Bluebonnets

I have been a little tired lately...okay, a lot tired...which is why I haven't posted anything in a while. But, despite being tired, I am still taking pics and so here's one from a couple weeks ago...

A baby...the little boy perspective

The boys are cracking us up with the things they say about the baby and pregnancy.

Today, Papa and Grandma came for the weekend and Papa pointed out my ever-growing belly to the boys. Barrett told him I had a baby in there. Then I saw four little eyes looking hard at Papa's belly. Finally Kyle said, "What's in YOUR belly, Papa?" Ha! I love it!

Papa likes to stir the boys up and he has found that it makes them react in a big way if he says it's HIS baby. They shout back, "NO! it's OUR baby!"

The other day, Cody, the boys, and I were driving somewhere when I realized I hadn't eaten breakfast. Cody stopped so I could get something to eat and he told the boys that Mommy and the baby were hungry. That led to a conversation about mommy "sharing" food with the baby. We learned that Kyle thinks the baby in my tummy is wearing space ship pajamas which have a little pocket for her spoon. Barrett tried to set him straight, telling him that baby girls don't like space ship pajamas. They like pink pajamas. (Nevermind that he thinks there are PJ's and a spoon in the womb...That part Barrett was okay with.)

One more little funny, not pregnancy related...Today at the play area at the mall, I heard this conversation between Kyle and another little boy:
Kyle:"What's your brother's name?"
Boy: "Ian"
Kyle: "My brother's name is Barrett. What's your mommy's name?"
Boy: "Mommy."
Kyle: "That's my mommy's name too!!"

Happy April Fool's Day!

This morning I woke up and secretly made Jello in clear glasses (all I had was green, but red would have been better) and added a straw. Then this afternoon, I asked the boys if they wanted some juice. They, of course, said yes. As they tried to drink the juice, they complained that they could not get any. That's when I let them in on my joke! They love tricks and jokes so they thought this was fun and they liked it even better when I handed them a spoon!
What April Fool's jokes did you play this year?

Red Sox vs Yankees, the bitter rivalry...Little League style

On Saturday, the Starr household joined the rank and file of children's athletic competition as Barrett took part in his first Little League game! Furthermore, what better way to be introduced to a classic game than being on a team like the Red Sox, a team that has more history in its pinky than the team from around these parts (sorry Rangers, you'll get there...maybe). In order to provide the "proud Dad" perspective on the game Jessica asked me (yep, you got Cody this week folks, hopefully I won't disappoint ;) ) to cover this exhibition of mass chaos...and I mean chaos. Witnessing my first 4-year old sporting event reminded me of what scientist call the "Butterfly Effect" which theorizes that a change in something seemingly innocuous, such as a flap of a butterfly's wings, may have unexpected larger consequences in the future, such as the path a hurricane will travel. That said, I'm pretty sure the insanity I saw on Saturday will likely result in a Typhoon striking the coast of Japan sometime soon. So here are the highlights and "video analysis". Watch the videos and I'll provide the commentary. Oh and pardon the sound quality, it was a typical spring morning where the Texas wind was howling at a constant 30 mph.

Warm-ups

This conversation is a microcosm of male bonding. Boys trying to one up each other and you have to love the runneth over of confidence from Barrett's mouth. The grass stains on the pants and dirt add a nice touch. Ice it off with a couple of well placed 'Dudes' and you have a form of juvenille behavior that will last well into their 50's.


Fielding and The Ground Rules
At 4, the rules are simple. There is no score, no outs, no stikes or balls. Everyone gets to hit, field, and run the bases. Great fun. In the first inning the boys were all a bit timid. The ball would get hit off the tee, roll into play with parents screaming "RUN! --insert child's name here--!" only to not be noticed by the dozen boys standing out in the infield - picking noses, facing the wrong way, waving at Mom, or just "zoned out" as us men love to do (yes ladies, it's a Men are from Mars thing).

When the boys came in to bat, the dad's, in our attempts to rush our kids to "The Bigs" told each of them, "Ok --insert child's name here-- , when the ball comes your way, go get it and throw it to first." The result is this (BTW, Barrett is #8, playing 3rd base):



Ok, I recall being told to "swarm" the football by my middle school football coaches but not in baseball. This dog pile of oversized pants, hats and gloves became the norm the rest of the game. Oh, and for a bonus, check out the size of the kid running to 3rd base (#12). That's a 4 year old? What are his parents feeding him? Is he grain fed?

Barrett's first at bat


Then the magic moment occurs where your child has his first at bat. I really enjoyed this moment. Here is the edited version (it took a couple of "pitches" before it happened).

Finally, a team cheer led by the coaches plus some photos from Jess...

Flying a Kite

The boys have been asking to fly a kite for a while now but they always ask when it's cold or raining or not windy. Tuesday was perfect kite-flying weather so we went to the store and picked out the only photogenic (as in non superhero or Dora) kite they had. Then we drove around to find just the right spot. They had fun chasing the kite. Kyle thought the string handle was like a video game control with buttons that made the kite go up and down--pretty funny.

First T-ball Practice and why we're slacker parents

Barrett had his first T-ball practice last night. It was so funny to see all these boys trying to do what the coach was telling them. They started off running the bases. Barrett was jumping OVER the bases rather than on them, and trying to pick a wedgie between every base. His friend wore his baseball glove on his head while playing first base and another boy ran straight from first to third skipping second base altogether.
After all that running the coach must have said something about it being time for a water break because all the boys came running to their parents who all had water bottles for them. All the parents but us, that is. I looked at Barrett panting, then I looked at Cody as if to ask what should we do? Then, I grabbed the empty Chick-Fil-A cup out of Cody's hands and handed it to Barrett. He sucked on the straw, getting nothing but air, but at least he looked like he was getting hydrated (and more importanly we didn't look like such loser parents!)

the grandparents' reaction

Someday I will tell the story of this baby from beginning to end because it's really an interesting story. But today I am telling the part of the story when we told Cody's parents and my mom that we are expecting...and that its a girl!
Cody and I had just been to the doctor earlier that day and found out the girl news and our due date. We couldn't wait to share it with our parents so we arranged to have dinner with Cody's parents. I went out and bought two pairs of tiny pink booties and put them in two little boxes. Later, we had my mom meet me, telling her we'd have dinner at our favorite place and mentioning nothing of our plans to meet Cody's parents at a different place. When we got near Cody's office to pick him up, I faked a phonecall to him where I was pretending his parents had invited us at the last minute to have dinner with THEM, therefore changing our dinner location. At this point, we hijacked the car across town holding my mom a cluesless hostage. Shortly after we were seated, I handed each mom her bootie box. I attempted to take a little video of their reaction. Here's the video (35 seconds).



The period of time (which takes up a majority of the video) where the camera is pointed at a window is where my mom was hugging me. Looking back, I really should have had Cody shoot the video! Was that tears welling in Papa's eyes?