A Trophy Weekend (week 224)

Last week I got my first Game Ball. This week, with the season ending for the Dodgers I got my first trophy! It is everything that I have ever imagined: bronzed, marbled, topped with a little plastic baseball player, and finished with my name on it. We all received our trophies at the closing ceremonies Saturday evening after our big end-of-the-year party and barbecue. All the teams from the Heartwell Cal Ripken Baseball League gathered around the infield to receive their trophies. When I got mine, I was so paranoid about it breaking that I carried it with two hands above my head. Jordan and Barron (on the other hand) started immediately sword fighting with theirs.

To celebrate the end to our first season, we hosted a bouncehouse and barbecue party at our house which is only about three blocks away from the fields. Most of the team came over to play, eat hamburgers and hot dogs, and someone brought a giant cake. After playing our last game against the Reds, we had a blast tackling each other, jumping, and shooting hoops inside the bouncehouse. There were lots of little brothers and sisters inside so at some point everyone did their fair share of crying. Christopher had a blast bouncing with the big kids and tackling the big plastic noodles in the bouncehouse. He also filled-up on cake with white frosting..taking advantage when someone left their cake unprotected and eating the frosting off their cake.

It's sad to see the first season come to an end but it is also good to see sports camp coming in July and soccer coming in the fall. In some ways, I think the parents were also getting a little tired with practice and games every week and weekend. Three months is a long season for four-ear-olds, but suprisingly long for parents as well. We all learned some important lessons about how to play, how to coach, and maybe which roles we want to play in the future. Good practice for the whole family.

Christopher has been sick the last week and no one has been sleeping particularly well. Although he went to the doctor and keeps rubbing his eyes, he also fights having to take his antibiotic and his eye drops. He is particularly difficult right now to get his diaper changed and his cloths on after baths. There have been some epic struggles to get his pajamas on, in particular those that have extensive buttons. Because he is much stronger now, there were even times this week that took both mommy and daddy working together to hold him down and get his pajamas on. He still loves to escape and run naked through the house and through the backyard grass any chance he can get. While he is much bigger (75 percentile), he is still not saying many words. Although pop (popcorn), wopuh (diaper), and shows (shoes) are a few family favorites.