Daddy's Little Panther

One of Kelli's coworkers gave us really great UNI tickets for today's game against Stephen F. Austin. Charly has never been to the UNI-Dome and she is sure going to get her fill of UNI basketball when November comes around so we thought breaking her in today to Panther athletics would be a good idea. Plus they were free! So if she didn't like it, we could leave!

During the first half of the game, she was a little indifferent. Her lips remained tightly pursed, her look sober. If she was entertained by the sights and sounds around her, she wasn't letting us know. I held her for most of the first half because each time I would hand her off to Kelli, she would squirm like crazy and stare down the nice man sitting next to Kelli. We thought it was a little embarrassing but he thought she was cute and we caught him a number of times sneaking his finger into the grip of her little hands.

Charly napped for a good portion of the second quarter and at halftime, Kelli braved the women's bathroom to change her diaper. When she got back I gave her a bottle. The second half brought out the Charly we know and love! She was jabbering away, chewing on every toy in her diaper bag, drooling like crazy, and even smiling. Except every time Kelli would take her, she'd hold her arms out to ME! Those of you who know Charly know she's definitely a "mommy's girl". Not today! Maybe I made her feel safe in this new, loud environment. Maybe the guy sitting next to Kelli was cheering a little too loud (and I was sitting on an aisle). Or maybe this was her way of telling me, "I know I'm a girl dad, but I'll still love watching football with you!"

I'd like to think it was the latter.