Opening Day Date

Sam and I have gone to Opening Day together for the past few years.  This year Henry was going to stay with his grandparents, and Sam and I were going to go on an Opening Day date!  Yay!  Sam woke up sick Friday morning and decided he couldn't go to Opening Day.  I had to decide whether to go by myself, or take my 15 month old and risk tantrums, tiredness, hunger, tired arms from carrying him, tantrums, screaming, hitting, and possibly more tantrums.    I chose to take my 15 month old.

I was prepared for the worst. The whole way to the game I gave myself a pep talk.  I reminded myself that he's just a toddler, that the game will be right in the middle of naptime, he won't be able to move around, and he won't want to sit in my lap the whole game.  I reminded myself that this was a special day, and I was going to enjoy it, no matter what happened.  

He's excited to be on a date with his mom.  Really.

Henry insisted on walking from the car to the Ballpark.  It took awhile.  He takes little baby steps, and gets distracted easily.  By cars, people, birds, sounds, cheering, people tailgating, shiny things...pretty much everything.

I mean, how cute is this?!  So cute, right!?

We finally made it to the Ballpark. It was about 2 hours until game time, and I didn't want to make him sit for that long.  So we walked.  And walked.  And walked.  We walked around the whole stadium, watched batting practice, and let random people take pictures of Henry.  Our seats were on the third deck, so I decided to make our way to the escalator.  Which was broken.  Which means I got to carry my chunky little love up the never-ending ramps to the third deck.

Henry had fun running up and down our row until people started showing up.  Then it was time to sit in my lap.  I took a deep breath and prepared myself for a long 3 hours to come.

My wild man was an angel.  He did not move for 9 innings.  He clapped when everyone else clapped, danced to the music, and gave Josh Hamilton the silent treatment.  (He did not "boo", we talked about how that is bad sportsmanship.)  He made friends with the people beside us, and even took a nap for an inning.  Sweet baby woke up in time to see the last half-inning, and cheered when the game was over.  I don't know who took over my child's body, but he was amazing.  

I LOVE when the planes fly over

He will probably never know how special this day was for me.  I love this stage he is in and know there will be a time (too soon) that he will think it's lame to go to a baseball game with his mom.  I know he won't want to hold my hand, sit in my lap, or fall asleep on my shoulder.  I needed a day like this.  Everything about this day was perfect, and I hope I remember it forever.