How much do kids remember?

I have no recollection of anything in my life before the age of 7. I have very fleeting memories but nothing concrete. I am pretty sure I am the exception to the rule and I know why.

My girls are almost 8 and 6. I want to believe the things I am doing with them now will stay with them forever. I know as an adult I wish I had some of those memories but the ones we are creating now are so special.

Last night was Cyd's night at the Braves' game. One thing she won't remember is how crappy this Braves' team actually is. We got to the park in time to see the starting line ups announced and when they said Greg Norton at 1B for the Braves I knew they had traded Mark Texiera. There was not a guy in their line up hitting better than .290 and the catcher is batting .096...YIKES!

Fortunately the night was not about baseball, it was about me and my girl. Cydney is very bright and perceptive, she sits and soaks everything in, being observant and then she will tell you what she thinks. It was fascinating watching her take it all in and see how spot on she was at 7 and 1/2. The night started with shopping, she wound up with a pink braves cap and a tomahawk chop thingy (G-d do I HATE that thing, I might just spend a couple hundred bucks on Gator stuff today online just to get the bad taste out of my mouth). Then we headed for the seats. Every few feet Cyd would ask how my knee was and did I need a break...very sweet kid. We got to our seats which were almost behind home plate but underneath the cover, which was great since it rained for the first 2 hours of the game. We went and got hot dogs and sat down to go through the program. We talked about players, positions, etc... Cyd brought along one of my mitts in hopes of catching a foul ball and boy did that thing look huge and cute on her hand. Through the first 6 innings Cydney feasted on the following items; hot dog, Coke, peanuts, cotton candy, blue icee and Dippin' Dots. As I told a good friend of mine, this kid is no cheap date!

We sang "Take me out to the ball game" during the 7th inning stretch and then she put her head on my shoulder and said, "Daddy, I'm tired and I need to throw up". Whoops, we hustle to the bathroom and I wait outside. Fortunately there was no throw up but I think we both learned a lesson about the amount of junk food you should ingest. As we got to the car Cyd asked if she needed to could she throw up in the car. She was very concerned that it might make the car lose it's new car smell (she is amazed it still smells good after just 2 weeks). We agreed that it wouldn't be a good idea and within minutes she felt fine.

It was night I won't ever forget and hope one that she will hold onto as well. Here are a couple of pictures while everyone still felt 100%. Oh yeah, the 'hat to the back look' was Cydney's request to look like her Daddy...that's my GIRL!