T-Ball Time!

So I think I mentioned it earlier, but Jack has officially started t-ball. What fun! Five and six year olds are a sight at this. There are two types of boys on Jack's team. Group A consists of boys who have watched baseball and/or who have witnessed older siblings at play. These boys are aware of basic rules and goals of the game. Group B consists of boys like Jack. Just between you and me, the latter are the most fun to watch.

The first practice was roughly two weeks ago. Batting for the first time was fun. Jack carried his bat all the way to first base, and come to think of it, needed some strong guidance on what and where "first" was. Upon arrival at the base, he made a righthand turn instead of the more traditional lefthand turn to second base. And during that initial rounding of the bases, he also learned that sliding into home plate (for no particular reason at all) gets a real rise out of a crowd of hovering, sideline parents. Sometimes one even gets applause. I have resigned myself to scrubbing grass stained knees on his jeans EVERY week.

One week ago, he took his turn at playing as an outfielder. As a first time outfielder he spent a large portion of his time there inspecting the ground for those little white clover blossoms and then throwing them into the air as high as he could. Upon receiving the occasional encouragements to "watch the ball" instead, he would then collapse onto his knees and wear his glove as a hat.

The rules of t-ball are a little shady still. Jack's first REAL game was this evening. Progress has been made... slowly. Enjoy the photos below!

Jack seems willing to perform the outfielding duties. Cloverrrr.

A second baseman now, but still longing for the outfield.

"Okay, I'm more firmly committed to second base now. Stomping on my territory signals my dominance. This is my spot. So, umm... kid, why are you here?"

"Yeahhh, that's right. Run away, little boy. Run away."

Jack's up!

And again! (Incidentally, number 27 there? You see him? Yeahhh... he's in Group A.)