More T-ball

Each week it takes less time for him to warm up to practice. Too bad this week we were late due to 4 trains (no kidding) – it didn’t help when the freight train stopped.

We sometimes question why we’re taking a 3.5 year old to t-ball, but he’s so good. And when he does finally start to interact with the coach, he’s very happy.
(Plus, he’s really one of the best players there.)

There’s only 2 more weeks left. I guess we need to get him signed up for the next class (which unfortunately is 3-5 years olds, instead of just 3-4), so that might be interesting and more challenging.

At one point, Coach Kyle tried to get Coach Josh to underhand a pitch in to another kid, but Coach Josh joked, “When have you ever seen me pitch to a 4-year-old?”  I had to laugh a little because Alex rarely hits off a tee at home. He’d much rather be pitched to.

Memory

Alex and I went to Toys-R-Us last night to get him more drumsticks. He’s broken 8 sticks since Christmas. I didn’t realize this was going to be a quarterly investment.

It was a package of 4, so when we pulled into the garage, I opened them and Alex and I drummed on the car seats to some music for a little bit before going inside.

AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” came on and Alex said, “Like at the baseball game!”

We went to that White Sox game 4 weeks ago. And yes, at the beginning of every home game, the Sox play an intro video. It starts with the Pirates of the Caribean music and then goes into Thunderstruck for the player intros. It’s actually a very well done video that gets everyone pumped up. I’m a bit jealous the Cubs don’t (can’t) do it.

But more impressive is the fact that Alex remembered it.

Then we had a fun time rocking out to the whole song.

Here’s a video from a White Sox game so you know what I’m talking about:

And a higher quality one of just the Pirates music:

Letters

Alex had just woken up for his nap as the Cubs game I was watching was winding down. He climbed on the couch with me and snuggled with his ‘jamma, sucking his thumb. The Cubs, playing a home game, won and the crowd was cheering. A bunch of people in the stands broke out their immitation ‘W’ flags – representing the flag that Wrigley traditionally runs up the flag pole in center field after every win.

As the TV kept showing a bunch of people holding these flags, I asked Alex what letter that was. He’s getting pretty good at identifying them, so every chance we get, we ask him.

“I don’t want to talk right now,” was his response.

Things Alex learned from the MLB game

He’s picked up a few new things from watching the White Sox game the other night.

1) “Walk” – he doesn’t understand balls and strikes just yet. So sometimes he’ll swing and then just say he got a walk.

2) the relief pitcher. He’ll have Sara hold the ball and then come trotting up to her and take the ball from her.

3) Shin guards and leg protectors. At the game he was so curious as to what the batters were wearing on their legs. Now he pretends to put them on when he’s batting.

4) Fireworks after home runs. (well – any good hit in his case) He’s going to be real disappointed when we go to Cubs games.

Also, even though he only watched from the sidelines at his first t-ball practice, he still picked up on the techniques that were being taught. He’s getting much better at fielding grounders and running the bases.

T-ball

No pics. It went exactly like I expected it to go. Alex stood by my side the whole time while 10 yards away all the other kids played baseball. Then when it was over and the coach was packing it all up, Alex started crying that he didn’t get a turn. Sigh. Anyone have a solution for separation anxiety?

It actually started off really well. The coach had all the kids line up, he threw a grounder at them, they picked it up and threw it back. Alex was quick to join the group when we first got there. Then the coach had the kids go back to their parents so he could review the rules and how it all works. After that, Alex wouldn’t leave our side.

But the coach is amazing. Actually, there will be 3 coaches to help wrangle the 15 or so kids, but last night there was only coach Josh. By the end of the 45 minutes, he knew every kid’s name.  Even though Alex was farther away, he paid attention to him and threw him a ball at one point, too, just to keep him involved. And as he was packing up the bases and saw Alex crying, he threw them back down so Alex could have a turn running. Overall, we were really impressed with his patience and skills at teaching 3-4 year-olds. I couldn’t do it.

We were outside, which didn’t help since it was cold. The thermometer at our house read 58, but out on the field in the wind, it was a lot colder. We thought we were going to be in the gym, so we weren’t fully prepared. Alex was cold, and that didn’t help his mood. He was already pretty grumpy to begin with.

Ah well. Maybe next week he won’t be as tired and brave enough to walk down to the other kids. One of his friends from school is also taking the class, so we’re hopeful that will get Alex to participate more.

White Sox Game

Free tickets to great seats? Yes please, I don’t care who’s playing. I’m a fan of baseball, I’ll go to any game. It was on the cool side, but not cold. High 50s and not really any wind.

Alex loved it. We stayed until 9pm, through the 7th inning. We had to sing the song during the stretch. There were 2 home runs by White Sox players, which meant fireworks (well, the second one was in the 8th, but we were still in the parking lot and could see the fireworks)

There’s plenty to look at during White Sox games, which is good for a 3 year old. Watching other fans yelling, all the signs and pictures, dancing to the music, but most of all, he was really riveted to the game. He especially liked any ball hit into the air, fair, foul, home run, pop-up, it didn’t matter. “That was a good hit!” was his favorite phrase.

Two Sox players in a row got his attention. The first was Alex Rios, which got his attention when the announcer called his name. Up next was Mark Teahan. Alex’s then said, “Mommy’s next.”

He got into the clapping and cheering with other fans, although he was a little unsure of the mascot Southpaw. “He’s scary.” At least Southpaw stayed on the dugout roofs and didn’t come up the aisles.

The seats were really fantastic. 28th row behind the White Sox dugout. We saw a few foul balls come in our general direction, but nothing too close. The older couple next to us were season ticket holders and as we were leaving, they welcomed Alex back anytime. They enjoyed his enthusiasm all night, too.

I taped the game on the DVR and sure enough, you can catch a glimpse of the back of our heads whenever they used that camera. I plan to get a better screen shot of it in the near future.