We signed Christopher up for basketball this year. We couldn't wait to get him started into sports, mostly because he loves playing them, not because we are sports crazed and insanely competitive people (well, I'm not), but because it just seems fun.

We taught him to kick a ball as soon as he could walk without falling down. (We also didn't know when you started to teach them these things and figured why not now?) Brandon bought Christopher his first t-ball set when he was about 18 months old and he can crush the ball so hard now that it sails across the backyard and over the fence, occasionally it will go over the roof. He started golf not much later and surprised all of us when he could actually hit it. We had to take the kid-sized driver away when Sophie was born so we could avoid any possible injuries. But basketball, now this is a sport we have never covered.

Our very first practice did not have all the coaches, so everyone went out and played around. He was so overwhelmed by all the people and noise that he cried. I was finally able to get him to at least touch the ball and bounce it back and forth with me. The second practice I made him do it by himself and he still wouldn't even touch the ball when they tried to hand it to him. Third practice Brandon, Sophie and I stayed in the lobby thinking that if he didn't see us he would do better. He touched the ball. Fourth practice he tried to play a little and I was so proud.

Now, I had a feeling how the first game would go, it would be funny. The kids have never scrimmaged and like I said, Christopher has never seen the game played and now he would be in front of lots of people expected to play a real game and he is extremely shy. (And I sympathize with this because I hate to be in front of people too. Brandon, not so much. Sophie takes after him.) The great thing about Upward sports is that they are not in your face competitive and give each child equal playing time. (They also have devotionals too, it is through the church after all.) If your child has never played on a team before it is a great way to introduce them to the whole concept. At least I think it is. Christopher got to play as much as the kid on his team that scored about 9 or 10 points and looked like he'd been playing for all of his 4-5 years of life, but Christopher never touched the ball. Even though someone tried to pass it to him, he kept his hands at his side or in his mouth (gross!) and stood in the middle of the court watching everyone else play and trying to figure out what in the world was going on.

Waiting for his name to be called so he could run all the way across the court... in front of everyone... all by himself. At first he barely walked and then did this silly, hand flopping run across the court. Awesome. (Be patient, be patient, give him time.)

Saying a prayer with the other team before the game. (I'm wondering if they picked these colors because we live in Gator country or that's what all the Upward programs are wearing.)

We are hoping that soccer and t-ball go a little better.