The First Pitch

Today we went to O'Brien Field to the Chief's game because Alex won a radio contest. He was the "104.9 the Wolf's First Pitch Kid." Alex won four tickets to the game and got to throw a first pitch of the game. Little did we know there were several kids throwing a first pitch.

So we got to the stadium and Alex picked up his tickets and met the radio personality. It was "Family Fun Fest" and there were bounce-arounds all over. We had some time so the kids got to play for a while. Alex even got a baseball card made with his picture! Then into the stadium we went only to find out that they were delaying the game because some rain showers were supposed to be coming through.

I thought this would be a great time to dance in the rain with the kids. I got in trouble. "It could get slippery or there could be lightening. You need to get up here now." Well that caused an hour long meltdown from Lucas. My poor baby just wanted to be in the rain. I didn't understand why it was okay for the people to be sitting in seats with umbrellas, but we couldn't be standing on the concrete. But such is life.

The hour passed and we were finally escorted down to the field. Alex was supposed to be the last "first pitch." He warmed up and then they lined everyone up. I tried to find a good spot to get pictures from so that I wouldn't just get the kid running off of the field. Well, aparently one of the other kids' names was Alex as well, and when they called the first Alex, our Alex ran up and threw his ball. I threw on the camera as quickly as I could and only got the ball rolling across the field and Alex running off the field. Since he had all ready thrown, they didn't call our Alex's name. He did get a ball to take home, though (which was the cause of a lot of strife), and he was thrilled.

Daddy tried to demonstrate score keeping, but we were lucky to see a play. After an hour and a half of being there prior to throwing the ball, we were grateful to make it to the fourth inning (thanks to mommy's bag of tricks including play-doh, crayons, and a white board). I think the boys will sleep well tonight!

Here is a video clip of Alex throwing his "first pitch." Warning: don't watch if you get motion sickness. If you look carefully, you can see the ball roll across the field in the begining. Enjoy!

There is another video clip of Alex warming up to throw his first pitch posted on facebook - for some reason it wouldn't load here. I'll add more pictures of both kids tomorrow. Thanks for looking!

Lest I forget...

The little things...

Tonight while sitting at the table waiting for dinner, Lucas pipes up with (out of the blue), "Sorry about that." Clear as day. We know it must have been repeated from somewhere because it had an adult type inflection, and it was just hysterical.

Lucas loves playing cars - on my body. He loves running them up and down my legs, arms, and head and then spinning them in front of his eyes. Making "wooo wee woo" noises. When we ask him where his car is driving, the answer is always, "fying up."

This week we took out Doug's old guitar with two strings and have let the boys play with it. Lucas has been taking it around the house, "playing" and singing the songs from his music therapy. It is so adorable to watch. Last night he surprised us by singing the entire "abc song" by himself while "playing" the guitar.

Lucas also loves to sing along to Celtic Women in the car and somehow knows nearly all of the words to the songs even though we haven't listened to the cd for a few months. He gets the biggest grin on his face and when he finishes, he says, "good singing, Mommy."

Alex yesterday suddenly decided he wanted me to wear lipstick. He asked me all sorts of questions about it and if I had any, what colors I had, etc. Today when we went to Kohls to exchange something, he saw the beauty counters and insisted I try on some lipstick. The color I chose wasn't good enough (it was subtle), so he picked out a bright pink. I put it on and he liked it, but wanted me to put on more because it wasn't bright enough. LOL I explained that that was all I would put on and he let it go at that.

Alex loves to pretend that he is the main character in whatever movie we watched most recently. He assigns parts to each person in the family and the cats. We have to address each person accordingly. It is pretty funny. This weeks' favorites are The Incredibles in which Alex is Dash, Lucas is Jack-Jack, I am Mrs. Incredible, Doug is Mr. Incredible, and Misty is Violet; and The Chronicles of Narnia in which Alex is Aslan, I am Susan, Doug is Peter, Lucas is Edmond, and Misty is Lucy. It seems that this week Simchah has gotten out of having a part. :) Super Mario Brothers is always a favorite and persists alongside all movies.

Right now Alex is saying he is Dash from Incredibles. Lucas said, "I Wobin (Robin)" and then decided "I Baman (Batman)."

Another phrase that Alex uses that I find amusing - he says, "You gotta be kittin me," meaning "you've got to be kidding me."

I know it's the little things that are so easy to forget over time, so here's a few to remember.

Sweet sleeping

Lucas for a long time has been deathly afraid of his room. Terrified, in fact. A few weeks ago, I tried to get him to come with me into his room to play puzzles, to play with toys, to read a book, he ran crying and screaming, taking nearly 30 minutes to fully calm down.

I find this interesting because once upon a time Alex was also afraid of that room. What is it about the room?

So lately, Lucas has been falling asleep on the couch with either Doug or myself, leaning against us. Once he is really asleep we can transfer him into his room and into his crib and if he doesn't wake up he will stay there all night.

The last few nights, however, when Doug has been putting Alex down to sleep, Lucas has wandered in to Alex's room, saying, "I seep Aggie." The first night they slept together all night. It was so sweet. Last night I heard giggles and talking for about 10 minutes and then silence.

It is so sweet that they want to be together and that they find comfort in eachother. I don't expect this to last forever, but am greatful while it does.