Rock Cats Clinic

As most of you might have guessed by now Liam is a baseball fanatic.  He lives for it.  We signed him up for the Rock Cats Baseball clinic for yesterday because it was his last t-ball game and it was a great way to celebrate.  If you sign up for the clinic you get a t-shirt and a free ticket to the game.  The thing they don't tell you until later is that the game starts 4 hours after the clinic ends.  In any case we went along with our good friends.  Liam's buddy Jack and his family.

We had only a few minutes after his game to get ready and drive up.  On the way up Seamus said "Nicky Nick is my favorite cousin" (Nick is Jack's brother, not his cousin but what else can you call someone you think of as more then a friend?  cousin it is)  Liam said what about Eli?  Seamus said "Oh I LOVE Eli.  I love all the Frans Vliets".  

We got to the clinic and there were a ton of kids.  Jack and Liam were among the youngest.  They broke them into groups by age and brought the group from station to station to run different drills.  The first drill was a little pop up drill.  The coaches are just players, very young with no kids of their own.  This coach threw a little pop up to each kid.  Jack put his glove up more like how you put your hands up to God and he was going to catch the ball but it kind of rolled or bounced off his glove right into his face giving him a bloody nose.  It must have hurt like hell and the coach was rather freaked out (he must have felt like a jerk for hurting the poor kid) and they had no clue what to do.  Thankfully we had moved closer to where the kids were and called him over to us.  His mom and dad fixed him up and stopped the bleeding (I am not really used to boys, having only sister.  Girls don't really get bloody noses.  They freak me out a bit too).  Jack was such a trooper.  He cried a tiny bit but not much.  I am sure it hurt and seeing that much of your own blood has got to be upsetting but he kind of dealt with it and went right back out there to finish the clinic.  I was really impressed with him.  I'd call that a big injury (anything that leaves blood on your shirt is) and he just got over it.

The boys got pushed around a lot.  There weren't any lines to speak of and there were a LOT of kids.  The older kids pushed to the front a bit and Jack and Liam kept finding themselves at the back of the pack a lot.  It was harder for them because when they called the kids to move to the next station the shorter kids couldn't find their groups easily and they didn't work very hard to keep them together.  Liam got stuck at the batting area with every kid pushing in front of him.  He's just not the kind of kid to push in front of someone or even to hold his place in line so they called them to move to the next group and he hadn't batted yet.  The coach told him to stay and spent a lot of time with him, which was nice, but he wasn't sure where to go when he was done.

The heat was incredible and that combined with the stress of so many kids and so little direction was a little nerve racking for Liam and I think he was relieved when it was over.  We then had 4 hours to kill.

We went to the East Side Restaurant (http://www.eastsiderestaurant.com/).  The food was really good and the people were so nice.  All authentic German food, decor and costume.  The boys got big beers and when they arrived the waiter said "TIki Toki Tiki Toki" and everyone in the restaurant yelled "HOY HOY HOY".  Very festive.  The beer was yum but I could only have a sip because of all the Lyme Drugs I am on. 

After eating we still had time so we decided to get an ice cream.  Seamus wanted to be with Nick and Liam with Jack so we moved car seats and kids around and found some ice cream.  We STILL had time after that so went searching for a mattress for Nick's new bed (Seamus said that this was his favorite part) to no avail and then headed to the game.

Ger had gotten us great seats just behind home plate on the first base side, three rows back.  We were right by the Rock Cats dugout so I sent the boys to peak in to see if any players were in there.  As they waited some professional autograph seekers shoved them out of the way.  AGAIN they were shoved out of the way.  This became the theme of the day. They were much bigger kids and some were adults (one had blue hair).  They had 8X10 glossies and books of baseball cards to get signed.   I got up and told Liam that he should hold his place in line.  Then a grandma sitting in the front row got up and grabbed the grown man by the shirt and told him that these kids were first and they shouldn't shove them out of the way.  She turned to me and said "I have 3 grandsons you don't shove a kid".  The players gave the boys each a ball.  

The Rock Cats lost (of course) but the boys didn't mind.  Liam really watches the game which is cute.  He knows the umpire signs and gets excited when things are going well.  Seamus fell asleep halfway through the game which was a huge blessing since he was just running around anyway.

We had so much fun. We were with people who like to have fun and got into the game and the fun around us.  The kids have so much fun together and everyone was happy and tired when we left.  We woke up happy and still a little tired (I am very sore today).  I made pancakes (with Seamus' "help") and then he brought me the syrup and a sippy cup and asked me to pour him a sippy cup full of syrup.  I did not.

Now back to laundry and cleaning and a trip to the store to FINALLY get Seamus some pull ups.

Catching up

I really meant to write something every other day at the least but I have Lyme Disease and it's affecting my arms the most.  My computer is set up to fit in it's space not to be ergonomically correct so the keyboard is higher then it should be and typing has been tough.  I am on the mend though so will take some time to catch up a bit.

The last few weeks have been emotional and stressful.  The year-end stuff is just designed to make a parent tear up and with gymnastics, preschool and baseball there have been a bunch of these things.  In addition, my sister and her husband are in the process of adopting the absolutely sweetest boy on earth.  They had some very stressful legal wrangling that occupied everyone's thoughts until it was concluded, positively, last Wednesday.  I feel like I'm on vacation now from all the high emotion.

While your emotions are already at peak it makes you more sensitive to the issues surrounding your kids.  Like watching how serious Liam takes the game of baseball.  I am intermittently very proud of how dedicated he is, how much research and study he puts into it as well as how much he practices.  Then I get nervous that he is too intense and narrowing his focus too much for a 5 year old.  I don't know who you consult on issues like this but would love to talk to someone who can tell me what is a healthy level of dedication for a kid his age.

Liam literally eats, sleep and breathes baseball.  An off day for the Yankees is hell for us because he watches baseball classics. It's painful to watch some 1970's game, the hair, the grainy video and gravely voices, those awful tight uniforms.  I hate it.  I try to keep him playing more then watching but the rain has been making it very hard.  Liam also plays Wii baseball all the time and then wants me to sit and watch his "highlight reel" from the "game".  

If he does make it to the pros he better thank me in every interview he does.  The watching and waiting and driving and answering endless baseball questions (some impossible to answer without a computer feed to MLB).  I adore watching him play though.  He takes it so seriously and does not appreciate that other kids may not be as intense.  You can see him silently fuming when a kid sits on the pitcher's mound to play in the dirt.  He rolls the ball to some kids while trying to make a play rather then throw it overhand because he said he knows that particular kid can't catch it.  I am a bit fearful of the days when they start keeping score.  I  try to remind him that he will be a more successful ball player if he's a good guy to have "in the clubhouse".  He needs to be a leader but that means being a good team player.  Don't call people out in front of everyone.  Don't get upset with people for making mistakes, be a good sport. This is the hard part for him.  I'd like him to play with slightly older kids so he can see how they treat him when he messes up.

For Seamus' part all this rain has made him very bored and a very bored Seamus is a LOT of work.  He likes to go in drawers and cupboards and take something out and leave it somewhere else.  It could be anything.  I find the oddest things in the oddest places.  One afternoon I found a cordial glass on the toilet.  The lid wasn't shut, it was right there on the actual seat, waiting to topple in.  I find measuring spoons in the dogs dishes and spoons "planted" in my potted plants.  It's a full time job following him around putting things back where they go, rewashing things over and over.  

In attempting to entertain himself he entertains us quite well.  He came to me and asked me to see what's wrong with the TV.  I went to look and found nothing wrong (other then that he colored on the screen with crayon).  I asked him what he thought was wrong and he said "When I scratch my head the whole TV shakes".  Then he laughs and runs away.  

I also found him trying to put diaper cream on himself.  He wiped his hands on my desk to get rid of the extra.  He also found my Pedegg and said "I just need to use this to get the crust off my foot".  I have not used the Pedegg since he gave me that visual.

So now we are on our last day of rain before summer really gets into full swing.  I am starting to feel better.  The boys' sinus infections are getting better and we are ready to make some great summer memories.  

Ahh to be young

Sometimes I see the little things my guys get excited about and wish that I didn't lose that thrill as I got older.  Seamus will give you a stream of requests, all so easy to accommodate and he's so excited when you say yes.   

"Can I have a bath Mommy?" "Yes Seamus". He throws up his hands and says "Yay! Can I have soap?" "Yes Seamus" "Yay! Can we blow bubbles?" "Yes Seamus". "Wooo! Can Liam come?"  

I wish everything was still so simple for grown ups too.  As we where walking down the street at the Torrington Street Fest, Seamus spotted an ATM and said "Ooooo let's go get money out that one."  I am not sure it's healthy for a kid to think you can just walk up to a hole in the wall and get money when you need it but we'll deal with that a bit later.  

It's funny that Seamus can go from being a sweet and lovey boy one minute to a complete "cranker" the next (cranker is the worst insult he can think of).  I was in our front yard talking to the neighbor, Ger was about to mow the lawn but it was full of clover flowers.  Seamus comes running out of the house and yells "Mom look at all these flowers" (Big sweep of the arms) "and they are ALL for you".  

Then if you tell him "no" to anything he turns in an instant and says "That's it, I'm done with you." Or lately "We are not playing with you anymore."  Not sure who the rest of "we" is.  The last time this happened he said "That's it, I'm not staying here anymore." And tried to open the front door but couldn't,

He also got sick of asking Liam to stop it in the car and said "Liam you a noxious".

His little sayings are funny.  Instead of High Fructose Corn Syrup he thinks he's trying to avoid High School Corn Syrup.  He doesn't do thumbs up he does thumbs out (this actually makes more sense then the original). He never asks what's the matter with something he says what's a matter for this. 

I have more but he has his hands wrapped around my neck and insists we hug on the couch.  He will sit for 5 seconds and be gone.  He just wants me on the couch to watch what he's doing. 

I wanted to take a moment and wish my friend Maggie peace as she says goodbye to her Dede....someone who was more then a grandmother to her.  We attended the service today which was beautiful.  Maggie spoke and she is so eloquent and strong.  It was very tough for her and it's very tough to watch Maggie be sad because she is always so upbeat and happy.  

I was proud of Liam too, who had a choice of going to lunch with all his friends for the end of school or going to Grammy's or going to the funeral.  He choice the funeral.  I said "You know it's church right?" And he said "Yeah I just think I need to be with Jack."  Jack is his buddy from school.  

It turned out well because Jack sat with us and that took a lot of pressure off of Liam.  Since Jack has been dealing with this for days Liam looked to him as the expert in how to behave and Jack was just his normal Jack. It was a great relief to Liam who thought he was supposed to be crying or something.  It was also good because the last funeral we went too was a disaster.  It was for my mom's aunt.  Someone who Liam visited in the nursing home but didn't have an everyday part in our lives.  Everything that you see in sitcoms that go wrong at funerals went wrong here.

They dropped the casket while trying to put it over the grave, it nearly fell in the hole.  Then Liam started yelling "What's in the box mom."  Before I could shush him my niece Sophie yelled "I think it's our new shed."  She was a large woman but a shed???

This funeral was peaceful and beautiful.  Liam didn't know Maggie's grandmother so while he got the seriousness of the occasion he wasn't very sad.  It was a beautiful learning experience for him.  Having his buddy near by helped a lot.  After chatting quite a bit I tried hard to keep them a bit still and quiet.  I explained that some people are very sad and need them to behave right now.  Jack turned to me and said "I know!!  This is a very big deal for us."  Indeed he is correct.  

When his mom spoke at the end I was very choked up.  She was really having trouble keeping her emotions in check while she spoke truly from her heart about this person she adored.  Jack saw the tears and says "Oh THERE she goes."  I am sure they had moments like this a lot the last few days.  

As I listened to her speak I was amazed at how well she captured the human spirit, imperfect but beautiful in it's imperfection.  I was thinking back to Monday when we both dropped our boys off at school.  Maggie was leaving as I was arriving.  She was like skip/running.  I asked her if she was off in a hurry and she said "No, I'm just feeling sparky today."  I thought that was so great.  Her husband is about to go out of the country and leave her with two boys for a long time and she still finds something to be sparky about.  That's just Maggie though, she can find the good and fun and joy in every bit of life, something she has passed to her boys.  I couldn't help but think what terrible timing to hear that her grandma had taken a bad turn on a day when she was feeling so sparky.  

Instead of any funny stories today (although the moment when Maggie's son Nick got away from me and lapped the church before I could even react was amusing) I would just wish Maggie well and offer a prayer to her beloved Dede.  Rest in peace.

For a long time if Seamus woke with a nightmare he'd come running into our room saying "there's a monster in my movie".  The night before last he must have had another.  He was in our bed around 11 but never said anything.  Then last night I was putting him to bed and he said "I'm not going to see that same movie again tonight right?  It was too scary."  I told him that he would not.  He said he would come in my room if he did and I told him that was fine.  He said "Do you care if I do?  Mommy do you weawy weawy care if I do?"

This being up at night takes its toll on both of us.  I had planned to go shopping today. It's only day we have during the week and we wanted to get some Father's Day things and something for his friends for graduation.  I was so excited to go to Borders.  I know it's dumb but when you are dragging two kids around in the rain the little excitements really help.  Seamus loves the "library store".  I thought we'd take our time and for once not rush.  

Well none of it went this way.  They didn't have the two things I know I wanted and Seamus was UNREAL naughty.  He wouldn't stay with me.  He was shouting, climbing shelves, crying then laughing.  He was so tired.  I finally told him that the treat I promised for later would not happen if he wasn't good.  He said "I want to be good.  I DO!  It's just not happening for me today."  I felt bad for him for being so tired but bad for me because I was having to deal with him.  I just cut my losses and left. 

When we were checking out the woman at the register said "I love his name, Seamus.  It's a nice name."  I asked how she knew his name.  She said "Everyone here knows his name now."  YIKES.  

Besides being tired the weather is getting to us.  Our squash plants have this mold-like fungus from so much humidity.  I think humans must get something like that too.  You can't shower it off.  It is only killed by sunshine.  The dogs are stir crazy.  We are stir crazy yet tired which is a bad combination.  The animals around our house are starting to show their impatience with the weather.

We've had a deer in our front yard just mocking the dogs.  The bark collar is the only thing keeping Guinness from going completely nuts.  Then a bunny showed up.  Bolding watching our hound try to get out of the house to eat it.  Seamus asked if he could bring it a carrot "in case the bunny wants to nibble."  

Hoping for better tomorrow but we are promised serious rain instead of the humidity, clouds and showers.  FUN! My hair is going to dread-lock with all this frizz. 

I've been taking notes so I don't forget things when I finally get time to sit and write.  It's been a crazy few days.  I don't think I've recorded everything though. 

The mornings are crazy funny usually but I am sorry that we are so rushed getting out to school.  I think this might be the cause of some of Seamus' disgruntled behavior.  That and he can't stand if we don't have what he wants to eat.  I told him we were out of Frosted Flakes and he said "No! We are in of Frosted Flakes."  He still doesn't get that wishing it doesn't make it so.  Like his daddy who still insists that he's a 30" leg when really he's a 29" (at best).  

When we went to pick Liam up from school the kids were all on the playground playing Duck, Duck, Goose.  Seamus insists the game is named Duck, Duck, Moo.  Again, wishing it doesn't make it so.

This week the boys both had their Victory Days at gymnastics.  This reminded me again of how very different they are.  Seamus performed beautifully.  He listened, was focused, did his activity to perfection and sat down again.  Normally in gymnastics he forgets what comes next and is too busy looking around to do what he's supposed to do.  With an audience he's spot on.  Also when he did his "stick and stretch" instead of just putting his hands over his head he put up his pointer finger (rock star style).

Liam on the other hand was beat red the whole time.  He had his tongue jammed in his cheek the whole time.  He was so embarrassed to have people watching him and clapping for him. At one point he slipped off the spring board and fell and I thought he would just die.  My mom said "oh he's hurt his foot".  Ger said "I think he hurt his tongue too".  

It was very cute though.  I find the end of the year stuff is so emotional.  In addition to our Victory Days my niece Morgan had an award banquet for theater, my other niece Remy did her fly up to brownies and then her story reading.  My sisters sent photos of these events and that has me tearing up.  My nephew's baseball team is in first place by a LOT so I am sure he will have championship games to play that will have us laugh/crying.  And we haven't seen yet what the last days of Sophie's pre-school will bring.  Liam will graduate from pre-school next Wednesday which is sure to be a tear filled event.

Seamus lightens the mood though.  Lately his is wearing just wellies with no socks.  The smell of his feet alone with get you over any sadness.   He also has such funny little sayings.  The other day he said "Ice Cream....I just fell in LOVE with you!" And then last night he made up this song:

"It's gonna be Trouuuuble.  It's gonna be Trouuuuble.  It's gonna be Trouuuuble. Cuz he works all day then he Rocks and Rolls."

Where does he come up with this stuff? I don't know.  He must browse the web when I'm not looking.

Liam's funny too but often doesn't know he is and would die if he were laughed at.  At baseball on Saturday he made a great slide into first which I recorded.  When he watched it back it seemed to him that the coach of the other team was laughing.  He was so angry that there was a chance that the coach was laughing at anything he did.

It's hard not to laugh though but you can't laugh or else.  Last night we made strawberry rhubarb pie with the strawberries from our garden.  He was so excited he told Ger we made a "rhuberry pie".  You have just hold in the laugh, very hard to do! 

One last thing I left off my last post.  On Sunday after church we usually go to my parents for coffee and rolls.  It's great, especially at this time of year, because the kids run in the yard and we can relax on the patio and have coffee and a chat in peace.

Today Seamus came and sat on my lap and was getting harassed by a fly.  It landed on his cup and on his nose once.  The said "here you go mommy I caught the bug."  I laughed at his joke because who can just reach out and catch a fly.  When I looked though, there was the fly.  He just reached out and caught it between his thumb and first finger.  I was half amazed and half completely grossed out.  It was funny although he didn't mean it to be.