Back to School and Ready for Some Football

Over the summer, Courtney definitely found a new buddy in her very own mini-me...Julia. The two became inseparable and for the first time, Julia was exhibiting some separation anxiety when mommy wasn't around. Well that all changed. Julia went cold turkey last week.

Courtney has a week of hell every year when her sports teams return for fall practices. Most do two or more practices a day and that means that I become full time daddy and honestly, I was nervous. With Courtney at home all summer, she took a lot of pressure off me. Here I needed to jump back in with both feet.

It took a day to get our routine down, but by Tuesday I had Julia at school in time to get to work early. And she might be the only one year old at daycare that actually walks herself in every day. We don't want Julia to be one of those kids that you have to carry everywhere, so we look for every opportunity to let her walk, even if it means that it takes a little longer to get there.

So last Wednesday (day three of Daddy week) we finished breakfast and I asked Julia if she was ready to go to school. She nodded and walked over to the door saying "out". I opened the door and she holds her hand up and says "hep", which is Julia for help. I take her hand and she walks down the stairs, out to the driveway and down the driveway to the van parked out front.

This was the routine everyday, but on this day it got better. We get to daycare and I take her out of the seat, put her down and extend my hand to walk with her into daycare. She pushes my hand away and heads off for the door. That's right...miss independent didn't need Daddy to hold her hand walking into school. I could just hear her saying...Daddy, stop! You're embarrassing me! Good thing was that it was only in my head and hopefully I have a few years before I actually hear that!

With the return to school comes the start of football season and Courtney surprised me with quite possibly the greatest purchase that we have made for Julia in her short life. Check it out:

We're getting ready! She already does Touchdown and even says it...sort of. And when you put a football in her hands, she wastes no time spiking it! Do they make pink Micheal Vick jerseys?

-Andy