We’ve started the brainwashing early at the Manna household.  Justin and I firmly believe it is our responsibility to “raise ’em young; raise ’em right.”  And so, with the help of Pops, we started outfitting Robbie in his Kentucky gear when he was five weeks old.  Every time we go home, we stop to get more t-shirts and pajamas; we must make sure that Robbie has Kentucky clothing regardless of growth spurts.  He has even had Kentucky “squeakers” – typical white baby shoes with the UK emblem that, you guessed it, squeak every time Robbie walks.  Those have been, by far, his favorite item of clothing.

It’s only recently, though, that the fruits of our labor have been evident.  We occasionally hear screams of, “C-A- Go Cats!  Cats!  Cats!  Yay!” from the back seat.  Or the crib when Robbie is supposed to be asleep.  He’s learning to yell “UK!” on command.  And I think he might be ready for “Go Big Blue!”  Maybe we’ll get to “What’s your favorite color baby?” for March madness…  (“Blue and white!” is the correct response, by the way).  Much to our delight, Robbie performed all of his cheers for us during the football game this past Saturday.  (You can see it on my Facebook page; I still can’t get videos to upload here from my cell phone.)  Ladies and gentlemen, I think we have a Wildcat!

Robbie is also very aware of the UK emblem and, every time he sees it, he yells, “Go Cats!”  And he loves his Go Cats shirts.  In fact, last night he slept in one of his Kentucky t-shirts.  When Justin tried to get him dressed this morning, there was a meltdown.  Robbie did not want to wear his “I’d rather be a dragon” shirt, which was clean and weather-appropriate.  After all, the temperature has dropped almost 30 degrees in the past week.  No.  He wanted his Go Cats shirt and threw an all-out tantrum when we refused to let him wear it.  He was, however, slightly mollified when I presented him with a Go Cats jacket as a compromise.  Until he realized that it was only blue in color and did not say UK on it.

I think we’ve created a monster…  But at least he’ll be fun to watch games with.