Spring Training

It was rainy and windy out all day today, but inside our house, it was a bright and sunny day because we got to watch the Cleveland Indians play baseball LIVE!

The official Major League Baseball season has not started yet, so we are in the "Spring Training" pre-season until April 3rd.  I have never been interested in what happens during Spring Training before, nor have I ever watched a Spring Training game (similar to a 'friendly' in England).  But, this year for Christmas, Lee got me a subscription to something called MLB TV which allows me to tune-in to all live and previous Indians' games for the 2017-2018 Season.  Conveniently, the subscription also has a 'highlights' option to catch-up on games quickly.

I felt like I was back in Ohio as soon as the pre-game coverage started and I heard the familiar voices of Matt Underwood (a fellow Ashland native) and Rick Manning.  Also, the sound of baseball is a natural background noise to the weekend for me and it is a sport of which I am quite confident to discuss and use the correct terminology.

This American pastime is creating more entertainment than intended in our household, though:  Lee is still in his infancy of learning terms like pitcher instead of his label of 'thrower' and inning instead of 'batting session.'  His head started spinning when a runner got on base, because as he explained, "The game gets so much more complicated when there is someone on a base and someone batting" as there is "too much to take in."

After living here for nearly six years, I have grown fond of watching England's most popular sport/religion of football (soccer) whereas in Ohio, I only liked playing it.  But I must say that nothing compares to baseball with its swift crack of a bat, 7th inning stretch with an enthusiastic round of Take Me Out to the Ball Game, hot-dogs topped with spicy, brown ballpark mustard, civilized spectating and child-friendly chants, fans of opposing teams sitting side-by-side, emerald and shamrock criss-crossed fields, and games that cannot end in a tie.

Our Star Boy

Eating his current favourite snack:  raspberries

Nicely offering up his snack to share with Mommy--but only as a kind gesture; he didn't actually give any away to his parents.

Developmental updates:  Jackson is using "yeah" and a shake of the head for 'no' 100% accurately in response to questions about what he would like to do or what he has done.  This was his first week without using a pacifier so I think those days are behind us for good.  He has more teeth pushing through so it is good timing to rid him of the 'binky' since we do not want adverse effects on the formation or growth of his teeth.  Jackson's new animal sound and action of the week is elephant.  Most of the time, his 'trunk' goes forward, but he also swings his arm backwards when impersonating an elephant.  He said, "Daddy," very clearly yesterday and today so we are trying to work that into his regular vocabulary.

If you see Sammie Miles Davis, Jr. and Bella, give them my love.