Coming Alive

My boy made contact today!  He got his first hit.  Sure, mommy doesn’t exactly bring the heat or have a curveball that falls off the table, but Nolan connected to send his (oversized) ball right back up the middle.  He has done some pretty cool stuff, but this might be the proudest I have been of him!  I also totally get why parents get so caught up in their kids little league games.

Anyway this is Nolans first baseball card -

Front:

Back:
#1    Nolan Reeve  * Second Base
complete backyard batting record

yr.  -   club  -              g   -   ab   -   r   -   h   -   rbi    -   sb   -   so    -   avg.
——————————————————————————-
09     barefoot           1         4        0       2         0            0        1           .500

ht: 36″   wt:  32   
bats: both (or even one handed sometimes)  
throws:  both (seriously, it takes both)
born:  6-16-07
drafted: 6-16-07
home:  greensboro, nc

                                          UPPER DECK

I want to thank all of you who have been following the going ons of Nolan the last week.  Your prayers (if you have been praying) have been much appreciated.  

To catch you all up: Nolan woke up Monday morning at 2:30 am and didn’t go back to sleep.  Although he was clearly tired he would stand in his crib and scream every time we tried to put him down.  He finally fell asleep at 7:30 Monday evening.  Then, it happened again Tuesday in the early am.  It had become very emotionally and physically taxing on me and Kristan.  

We had gotten to the point where we wished Nolan had a fever or some other signs of illness.  His only symptoms were not sleeping and crying.  Then, a big godsend in the form of our friend Kim, tipped me off the possibility of an ear infection.  I googled the symptoms and some he had and some he didn’t.  

We scheduled an appt. with the doctor and sure enough that was what’s going on.  So, Nolan is on omoxy…amox….medication.  Now I am just hoping he’s not allergic.

My son loves Joe.  If you don’t know Joe than this post is really kind of irrelevant to you, but if you do, you probably love Joe too and totally understand my son’s infatuation.  Last weekend after church Joe was riding with the Reeve clan…in the backseat next to Nolan.  They played the whole ride home, and built such a strong friendship in that 15 minutes that when Joe exited the car Nolan started screaming and crying.  Tears were streaming down his face and he stretched his arm out towards Joe’s house.  It was cute and sad and made me a little jealous. 

Then yesterday, Nolan found Joe and Jennifer’s wedding announcement magnet on our refrigerator and pointed at Joe’s picture and started yelling again.  Wow.

So, I am jealous for my son’s love.  I want it all.

I’m afraid Nolan is gravitating more towards soccer tendencies than baseball right now. Although he has a glove and bat, he would rather put his ball on the ground and kick it. When he does pick up the bat he uses it to move his ball around like hockey.

The other day though he walked in when Carolina was playing and said, “Baball” = “Basketball”

That’s pretty cool.

See the tear?

Today is a very big day.  Nolan is getting his first REAL haircut, and I am super excited.  We are taking him to my barber, Dave Clemens, who is the best in the business here in Greensboro.

- I met Dave about 8 years ago through my friend Josh.  Dave is a passionate follower of Christ who uses his profession to minister to college students while they are in his chair.  He is one of the most caring people I have ever met and if you are in the Greensboro area I encourage you to visit him at Quaker Village Barber Shop out by Guilford College.  Tell him I sent you.  

Anyway, the other great thing about Dave is he makes your head look good…even mine!  I’m expecting big things for Nolan.

Today was a great day with Nolan.  I’m still in that stage where I want to hold him every second since our little scare so we just kind of hung out today.  The weather is nicer so we went on a long walk.  We stopped and talked with neighbors.  Charlie and I discussed that weird feeling of anger when something happens to your kid.  You aren’t mad at anyone (which is really frustrating), you are just mad.  He also commented on how women tend to be really calm in emergency situations while the fathers freak out. 

I wouldn’t exactly say I “freaked out”

He’s right though.  Something about pushing an 8 pound kid out of their bodies makes women handle stress really well.  Who would have known?

Nolan and I watched our first Astros game together!  During Nolan’s second feeding I brought the game up on the computer and we caught J.R. Towles hit his first home run of the season.  As excited as I was about the Astros beating up on the Cubbies, I was more thrilled to get Nolan in his ‘Stros bib seeing his first glimpse of my team.

His favorite part was the “Aflac” commercial.  Midway through an inning the duck walks out on the bottom of the screen and delivers his signiture phrase. 

Nolan then HOWLS with laughter!  So I started shouting “Aflac” at him and we just laughed and laughed.  He loves baseball!

Nolan’s been pretty sick this week.  This has really been his first time not feeling well for an extended period of time.  Honestly, it’s been pretty tough on me too.  I find myself actually wanting Nolan to cry a little bit.  He has just been quiet…really quiet.  And he seems sad. 

I buckled to the cliche of asking God to let me be sick instead of my boy.  Laugh if you want, but man I meant it. 

Instead I’m pretty sure I’m just going to be sick with my boy!

Every Christmas eve Kristan and I join her family at their church for their special candlelight service.  For whatever reason I am incapable of getting through this service without looking like a goofball.  A couple of years ago I dropped the communion bread in the cup of juice which I wrote about in my blog, “I dropped the body in the blood“.  Last year was mostly uneventful except for the burning of my fingers with candle-wax. 

This year I strategically avoided getting a candle at the beginning of service and I grabbed a manageable piece of bread…I thought for sure I had covered my bases. 

However, as a parent I am learning that if you can somehow figure out how to avoid looking stupid on your own, your kids will MORE than make up for it.  Right at the front of the sanctuary, in front of 150 people, Nolan lets out a long series of very loud farts! 

Yea, I’m a grown man.  I also have a baby that has no idea how to control that kind of thing.  I however, also went through grade school, and my first instinct is to laugh when I hear someone rip it.  Not exactly the most befitting of responses when standing feet from the communion table. 

So I pointed out to everyone who would listen that it was, in fact, Nolan who delt it.