New face for the fridge...

And it's a girl!

Baseball 101

Eager doesn't begin to describe it. Uta nearly sat in the coach's lap when he gathered the players around at the start of practice. The ages range from 5 to 7, and it was pretty hard not to crack up with some of their antics. Imagine The Bad News Bears meets kindergarten. Kids would get to first base and keep going straight, tagging bases was next to impossible, and every time a ball was hit into the field the entire team would run to it and pile up on top of each other like a football tackle. Uta's baseball faux pas were kept to a minimum, but he did have a rather obsessive fondness for the astro turf. He kept finding excuses to squat down and stroke it. All in all a very happy first day of baseball.

Why is your butt getting bigger?

I have a constant witness for this pregnancy whose observations are not always easy to swallow, but none the less true. My butt is getting bigger, at a rate completely incomprehensible to me. "The baby is in your belly, right?" Right. "Then why is your butt getting bigger?" Luckily Uta is a creature of reason, and is quick to draw his own conclusions for these truly perplexing questions. "I know," he said. "If only your belly got big you would fall over. A big butt will keep you balanced." Well, I suppose that's one way of looking at it. Thanks Uta.

Checkers anyone?

Uta has developed an insatiable love of checkers. One of his greatest triumphs was beating his Papa, at last, fair and square. It was a feat he believed forever beyond his grasp and you could just see the world opening up above and beyond all he believed impossible.

Milestones

A few firsts of late...

First wiggly tooth

First 'real' chapter book (no pictures!)

First kiss from a girl (on the cheek)

First two marriage proposals and refusals (Uta the one refusing, or more diplomatically saying "we'll deal about that when we're grownups.")

First time joining a baseball team