a (half) day in the life of a ball lover

This is how our morning went today:

I walk Norman. Meanwhile, Elian and Papa build a marble run with blocks.

We make some cookies. After the first batch goes in the oven, he gets bored and wants to watch Super Why. Then he builds another marble run -- this time with his plastic marble-run pieces -- while I finish up the cookies.

We go to the park to hit golf balls. He positions himself close to the baseball diamond in order to use it as a sand trap. The object? To hit the golf ball over the sand trap. Amazingly enough, he manages to do this several times.

We return home and I make lunch while he plays with his marble run.

We eat lunch, after which we play golf again. This time indoors. The object? Hit the golf ball through the white cardboard tube that's strategically placed at an incline then into the electric golf ball returner. After countless failed attempts, he finally gives up.

Now it's time for soccer. I am the goalie.

I run downstairs to get the clothes out of the dryer and manage to fold the entire basket while he kicks the ball around and score big at the goalie-free goal.

He drags out the ball popper that Grandma and Grandpa Schulz gave him for his first birthday. I recommend this toy highly for any baby ball lovers. He loves it and it has definitely stood the test of time (2 years). The crazy music starts and and the balls begin to pop out like popcorn. We both begin to scream as he chases after the balls. And who could forget the part where we pretend like we want the machine to stop and then "accidentally" hit the button only to start it up again? The hilarity ensues.

There's about a half hour before the babysitter arrives. Bowling anyone? We set up the pins and I ready myself to be the all-important ball beturner.

1:00 Kim arrives to take over my ball-beturning duties.


This is very much a typical day (or half-day) for us. And when I think about it, all I can do is think about what kind of boy he's going to be when he gets older. Will he continue to love balls like this when he's older? Will he be some crazy marble-hoarding nerd? Will he be an athlete? Or will he completely lose interest in all things spherical and move onto something else?

Stay tuned.