Baball

Jeff is dead-set on Cole becoming his Aggie buddy. He's gently trying to prep Pearl (aka his "best friend" as self-appointed by Pearl herself) that Cole is going to be his new best friend. One, because I think Jeff finds it a bit creepy to think his teenage daughter will tell everyone her Dad is her best friend. Two, he knows Cole has already inherited whatever athletically-inclined talents our gene pool could muster. And three, it's every Dad's dream to take his son to these type of events.

So we did a trial-run this week by taking Cole to a basketball game. I was thinking it'd be no different than when Pearl goes. Whining, boredom, and once the popcorn runs out, wanting to leave. And if you know Jeff, you know he does not leave until the last buzzer sounds.Which results in a fun evening for Jeff but not so much for me. But Cole totally surprised us! The kid sat and watched the game for all but the last five minutes or so - and a walk around the Spectrum at half-time. He was so good! And he looked super cool in his Aggie beanie, albeit a bit on the hoodlum side. He wore that beanie ALL DAY LONG! I'm not kidding! He went to bed wearing it the night before and put it on as soon as he woke up. Anytime someone tried to take it off he freaked out.He ate an entire bag of popcorn - just like Pearl does - and did the Scotsman with the crowd. There wasn't any squirming or fussing. And each time Jeff stood up to cheer or heckle the officials, Cole would jump into his seat and then laugh at his own sneakiness! With about five minutes left in the game, Cole must have decided he missed his big sister. It's not too often either one of our kids gets to hang out with just Mom and Dad. So, he found a surrogate sister, the little girl who sits behind us. And now that I see them together in a picture, she looks like she really could be his sister! They both have that super blonde hair. Cole sat right next to her and copied everything she did. She was a good sport about the whole thing, and even shared one of her Disneyland suckers with him. I felt kind of bad because as soon as she handed it to him, he started whacking it on the stairs until it was almost totally shattered. Cole far exceeded my expectations. Not only was he well-behaved, but he actually sat and watched the game. He would turn around in between stuffing handfuls of popcorn in his mouth, and excitedly tell me, "Baball! Baball!"

I'm thinking my "date nights" with Jeff are now over.