Last weekend we took Elliott to his first and, as it happened, his second baseball game. On an absolutely glorious weekend in Seattle we drove up to catch a Mariners game on Saturday night and stayed until Sunday. The boy responded beautifully on the drive up, by which I mean he slept for about three straight hours. We checked into our hotel about a mile and a half away from Safeco Field and, a few hours later, we were ready to walk. A mile and a half seemed like no problem when I booked the hotel and, for me, it wasn't. I, of course, was not wearing the Baby Bjorn with a 16-pound Baby Elliott inside.

It was just like when Shelbi was pregnant last summer when we were in New York. I was weaving my way through the crowds, running to get through crosswalks and was constantly looking over my shoulder and telling Shelbi that she needed to hurry up.

We got to the park and walked to our seats about 12 rows up down the third base line. Within five minutes a female usher came up to Shelbi and said: "This usually isn't a good section for babies. You get a lot of foul balls here so be careful." Wonderful. I managed to somehow get three hot dogs and a drink for under $20 before the game started and, just as the first pitch was thrown, Elliott lost it. He was inconsolable and Shelbi was forced to get up to try and nurse him into submission. As she stood up to leave in the bottom of the first inning, Ichiro shot the first pitch he saw directly at her. It was caught by a guy six seats down in our same row. It's the closest I've ever come to a foul ball at a major league game and the exhilaration was erased by visions of the ball careening off of my son's temple and us receiving a signed batting glove as consolation. Shelbi later told me she had aspirations of making Sportscenter by catching the ball in one hand with the baby in the other.

But, after a rough start, the game was phenomenal. Elliott calmed down and Shelbi was a champ at keeping him entertained. Midway through the game I took my turn taking him out and changed his diaper in the men's room which was one of those experiences I never pictured myself doing. I was about to place Elliott in a sink for the before I thankfully noticed the pull-down changing table.

In the actual game, my favorite Giants pitcher Matt Cain tossed a complete game and somehow the Giants were able to come up with a two-out hit with the bases loaded for perhaps the first time this season. My personal favorite moment came when, after the Giants had taken the lead and the Mariners put a runner on base in the bottom of the eighth, Adrian Beltre came up for Seattle and a Mariners fan three rows behind us said: "Watch this. Two-hopper to the shortstop for the double play." (Ah, Mariners fans, we're not so different you and I.) Beltre swings at the first pitch. Bounce.... Bounce... Right to Edgar Renteria at short for the most routine double play I have ever witnessed. We made the fan stand up and take a bow.

The next day I somehow got out of wearing the Baby Bjorn once again as Shelbi and I walked down to the waterfront. We had our requisite seafood lunch and we thought about perhaps going to the aquarium. I looked at the time and hatched a devious plot. "You know, Elliott probably wouldn't even enjoy the aquarium at this stage," I said off-handedly. A few minutes later I said: "Hey, today's Giants' game starts in 15 minutes. You know... I'm just saying." 30 minutes later we were up in the cheap seats at Safeco Field but karma came back to bite me as Barry Zito reverted back to the Barry Zito that Giants fans have come to know and despise. But, again, you couldn't beat the weather and Elliott successfully made his first trip across state lines.