Baseball

Well, if you know our family, you know we're fans of Baseball. More specifically, Cardinals Baseball. And as life-long fans of our hometown team, we felt it our moral obligation to brainwash our first-born son so that he, too, would become a Cardinals Baseball fan. Maybe he would enjoy playing catch, or watching a big game. We would have a token jersey for him in whatever size he happened to be in a given season, and maybe if we happened to be visiting St. Louis during the season we would catch a game. Little did we know what we were in for.


And so it began...




Before we even left the hospital, we made sure to swaddle him in Baseball Footie jammies.



At 6 months, our little slugger was properly outfitted in Cardinal attire.




At Eighteen months, he had all the right equipment. "Ball" was a favorite word!



By three years, he had already been to a few big league games, and watched countless games on TV. He graduated to a "real" jersey, complete with Pujols on the back! He enjoyed T-Ball at the rec center, and could swing a bat like a natural. Mommy was so proud!




At age seven, Andrew played his first season of Little League.



Baseball is his passion. He wakes up in the morning wanting to watch Baseball Tonight, not only to find out how his favorite team did, but he also enjoys watching all the great plays highlighted from the day before. He puts up a fight every night I make him go to bed before the last out is made. He has so much fun in the moment of the game. The neighborhood kids are subjected to countless games of "driveway ball," and Andrew would love nothing more than to play catch for hours on end with anyone who will put on a glove. He was so proud of himself when, in the final inning of a game, he made two key outs at first base. That night, when he was having trouble going to sleep, I asked him what he was thinking about. His response was, "I can't sleep because I'm still excited about the two outs I made in the game." How sweet is that?!


Andrew's first hit!


He scores a run!


His first season of Little League was a great start to endless possibilities. Unfortunately, the season was a bit washed out. We experienced record rainfall in the last four weeks of the season, and all of those games were rained out. Every day, Andrew would come home and ask if he was going to get to play ball that night. We were all pretty down about not getting our baseball fix. I even resorted to Wii baseball! Regardless of the rainouts, Andrew still talks about his baseball season fondly. Every story he writes these days has one central theme... Baseball!

Chris and I are so proud of him. And not just because we love baseball as much as Andrew. I don't want to be one of those parents perceived as forcing an activity upon my child. Andrew has a natural athletic ability, and he enjoys so many different sports! He would play them ALL if I let him. We're sticking to one sport a season for now. He could play fall ball, but he chose soccer. And he's excited for basketball next winter. He's over-the-moon excited about the new golf clubs his Grandpa just sent him, and wants nothing more than to go to the driving range tomorrow. We're proud of how he is trying to learn the values of good sportsmanship. We are doing our best to surround him with positive experiences at this young age, and trying to keep him from being overly competitive. It's just too early for that. Right now, it's about having FUN.

And boy, are we EVER!