Megan "Sharapova"

(Ed. note: With this post we are now through July ... I am not catching up as quick as I would like. I'm aware.)

We have been blessed to have many of our friends from Cincinnati come and hang out with us this summer. In late July, my friend Todd came up to see how Megan and the rest of the family had settled in to our new digs up here in Western Michigan.

His visit will hold with it an epic first in Megan's life. Of course we have no documentation to prove it, but Todd was responsible for helping me introduce Megan to tennis. With my tennis buddy in tow, Megan and Jillian joined us at the local tennis courts to hit around a little.

Megan started out in Jillian's lap on the bench next to the court, but as soon as Todd and I started rallying, she refused to stay on the sidelines. So she casually sauntered across the court with the tennis ball whizzing around her, and promptly sat down right in the middle of the court and started playing with the court.

Having your 17-month-old daughter sitting right in the middle of the court definitely adds an extra element of concentration to your swing mechanics. In fact, as a former tennis coach, I think she would be great to include in drills ... but I love her too much to subject her to that torture.

Eventually she became bored of just sitting and started chasing down the tennis balls that ended up in the net and giving them to me. She even tried to hold one of my rackets but could only flail away at them. When she tired of that, she cried at mom to take her to the nearby playground.

But still ... she was on the court. Only good things can come of this, and I have Todd to thank for helping me. However, he will see none of the royalties when she makes it to the big time. Maybe some tickets ... maybe.