t-ball practice

Jonah surprised us a while back by announcing that he didn't want to play soccer in the spring but would LOVE to play t-ball. I didn't even know he knew what t-ball was! Baseball happens to be my very favorite sport (to play, to watch, whatever!) so I was happy with his decision.

Jonah's coach called to introduce himself a few weeks ago but our first two practices were rained out or otherwise cancelled. So last night was Jonah's first official t-ball practice.

All day long Jonah told me stories of how he imagined practice would go. They were filled with smashing home-runs, explosive fireworks and lots of people cheering for our little Bear.

There was a part of me that wanted to warn him. I knew it wouldn't go quite the way he imagined and I wanted to protect his tender little heart. However, he was so filled with enthusiasm that I just couldn't damper it by introducing reality. :)

When it came time to get ready Jonah ran through the house gathering everything he thought he might need to bring to practice. It included everything that you might think of and also fruit snacks and granola bars.

We hadn't met the coach yet, but I told Jonah all about him and had him practice saying his name so that it would seem familiar. On the way to practice, I asked Jonah to tell his Daddy the coach's name. "Mrs. Squirts!" says Jonah's sweet little voice, from the back seat of the van.

It took me a full minute to regain my composure after that one. Sam had trouble too.

Finally I was able to say, "No, Jonah. That isn't his name. Remember, it's Coach Cox?"

And Jonah of course responded, "Right! Oh, yeah. Mrs. Cox!"

Well, he finally did get it figured out. He actually LOVED the coach. At bedtime last night Jonah said, "I just love my coach. He's my friend. He's your friend too, right? Maybe he can come over to the house sometime." Jonah is such a tender-hearted boy! All evening he kept thanking us for letting him play t-ball and he thanked God for every part of t-ball.

At practice, Jonah got to meet new friends, hit a ball off a tee, play catch with the coaches, run the bases and learned what 'ready positions' means. It was a full night, and though there weren't any fireworks, Jonah loved every minute of it.

So did I. :)

Thank you Lord for my sweet little five year old who knows how blessed he is and knows where his blessings come from!