The Smallest Brave

Many of you have commented about my son's photo slideshow that runs on this blog. If you can't tell, my wife and I are just a little obsessed with taking pictures of him and posting them on his personal blog.

Blogs are great for many things. One thing they are wonderful for is helping grandparents who live a long distance away to see the going and coming of their grandson! So, if for no other reason, we enjoy posting those photos of him.

A couple of regular commenters (Bill and Phil) commented about the Braves jersey my son is wearing. It seems that Bill is a huge Pirates fan--probably the only one; and Phil is a supporter of the Chicago Cubs--not sure why!

Anyway, these two men have given me grief about Evan wearing this particular jersey. As with most things in life, there's a story behind the jersey he has on. Warning, if you don't like a cute story, just skip reading today's blog.

Shortly after Evan was born, we started finalizing his birth announcement that we wanted to send to family and friends. You know what birth announcements are? Those are the things you send to people who already know you have a new baby, but you want one more way to brag about the addition to your family!

Anyway, we wanted to dress Evan up appropriately for his big photo shoot. However, most of the clothes we had for him were simply too big! At birth, he was rather skinny and the clothes just looked huge on him. We really wanted to dress him in some sports outfit, since I am such a huge baseball and sports fan. Well, his University of Alabama outfit didn't fit great, it was too big, and he had already worn it in the photo taken of him at the hospital. So that was out.

We fretted and fretted over what to put him in for the picture. Finally, in a moment of genius or insanity, I went upstairs and found the perfect outfit for him! At Christmas, before Evan was born, I gave my wife a teddy bear for Christmas--it was for her to keep until Evan arrived. I had gone to Build-A-Bear Workshop and bought the bear and dressed him in an Atlanta Braves uniform (jersey, pants, and even stocking socks!). Well, I pulled the clothes off the bear and placed them on Evan! Believe it or not, they were the perfect size for him!

So, pictures were taken of Evan in his Atlanta Braves uniform, and then the uniform was returned to its original location--back on the teddy bear.

Hopefully, one day, Evan will appreciate the humor of this story! I know my wife and I will always treasure it!

And, if he ever makes it to the Big Leagues, I've got the original rookie card--hundreds of them--that should be worth something on eBay!