Future Collegiate Athlete

After a little bit of begging from Barry, I agreed to take Canon to his first college football game. I had only the worst expectations - a hot, exhausted, squawling baby amongst thousands of hot, exhausted, squealing adults. Not my idea of a great time. As usual with babies, when you say something out loud, they tend to do the exact opposite. You tell someone that your baby finally slept through the night, and the very next night he wakes up three times to be fed. You tell someone your baby is finally on a regular three-hour eating schedule, and he immediately starts eating at random times throughout the day. It's what I like to call, You-Thought-You-Had-A-Baby-But-You-Really-Have-A-Mini-Teenager Syndrome. In this case, however, the reverse psychology worked in my favor. I expressed my hot, exhausted baby theory out loud, and so of course, Canon was the perfect fan!

Because we have friends in high places (thanks, Tony) we were able to get Stadium Club tickets. This means that we could sit in a box to watch the game or watch it from the shaded portion of the stands. We went back and forth from the box to the bleachers, just trying to keep it interesting. Canon loved it. While we were in the stands, he sat on Barry's lap and looked around at all the excitement. At one point, after a big play when everyone was cheering, he started flapping his arms and bouncing up and down, almost as if he were cheering, too. There was another memorable moment when I was holding Canon in the box. I went to stand next to Barry who was watching the game through the window. Canon looked at his dad, then reached up and put his hand on his shoulder, as if to express his gratitude for sharing such an awesome afternoon with him. It was truly the sweetest thing I have ever seen him do. If only we had a professional photographer to follow us around and capture moments like those. It is nice, however, to have some moments that only the three of us will ever see.

He fell asleep about mid-way through the second quarter but was awake again before half-time was over. Barry, Sam, Alicia, and Josh were able to stand on the sidelines, but Canon and I hung out in the stands. There were some kids sitting in front of us, and Canon loved watching them run back and forth. It doesn't take much to entertain this mellow fellow! After the game, we walked back to the car. Again, Canon loved every site. He smiled at every single person - no matter how strange or obnoxious - that walked by us. When we got home, I was eager to give Canon a bath. He'd never felt so sticky! Because Sam and Alicia were borrowing his bathroom for the weekend, Canon got his first Sink Bath. I remember my mom bathing my little brother in the sink when he was a baby, and I always thought it was the cutest thing. Now, doing it as a mom, it's just as cute. No back pain from leaning over, and the faucet makes a fantastic rainshower spray to get off all the soap. This may become a regular thing!