Play Ball!

We finally have our act in gear and got Benjamin into his first t-ball class!  It's just a four week indoor stint to finish out the winter, and then we'll get into the outdoor stuff with spring.  Tonight was the very first 45 minute class, and it's safe to say Ben had a BLAST and already can't wait for next Tuesday.  

We started on Friday, with Daddy (a very important factor!) at Dick's Sporting Goods sizing up the right glove.  Since they were $30 we were NOT buying there, but it helped me know what to look for if I had to go alone to pick one up at Target.  My brain is obviously preoccupied these days and I definitely would have bought him a too-big glove for the wrong hand!!  In between glove try-ons, the boys found some helmets to try.

On Sunday, we stopped at Target and got the glove and some new sporty shoes.  On Monday, Andrew took Ben to the back yard and taught him how to get the glove on, proper catching position, etc.  It took Ben no time to get it all down and he was a catching machine!

And this morning, jammies and everything, Joey wanted to help Ben practice so they took turns throwing and catching in the living room.  Ben also took time to "teach" Joey how to catch with the glove.  It was so so so so so sweet to watch them play together.

The class Ben is in is through the park district, but meets at one of the elementary school gyms.  Andrew took Ben and I kept Joey at home - he is already sad he can't play and we think he won't be able to handle just watching from the sidelines.  Ben got his shirt, his name tag, and was ready to go!  They are just learning basics of the game, so there were different stations to practice the different elements of playing ball.

 Catching grounders...

 Waiting to bat...

 Throwing... (look at that form!)

 Bringin' it in for a team cheer...

Andrew said that Ben was just soooo happy and enthusiastic the whole time, and that really makes us excited.  Ben has a bit of a shell to break out of, and I've known for a long time that getting involved in a sport would be just the thing he needed to get some self-confidence and feel like the awesome, strong boy we know he is!  We're looking forward to this being the start of something really cool in his little life!