Football Fan

Last year, we took Griffin to one football tailgate, and then he and I went home and Daddy went to the game. This year, we decided he was ready to go to his first UT game. Matt and the teachers at his school have already done a pretty good job on him--every time he sees anything with a Power T on it he says "Tennessee!" and he knows the chorus to Rocky Top. So when we told him that he was going to get to go to the game with us, he was very excited and talked about it for days.

We decked him out in his Tennessee clothes and headed up to campus. He's usually a little chatter box, but he barely said a word on the walk from our parking spot to Aunt Holly and Uncle Jason's tailgate spot. I think he was just taking it all in.

A man we passed on the walk over had given him a little plastic football. As soon as he got out of his stroller at the tailgate, he started running circles around us and kept spiking his football on the ground.

He was having so much fun tailgating that he really didn't want to leave to go into the stadium. But once we were inside, he was enthralled with all of the action...and the fact that he could go up and down the couple of steps right next to my seat. He clapped along with the crowd and gave Daddy high fives every time the Vols scored.
But to my fellow Georgia fans, don't worry--I haven't let Matt completely brainwash him. At one point during the game, I said to Griffin "Go Vols!" and he responded, "Sic 'em! Woof, woof!"

We knew he wouldn't make it through the whole game, especially since it didn't start until 7pm. But it wasn't until a few minutes were left in the half that he started wearing down and asking about going home. He also asked to watch something (meaning something other than football) on the TVs that are mounted above our seats. Too cute!