And Baby Makes Three

My little baseball player

I shouldn't admit this, but my child has seen (parts of ) more baseball games than church services.  Now, in my defense, baseball games are on 7 days a week, therefore weekly attendance at services would still be trumped by daily ball games on the television. 

In June she and her little cousins played with a ball and bat -- previously she'd only tossed (and sometimes caught) balls of varying shapes and sizes.  While watching a few minutes of the home run contest prior to the All-Star game, she was practicing her stance and swinging a cardboard paper towel roll.  Obviously, it was time to get her the real deal. 

Last Saturday, a day of soaking rain, I found her a foam-covered bat and ball set ($5 at ToysRUs).  She looooooves this toy.  I have to laugh -- when I tell her to "keep her eye on the ball" (classic advice, but she's only two), she squints her eyes and makes a funny face.  And her attitude when she doesn't get a hit (which is most of the time), is a little like Paul O'Neill.  She tosses the bat and sometimes lays down on the floor in frustration.  So, while she's learning I'm being really encouraging, saying, "That was a really good swing!" so she won't get discouraged.

Rockabye, Baby

My daughter's favorite songs are, not surprisingly, the familiar songs of childhood that I sing to her often.  I chose Edelweiss, Do-Re-Mi, and In My Daughter's Eyes as early lullabies because I liked them, plus there were always the songs I made up.  As she got older I would sing songs during bathtime.  She'll be Comin' Round the Mountain is a fun one because it's upbeat.  I'm currently doing an injustice to a song half-remembered -- something about "Froggy went a'courtin' and he did ride, uh-huh, uh-huh".  I'll have to Google it sometime to find out the rest.  Her requests in recent months have been "Baa, Baa Black Sheep," "Row, Row, Row Your Boat," and "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." But the past couple of weeks, she begins to request "Rockabye, Baby" (the one that begins: Rockabye, baby on the tree top) as we're walking down the hall to her bedroom.  I usually have to sing it three or four times (yes, I'm a sucker for a little voice in a darkened room asking for songs).