At the game

So I'm sitting here in the bleachers of Yankees stadium watching the Yankees-Red Sox game. Its the start of the second inning and already we're down 4-0. Not a good start, but it's alright because it's baseball.

The thing about being the game is that I'm not at home. Its about 7:30 right now which means that Mommy and Kaylani are getting ready for bed. No one will believe me, but I do wish I was there. I love watching Kaylani fall asleep, especially when she looks at me tiredly and gives me a big smile.

Seeing that sure beats the thousands of ugly, annoying, smug Sox fans here, but there's nothing I can do about that. So to get me through this game, I'll stare at the picture of Kaylani on my phone every inning. And then I'll go back to watching the game and cursing at the Sox.

Oh, and don't forget to visit the Dad-Blogs to read my latest Sports Illustradad column on why you shouldn't buy the new "A-Rod" book. And for even more fun, check out the comment string fueled by one of the Sox fan dads. Gotta love the rivalry! Go Yanks!

Raising Her The Right Way

It's no secret that I'm a die-hard Yankees fan. And it's no secret that I plan on raising Kaylani like that, my nieces and nephews like that, and really anyone that I can still influence like that. But I don't think team loyalty is something you can teach someone, or push upon someone. It just kinda comes along because you're raised that way, or for us Yankees fans, because you know it's the right thing to do.

Take my friend Jay for example. His daughter likes the Yankees, even though she lives in Dallas and her dad is a Red Sox fan (this post will not go into how ridiculous it is that Jay, who lives in Dallas, is a Red Sox fan). Now his daughter is someone I can relate to. She's a Yankees fan, and that makes a lot of sense to me, and that's how I always thought Kaylani would turn out.

Well tonight, I was able to exhale just a little bit. Sure I had pictures previously of Kaylani with the Yankees hat that my brother and family bought her when she was just a day old, but that wasn't enough to make me relax. She hadn't shown me that she was a true Yankees fan yet (granted, it's not baseball season quite yet) until now. Tonight, she did what most of us Yankees fans do when they see Red Sox paraphernalia...she gave it the finger.

The picture above was not staged (well, adding the Red Sox stuff obviously was), but she really did give it the finger. I've never been so proud! And before anyone gets the wrong idea, Kaylani will NOT be allowed to give people the finger when she's older. That would be rude and uncalled for...unless they're wearing Red Sox paraphernalia, in which case it would be hilarious!

Sure you could argue that her pinky is in the air too, but I'd argue that I just didn't snap the picture fast enough. Either way, from this day forward, Kaylani is a true Yankees fan. She was born in a down year for the Yankees, but she'll grow up in a great time for them as well. And her Dad is going to take her along every step of the way, including to Opening Day at the new stadium this April if Mommy lets him. I'll keep you posted on how that conversation goes...

But in the meantime, check out a few pictures from the last two nights. We had to wake her up for yesterday's photos because we may have forgot to take any during the day, but we got them. As long as this is a daily blog, the goal is still to take daily pictures, so keep on checking back! And keep on reading along. After all, what else are you going to do until Yankees season starts?