More baseball

One of the reasons that Zach plays so much baseball is because that is exactly what his daddy likes to do in the backyard. Steve has had an easy time investing a lot into this activity because Zach has preferred to be all-time pitcher and Steve prefers to be all-time hitter (a mutually pleasing deal for both boys). Monday night that all changed because for the first time Zach began hitting a pitched ball! Up until now he has mostly held his bat still and it was up to the pitcher to hit his bat. I'm not exactly sure what made the overnight change but last night he was tracking the ball and swinging AND making contact! Zach took this new combination of skill in stride as if he always expected to hit the ball but Steve and I were shocked and delighted (except for a brief moment when Steve realized that he was now going to be all-time pitcher) and obviously I had to run and get the video camera! I thought I would share this BIG moment with all of you and coincide it with my first attempt to put a video on the blog. (Unfortunately I could not get the video to upload onto the blog so you will have to just enjoy this new skill with your imagination-sorry! If anyone can help me upload videos, let me know!)

To the beach

This year our week at the beach was filled with baseball, baseball, baseball and a little singing/piano playing mixed in once in a while. Zach was the center of attention for one more big family get together before his little brother's birth, and he was determined to make the most of it! He continued to be a little intimidated by the ocean and preferred to spend his time playing ball and digging with his trucks in the sand. During the course of the week he developed his "game" a bit more! He now runs the bases after he hits (the running pattern is always interesting and sometimes he manages to score more than one run per hit!) and he also started turning his back to you like a real pitchers wind-up when he is pitching to you (which really throws his aim off--look out!). Although all the pictures I took were outside, Zach also began playing imaginary baseball while in the house. He used a long railroad piece as a bat and then would either pitch with or have us pitch to him with a pretend ball. If he was pitching he would then run to the kitchen to field the ball! Steve and I have honestly not been teaching him any of these little baseball nuances but I think he picked it up from the Redsox games we were able to watch while we were there!

Steve was only able to be with us for half of the week but we managed to pull through and still enjoy the beautiful sunny beach and pool. Thankfully I had plenty of willing family members available to help pitch, field and hit while trying to relax at the beach! My 80-year-old grandmother was even caught playing a few times, although I think it wore her out pretty quickly.