We signed Ryan up for baseball again this year and were so excited to see how much he had improved since last spring. It's amazing to see the difference between the 1st and 2nd graders on all of the teams. It's like something clicks when they get to 2nd grade--at least in baseball anyway. :)
Opening Day is a big deal in Fishers and is really an all-day event ending with fireworks in the evening. However, we just went around lunchtime for team pictures and then came back a few hours later for his first game.
He had been warming up with his team when he decided he needed to use the porta-potty before the game. I was with Reid on the playground when he zoomed by, glove still in hand, telling me where he was going. Not two or three minutes later, I heard him screaming and looked find him running toward me. My first thought was that he had seen or been stung by a bee. But when he got to me, he dropped his glove on the ground and was half-screaming/half-crying, "I DROPPED MY GLOVE INTO THE PORTA-POTTY!!!"
I said, "WHAT?!?!" and at that moment I looked down and saw the mitt on the ground in front of me. "And you reached in and got it OUT?!?!"
I eventually got the story out of him. He went into the porta-potty and didn't want to put the glove on the floor of the porta-potty because, well--"that's gross"--is what Ryan said. So he put it on top of his head and was balancing it while he went to the bathroom. He looked down and the glove fell right off of his head and into the pit. (I'm getting nauseous just writing this, so I apologize.)
Anyway, he reached down and grabbed it and then came running out to me. Picture my face looking like extreme horror and disgust.
He kept yelling, "What are we going to do?!?! Can you clean it?!?!"
I told him, "No--we're throwing it away." This prompted more hysterics and crying from Ryan because it was his "lucky glove." But there was no way I was going to let him touch that--let alone put it on his hand. Ugh!
I made him go and wash his hands with soap and water, then Joel disposed of the glove. Luckily someone on his team had an extra one, so this made due for the game. We later went and got him an even better lucky glove--most importantly, one that had never done time in a porta-potty. I was so grossed out and disgusted that day, but I can now laugh as other parents ask about it. :) Oh, Ryan...
The next series of pictures make me smile because it shows how Ryan
can't stand still during the game.
Ryan improved with knowing what to do in the outfield when a ball was hit to him. Sometimes it's hard to know which base to throw it to because it may change depending on if there are runners already on the bases. But another area of improvement was in his hitting. I think it really helped with doing so many batting practices with Joel.
This was basically what Reid did the whole time Ryan was playing. Either he was on the playground or he was spending money at the concession stand and being goofy.
Here is Ryan as the catcher:
Let's go, Indians!
