's Life

Last Friday night was an epic night that will always be remembered by many people. First and foremost, there is my homeboy Mitchell, best known as MPM. Mitch got to take a month off his last year in high school to do a senior project. His project? Create an entire electronic album and then put together a full launch party. Well, four weeks later we all began to gather at this park in Winnetka.


While it was primarily high school kids, a few of us geeky adults made a home for ourselves out of the way.


Mitch set it up with two opening DJ's who played to get the kids warmed up. One of them collaborated on one song of the album.


The next person who had the time of his life that night was Max. See this picture? This was literally the way he looked for three hours straight. He ran and danced and marched.


He did dramatic poses mid dance to add emphasis on beats and particular moves.


He co-danced with homies Owen and Leah.


He even break danced some...this being his most famous move. It was like 78 degrees and perfectly sunny. There was never a better environment for Max to feel joy. After each DJ would stop, Max would run up and tell Mitchell, "Mitchell...I want more music" without us prompting him. This is my son.


Finally, as the sun was beginning to set, it was time for Mitch to take stage.


And the crowd began to really come closer and get ready for an amazing hour.


Not just high school friends, but all sorts of friends from Mitch's life, including young men's leaders like Dan.


Newborns like Sam who also was so pleasant that night.


Brother Nick and other YM leader Trevor.


Friends from the ward, including younger and older YW.

And the party was on. Just a flavor of how things got started.


One of the highlight tracks on MPM's album "Aural Buzz" is a track called "JMu's Birds" which is a song named and inspired by my love of the Diplo camp of high treble drops with thumping bass. MPM used to mock it, but now with all the positive deedback on this track he is starting to respect the bird droppings.


See the kids love it.

Don't believe me? Watch them party their brains out to it. Yes, JMu's Birds is some hot tish my friends. Some hot tish indeed.


It started getting darker and, following the basic teenager rule that the darker it gets the crazier they get, the kids started upping the energy even more.


With hand claps.

And huge moments of shoulder riding.


It was getting pretty epic and MPM was really feeding off it.


Not to mention, who doesn't love some good lights? I know Max does. It was about this point that Max had come closer from the grass and started trying to get right in with the crowd. He was stamping and dancing and doin his moves and the kids kept cheering him on, which he loved. He also chased the lights all around the floor and screamed with delight.


And so did the crowd.


MPM ended his set with some solid shows toppers from a few popular artists. Everyone had a great time, most of all MPM. In a few weeks he is off to BYU to study music production and do those things that 18 year olds do. We will miss him around here, but he is off to bigger and better things. Thanks Mitch for all the amazing years!

The Glorious Homecoming of Da Kid #2

Sorry guys, I forgot to post this one a few weeks back, but it's got some cute pics I want posted, so it's going up now. It's from when we got back from the hospital.

After two days in the hospital it was time for Samn to come home.


He got bundled up in his homecoming outfit, a snuggalicious little number sent to us by Kristin and Co in South Africa. He wasn't scared - he had his ginormous binky to suck on.


Top down view - so cute.


Max was SUPER excited to have his parents back at home and to be held by his mama! How could he not be.


While we were gone, he and Nana invented a new game called Beach. Because it was cold outside, they turned his peach blanket into a beach and shredded paper on it to be sand. Then he would get his beach toys out and his guys and BOOM...tropics paradise!


Sam gave Max a scooter as peace offering...Max accepted this offering and loved it. It seems to have worked because now Max loves Sam. It's amazing what a simple gift can do.

Brotherly Love

The love has increased each day between Max and Sam. Each day I feel he becomes more comfortable with him around and has begun to include Sam in his speech when things we are going to do as a family.




Max gave Sam a kiss to help him not be sad.




It worked!




Brothers, kickin it on a blanket and bonding.




Two peas in a pod these boys. Both with their hands in their mouth.




Our friend Lauren came over with her two boys. They are only a few days apart.




And William and Max are only 7 days apart! We were meant to be friends and apparently we are on the same baby creation plan. I swear this was not discussed and planned in advance.

Guess Who's Here!!!!

I'll give you a hint: she goes by the name of Dama and she loves da keeeeds. That's right, it's my mom!


Dama swooped in from Idaho to save us from the craziness for 10 days of assisted glory. She is wise with children and scooped them up into her care the second she got there. It definitely helped that Clarkie, Sam and Max's cousin, was born only a few weeks before Sam...so she has been getting a lot of infant practice as of late.


Speaking of infant...Samn!


This trip has not been about going downtown and exploring Chicago. It has mostly been about surviving. This often develops into precious time watching a show and eating snacks. Sometimes it means bath time. Most often it has resulted in Dama carting Max down to the beach for a few hours.


One of the best things was that Dama was here on Mother's Day! I decided to make the second meal of my married life (don't judge me) and cook a polenta bouillabaisse with mojo chicken. Yes I followed a cookbook and yes it was scary and hard - but I did it! Maybe my mom helped a bit. (again, don't judge until you have walked in my shoes)


Mmm, I think it turned out awesome.


Pam agreed, though now that I am looking at it I don't think there was any food on that fork.


And then it was back to spending time with Max or Sam, who ever needs it the most at any given moment. This is a cute picture of Sam engulfing on one of his favorite activities...pulling Caitlin's hair while suckin on a fat binks. Who could blame him?

We still got Dama for one more day and we intend to take full advantage! Hooray for visitors!

Fighting For My Sons' Right to Party

I am one more son and a few years away from being able to do something as awesome as what this guy has done with his three sons.  While watching this video, I had an amazing vision of my own sons forming a band and making their stamp on music history - and no I am not suggesting they become the next Hanson.  Watch this video and enjoy how he remade the entire "Sabotage" video with his kids.

Trace Shows Her Face...Just In Time

We had a special visitor two weekends ago.


Trace Face!! She was a literal godsend as we had just gone through our first full week of being parents of two without anyone helping us. Tracy, a natural with da babies, grabbed Sam and quickly made Caitlin nap.


It was awesome having her in town. While we probably weren't as fun as we have been in previous trips, we did lots of bonding. We did take an excursion to the Kohl's Museum where Tracy had given us an annual pass for Caitlin's birthday. I trust Tracy to I strict Max about good music because she loves the Beastie Boys.


Hardcore beats at the children's museum...or classical I am assuming.


Now here she goes dropping science, dropping it all over....


Making mad beats together.


I also got to bond with Max a lot as we always do at the museum.


Putting up shingles on the wall and catching potatoes that fall from the roof.


Max gives new meaning to the term plumbers crack, in this case painters crack. Look closely at his pants.


Hmm. We may have chosen a pair that was slightly too large.


We did some face painting and got silly.


Mama! Max had been missing all that close time he used to get with his mama, but having Tracy and Dada around was making it bareable.


Learning about shapes and colors.


And me...a dad of two boys. Doing my best to juggle the kids. Probably failing, but thanks to Tracy we succeeded for another weekend. Thanks Trace for coming and bringing amazing cookies and fun with you!

Nana and Papa in Da House

As you already know, Nana was in town when Sam was born. This gave her lots of time to do the following:


Yep...hold the baby. She was great to help us during that tough first week when Sam just wouldn't let us sleep. She took the first shift every night. Lifesaver. Soon after that, Papa showed up.


Max was all over that and began to monopolize his time, requiring lots of reading and game time.


Don't worry, he got to bond with Sam as well.


It was in those early days that Max started to show signs of acknowledging Sam's existence, including this precious scene of Sam crying and Max trying to comfort him with his Puppy Dog.


A big kiss.


Sometimes the best thing we can do is get Max out of the house to give Caitlin some sanity and time to focus on Sam. So Papa and I took him to the architectural tour downtown. Lynn might have been the most excited to learn some history.


Max? He is always game and 100% amped to ride on a boat. He lives for boats.


YES! Big Boat! Max did great even though it was freezing cold that day.


The preciousness overwhelms me.


This was the last picture I got before Max realized he was so cold he was going to die and we went downstairs inside the boat. But he made it through 70% of the tour. Not bad.


And then it was back to more cutey pie Sam, whether sleeping....


...Or bewildered and awake.


Oh Sam, what will you grow up to be like? What will your personality be like? Only time will tell.

No Sleep Till Heaven

I can't believe the end of the Beastie Boys has come. Sure they had a long run, but for some reason I had the uninspired impression that the best of the BBoys was still ahead of us. Sure, they may stay together as a duo or bring in a new member...but "often imitated, never duplicated" is my feeling on that.

The fact is that a legacy has come to a close upon the death of MCA. I got the news at work. Caitlin called me directly, knowing that I would soon be hearing from friends who would know the impact that it would have on me. She was wise...it's the type of news you want to hear from a loved one. I wanted to cry at work thinking about poor Mike D and Ad Rock and MCA's wife and kid. But since that was inappropriate, I hurried and found the biggest BBoys fan I could in the office and she told me all about the four concerts she attended in Chicago. She saw them with Run DMC. She was there for the inflatable penis. She saw it all. I was both comforted and made jealous by our conversation. All in all, it was therapeutic.

The role of the Beastie Boys in my life has been one of continuous impact, inspiration, and joy. All weekend I thought about some of the great BBoy memories I have. Here are a few:

1. My friend Joel from San Diego introduced me to a green cassette tape by a group called Beastie Boys. The album was Paul's Boutique and it literally blew my 11 year old mind. I still have that tape in my closet. It's broken, but I can't throw it away.
2. Mowing the lawn exclusively to Paul's Boutique for several summers every Saturday, dreaming of New York where there were no lawns to mow. I decided at that time that I would live there when I grew up. It sounded like the most magical place on earth.
3. Sitting in the back of the bus listening to So What'cha Want with friends on the way home from Junior High.
4. Laying on my bed listening to Ill Communication for almost 8 hours straight the day it came out. I went to Sam Goody to buy it after school. Realized some of the greatest songs to date were on that album.
5. Studying in my room to Fight For Your Right and having my mom literally walk in the door and ask "what's that noise" right when the song says that line and me sitting up to scream " Mom your just jealous it's the Beastie Boys" with the song and then laughing for about an hour because I couldn't believe that had happened.
6. Playing Paul's Boutique in my earphones almost every time I went night skiing alone at Bogus Basin.
7. I found out that Hello Nasty came out while I was on a mission in Argentina. I made my companion walk with me for an hour to Carrefour so I could just see the package and hold it. It took everything I had not to purchase it.
8. By the end of my mission I could only remember two popular songs that I could sing to myself on days I thought I was going to go crazy. One of those was "The Sounds of Science". I can still do it without any music or help on command.
9. I learned to run and work out to Hello Nasty in Phoenix or Provo.
10. Bonding with one of bestest friends Ashley over BBoys when the anthology album came out...including constant singing of Netty's Girl and Get it Together on road trips.
11. True to my word, I moved to NYC when I graduated...a place I had never even visited before except through BBoy songs. The first time I listened to Paul's Boutique after a year of living there I began to realize how amazing that CD is and how much of it I was just beginning to understand because I was living in NYC.
12. Being so poor my first year in NYC and begging a sales rep to buy me To The Five Boroughs because I couldn't afford it. He did and I listened to it the first time while walking over the Brooklyn Bridge alone.
13. Attending the premier of "Gunning' For The Number 1 Spot" directed by MCA and standing right next to Mike D and being completely stars truck and frozen like a fool.
14. Working at Baxter as an intern and finding out that MCA had cancer and they were canceling the two shows I had tickets to. I had no one to talk to about it so I just went into my boss's office and talked for a half hour. I am surprised they hired me. A fear that I would never see them on concert gripped me...one that has now come true.
15. BBoys released HSC2 just in time to help me heal from my shoulder surgery last year. Even though I could only do the recombinant bike, the BBoys made it bearable.

Those are just a few. Since I was 11 they have always been there in the background and the foreground. While I am currently filled with a sense of loss, I am hopeful that my premonition that some of the best work from the BBoys is yet to come is not wrong. Maybe the death of MCA will inspire great solo work from the remaining BBoys?

Until then...MCA you will be missed. Remember, No Sleep Till Heaven.

The Gift of Tenderness

Some people write very tender things when they send gifts.  Stephen is one of those people.  For example:

"Caitlin, Good job on giving birth to a human child."  - Stephen

But whether or not your words are tender, when you give the gift of Tiffany's, you are a winner in Caitlin's eyes.

The Bonding of Max and Sam

Being a big brother is not easy - it involves instantly giving up on a lot of stuff: some attention from your parents, time doing the things you like to do, flexibility in your schedule, etc. Its a lot to ask of a kid. So far Max has been quite the trooper. While he has certainly changed amongst the ordeal, he has been mostly patient and loving. The negatives have been a stronger case of wanting to do things his way and waking up several times a night crying for his mom and dad. Side effects I guess of having a second child.

At first he really wasn't that interested in Sam, but in the last few days he has started to take on the role of being a big brother. Watch the video above to see about the most totes adorbs brotherly love ever. Max, we love you. Thanks for your patience in all of this. You are genuinely an awesome kid.