Mei-mei is now really walking. Instead of sitting back down when she loses momentum, she just squats and then picks herself up again. She can move across a room, or indeed between rooms, with surprising speed.
When she was still just testing this capability, she would smile and clap her hands after each attempt, expecting us to praise her as well. Now she's becoming more ambitious. Mike's friend was over last week, jumping up and down on the mini-trampoline in the basement. His sister watched with interest. When the friend got off, she hauled herself up on the trampoline and carefully stood up -- then tried a little bounce.
***
Thursday soccer practice. The weather has turned abruptly cold (it was 93 degrees a couple days ago). The coach does a drill in which each kid is sent to chase a kicked ball, recover it and then guide it into the goal. Michael is having a good practice. He's able to do the drill with some ease and he shoots the ball well. However, he does better in drills -- where the ball is there for him and he has time to set up his shot -- than in live play. His approach is a little too studied.
Some of the kids, even at age four, are super-competitive. One boy, for example, erupts into angry tears because the other side won a goal. This in a practice scrimmage, mind you. The same boy is a powerful scorer. Then there are various kids who are not instinctually so competitive but whose parents want them to be. These parents are the ones pacing around on the sideline, yelling instructions or in at least one case offering monetary bribes. Ok, I have done some yelling and pacing myself. I confess to having no idea what gives a child athletic drive -- whether it's primarily something they're born with, or the result of parental influence.
I would be happy to see Michael really take to soccer, but I also have to be realistic. He's smaller than some of the other boys, less aggressive, and doesn't have a soccer coach or a sports fanatic as a dad. The main thing I want is for him to enjoy playing and develop his confidence. But this is where it gets difficult. Enjoyment of a competitive sport can't be separated from the competitive part. If the other kids are scoring goals and you aren't, it stops being fun.
Sometimes after practices he's quiet, and I wonder about it.
"How was practice?"
"Good."
"What did the coach tell you?"
"I don't remember."
"You don't remember? Already?"
"Ah..the coach said...the coach said...when he blows on the whistle, everyone has to freeze!"
posted by Rob @ 7:08 PM
4 Comments
4 Comments:
Have to say I am a wee bit jealous Heidi is walking so well already. Abbey was an early walker (9.5 months!) and Liam, at 14.5 months, just took his first step yesterday. Given my stubborn boy, who knows when we'll see a repeat attempt? Anyhoo, I would have given anything to have seen Heidi on that trampoline. Priceless!
I am curious to see if Abbey will show any interest in sports. I suspect I could be a pacer/yeller from the sidelines. Right now, she's much more interested in Kindermusik and making up really bad knock-knock jokes. But that may all change in 6 months when she's old enough to try a sport, like Michael.
Michael didn't walk until after 14 months. I wonder if it has something to do with crawling skills. If they can get around well on their hands and knees, less incentive to go vertical. Michael was a great crawler but Heidi never took to it.
Anyway, he'll be on his feet soon I'm sure, so enjoy the crawling while you still can!
Maisie is walking at 16 months. After a few days of standing stock still, she suddenly stumped off & now nothing loose below table top height is safe. She's even had a bit of a go at football in the garden!
Congratulations! And good luck racing after Maisie :)
I'd forgotten how hard it is to keep up with a new walker (and constant grabber). As for football, ours likes to march onto the field during the match-in-progress. It's becoming a hazard to take her along.
Thanks for posting the updated haiku. I loved them first time around and just as much now. The "out of memory" one is sublime.
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