Charlie's First T-Ball Game

Charlie is on a spring t-ball team with the West End Little League. His team is named the Green Tops and is coached by Coach Kevin, who was also Charlie's soccer coach in the fall. Today was Charlie's first game! And as with all things, Charlie brought his own little flavor to the game.

Charlie's first time up to bat was very uniquely Charlie. After a few tries, he hit the ball off the tee and began his path around the bases. From second base to third, Charlie walked - yes, walked. Nonchalantly and leisurely. And with total disregard to the entire audience of parents urging him to "Run!" I joined in to the encouragement and began shouting, "Run, Charlie!! Run!!". To this, he stopped. He looked at me for a moment. And the he screamed, "Nooooooooo!!!!" and began again his walk to third. It was at that point that I switched from the photo to video setting on my camera...

He did much better on his second time up to bat and running the bases. Below you'll find the videos of round 2.

To First Base:

To Second Base:

To Third:

To Fourth:

Emily

In a previous post, I mentioned how desperate our child is for a sibling. Well, much to his dismay, he's still the one and only apple in our eyes. But last October, Charlie was very happy to welcome to the world Emily Reese, his cousin. A few weeks ago, she came down to Texas for a visit. Before her arrival, we busily prepared collecting all necessary baby items from our neighbors. It had been awhile since a baby was in our household. But, the little man couldn't have been more excited and proud when Grammy Barb, Auntie Carol and Baby Em drove up. He insisted that every neighbor come over and make their introductions with Emily. He showed her off as his prized possession. So happy he is to have her. It was only last week that someone asked him if he had a brother or a sister and he simply said, "I don't have a brother or a sister. But I have a cousin!"

The baby bathtub passed inspection:

I have a cousin and this deserves two thumbs up!



Here baby. Play.




I wasn't allowed to hold her at Christmas because I had a cold. But now... now, I am holding her and I am soooo happy!!!

For the Love of Papa

My stepdad, Darrell, has been the father-figure in my life. I didn't always get along with him, but as I grew, so did our relationship. He was, after all, the guy who always slipped me a twenty dollar bill whenever I batted my eyelashes and implored, "Pleeeease!!" He was the one who gave me the Dad-esque disappointed silent treatment when I was making wrong decisions. He was the one who walked me down the aisle and let me hold onto him for dear life as he gave me away. And he was the one on whom I perfected my sarcastic wit.

But poor Darrell. As much as we love the man, none of us have ever shared his interests. You see, Darrell is a good ol' Southern boy. He likes to hunt, fish, watch NASCAR, eat greasy home cooking, and work with his hands. And, well, as I was growing up, he was on his own in those pursuits.

He tried taking all of us camping once. Being city-slickers (or, really, suburbs-slickers), my mom, brother and myself opted to sleep in the van before we'd dare sleep with the ground only a layer of nylon away.

He tried taking my mom out to the fields when shooting pheasant a few times. She accompanied him, of course - but always under the condition that she could get a WiFi signal on her laptop and could find a nice spot in the sun to set out a folding chair for reading Wall Street trading books.

He tried taking my brother out fishing. My brother flat refused to pierce a worm with a hook, as this was inhumane. Actually, he flat refused to touch the worm in the first place, as they were slimy.

He tried taking me canoeing when we lived in Florida. I spent the entire trip crying for fear the boat would tip and we'd be immersed in murky waters that contained living creatures. Ick!

Eventually, he gave up on us and bought himself a companion. When I was in 8th grade, Darrell brought home a puppy - a German Shorthaired Pointer - and named her, Molly. But this dog was to be his dog. A real hunter. Fully trained to fetch fallen birds. She was to live in the backyard, was on a strict diet (no people food!) and was not to become accustomed to the comforts of an indoor dog. This lasted for a surprisingly long time until Darrell had to go out of town on business... When he came back, Molly was right at home as the family pet! In one weekend, we had spoiled her of training, invited her to live inside and found her new sleeping quarters in the middle of his bed. I had even taught her to sit on a kitchen table chair and eat food off my fork.

And that is how life was for Darrell. He never really had a chance against the three of us... until 2004.

April 29, 2004, Darrell finally found himself a friend weighing in at 6 lbs., 8 oz.

My child adores Darrell. And Darrell adores him. Everything Papa loves, the little man loves it too.

A few days ago, as I was getting Charlie ready to head out the door for the day, he turns to me and says, "Mom, you know who knows everything?"

"No, baby, who knows everything?" I ask.

"Papa does."

"Oh, yeah? He does, does he? Well, don't ever tell him that because I think I can hear his ego exploding a thousand miles away," and I scooted his little tushy out the door and into the car headed for school.

That night, we were chatting on speakerphone with Daddy who was out of town on business. Charlie accidentally hung up on him, and in trying to call him back, called Papa instead. There was some confused exchanges as they both figured out who was on the line, but once established, oh, how happy they were to talk to each other:

"Papa, you know everything," Charlie says.

"Well, I don't think I know everything. But, I know some things."

"Yes, you do, Papa. You know everything. You know everything about Jeff Gordon."

Papa laughs. (The ego is about to blow.)

"You know everything about fishing, too. And McDonald's! And Cracker Barrel!" adds Charlie.

Papa, incapable of resisiting such accolades, adds, "And golf!" (yup, there goes the ego...)

"Yeah! And helicopters!"

It only took twenty years, but Darrell has a very faithful and appreciative companion with whom to share all of his favorite things.

Super Bubbles!

Last night, I thought it'd be nice and relaxing to read a book in a luxurious bubble bath. Really, I should know better than to plan anything relaxing while in the company of my four year old by now. Charlie was drawn to the bubbles like a moth to flame. My "Mommy Quiet Time" was anything but. At first, he liked to pull handfuls of bubbles off the top and blow them at the cat. When that lost its appeal, he started dipping various toys in the bubbles to get them "dirty" and then "clean" them in the running water. Naturally, it was important to then test what Mommy looks like with bubbles on her head. (I wasn't planning on getting my hair wet - oh well!!). And then Mom needed a bubble-beard. Following that, he began to be curious as to what would happen if we turned on the jets - so we did. Bubbles grew exponentially. Obviously, at that point, he HAD to get in...

Charlie's Perspective

I am endlessly amazed by the sweet and innocent way that children see the world. You and I see a receipt envelope with the Amazon logo. Charlie sees a smiley man.

Babies

I often joke that Charlie has always been a fourth child begrudginingly stuck in an only child's body. He coos over babies. He oogles over toddlers. He falls effortlessly into friendships with any passing kid who will play. And just last night we found him on a friend's couch cradling a babydoll and poking at its eyes. "I'm giving the baby eyedrops," he explained. The poor child just wants a sibling...

That desire for a brother or sister - admist Mike's and my indecision to procreate for a second time - has materialized into an interest in all things baby. But most recently, his curiosity seems to be concentrated on the subject of where babies come from. And comedy, of course, ensues.

A few weeks ago, I picked Charlie up from school and on the drive home he asks, "Mommy, did you draw me?"

I was confused, "What do you mean, Baby, 'did I draw you'?"

"When you made me, did you draw me?" he continued.

"Ohhhhh!" I said, laughing at the sweetness of his curiosity. I gave my best explanation. "No, Baby. Mommy and Daddy made you, but we didn't draw you."

"Well. How did you and Daddy make me?" he pressed.

"Well, Daddy put you in Mommy's tummy and then you grew in there and nine months later I went to the hospital and had you!" I thought that had done it. I was able to answer the unanswerable with not too much detail and avoided lies about storks. Ever the case, I was impressed with my wise motherly explanation a little prematurely...

He wasn't satisfied. "But how did Daddy put me in your tummy?"

Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. Oh no!!! How do you answer that!? My brain wasn't quick enough! I couldn't think of anything but the truth and I wasn't about to tell him the whole truth! "Let's talk about that with Daddy a little later tonight when he gets home, ok?" Ahhh, there we go. I opted for delay and was relying on his four year old brain to forget to bring it back up.

"Ok," he said. "But... can I watch when you and Daddy make my baby brother?"

Womanizer

Last June, Mike and I realized that our listening to the radio in the car was no longer unnoticed by our little backseat rider. On the drive from Charlotte to Wilmington for my best friend's wedding, we heard something along these lines coming from a small voice in the backseat:

"Apple Bottom Jeans!!! Hoops and the fiiirrrr! Everybody lookin' at herrrrrrr!!!! She hit the floor! Next thing you know! Low low low low low!"

Mike and I just looked at each other - both stunned and amazed - then we laughed and laughed!

Charlie, always the ham for attention, performed this same adorable rendition of rapper FloRida's Low just minutes before walking down the aisle as Ring Bearer. What can I say - We raise a classy kid.

Since then, he has gotten to be quite well versed in Top 40. It is now common background noise to hear him singing himself a Charlie-version of a pop song as he colors or draws chalk on the driveway.

Sometime last week, as Mike and I were relaxing on the couch, we were surprised to hear Charlie singing a tune in a new location - on the potty. Like I said, classy kid. Ever the parents who run for the camera, we caught the following on video and look forward to the day we can show this to a future girlfriend. See if you can figure out his song. (You may need to turn up your volume!)