Early on Cade has had an exceptional liking to balls of all kinds! Kick balls, baseballs, soccer balls, softballs, golf balls, plastic balls, any ball! If it's round he is on it, like white on rice! I think he has a ball-dar! If there is a ball anywhere in his vicinity, I don't care if it's in the woods with a pile of leaves on top of it, he some how finds it! He's been that way since he could crawl! I think he has a little bit of ball DNA in him!
Back in Mayish I started playing softball. There have been times that I have had to bring him with me to the games. Well he saw that softball and fell in love with the sport! He began walking around with my glove, holding it with both hands, hoping that someone would throw him a ball! Then he started grabbing for the bats while we waited for the game before us to end. It just so happens that the Easter Bunny brought him a little green vinyl glove with velcro in it and a soft green baseball. The velcro is so that the ball stays in his glove when he catches it...in case you were wondering. When he began taking an interest in my glove, I showed him that he had one as well. Just a few weeks ago I searched Jacksonville for a plastic bat. I found an orange one on clearance for 2.50, the kind that come with wiffle balls. It was hard to find because summers about over and I think they had those out in the spring. He has a perfect little batters stance! He even hit the ball one time, hasn't since, but one day he will get lucky again!
He is so funny, when he sees someone hitting the ball, especially an adult who really knocks it, he says "oooooooooooo" or "whoa" or "oh yeah" or "oh man" or something! He is so funny! I almost couldn't bat at practice tonight because he was cracking me up so bad! Every time I hit the ball he had some kind of reaction!
Anyone want to guess what his favorite movie is? The Sandlot! I hadn't ever put it on for him because while it's a kids movie about kids, I figured he was too young for it. It's not a cartoon. I don't have many movies, Robby took most of them, he left some kids movies, a lot of them, but there are only a select few he will sit and watch. And those few he was getting bored with. So one night I saw it and went ahead and got it out for him. He was glued! He loved it! There was a chance that maybe because it was a new movie he hadn't seen that it kept his interest. I ruled that out when I put on the Sandlot 2 a few nights later! He wasn't interested in that movie, it doesn't have as much of the baseball playing in it as the first one does. In fact almost the entire movie has those kids playing baseball in it. So he really just loves the movie!
I felt so bad for him tonight. While I was at practice he of course had his little ball and glove and was wanting the other kids to throw the ball to him. I always bring his glove and his bat when we go out to the field so that he will leave the adult bats alone. Because some times he grabs other peoples bats, people I don't know, people who have either just finished playing and are just watching the next game, or people who are waiting to play. Well the poor kid is left handed! He is so left handed it's not funny! There is no doubt about it that he is a lefty! Well when the Easter Bunny bought the glove it never occurred to him that he would be left handed. And honestly I don't think they had a left handed glove in that style. The only choice you had to make was if it was for a boy or a girl based off the color of the glove. I don't recall seeing left and right handed gloves, I mean it was wal-mart! So he runs around with this right handed glove on his right hand and has the hardest time catching the ball. He probably could if he had the right glove for him!
I had my softball bag in the kitchen, I had a late game the other night, so when I got home I dropped it by the laundry room and forgot about it. The next day I was cleaning up around the house, I kept hearing banging coming from the kitchen, I finally went to see what it was. Cade had one of my cleats on, my catchers mask was around his neck, and he was holding my glove with both hands...walking around! It was so funny! I wish I had my camera! But I was trying to keep the clay off the kitchen floor I had just vacuumed!
And of course he bats right handed! He mimics, that's how he is so smart, he watches and then does it! Well I haven't been able to get him to change his stance to the other side, that's the way I bat, so he figures he should too!
