A night of firsts

Whenever the topic of baseball and babies came up, Alex's dad was adament that Alex would be five years old when he went to his first baseball game. "Old enough to appreciate it," he said. I think Alex's big brother was five when he accompanied dad to a game for the first time. Five is a nice age - definitely old enough to know it's a special event. I wholeheartedly agreed. How much of the game do you see while simultaneously entertaining a bored toddler, anyway? Not that I see much of a game anyhow...I have a very short attention span at the ballpark. By the fourth inning, I'm ready to go home. Thank goodness for things like beer runs, and expansive outfield sections to walk around. Last year I discovered that if I spend the fifth inning out and about, I can trick myself into believing I'm just starting a new game when I return for the last three innings. But I digress.

At four o'clock Friday afternoon a co-worker stopped by my desk to see if I'd be interested in two tickets to the Giants game that night. Foolishly, I called hubby to see if he wanted them. (Did I think he'd say no? What was I thinking? Obviously I wasn't thinking...) We weren't doing anything else, sure he'd like to go. So he grabbed some finger foods and warm clothes, and he and Alex picked me up at work and we were off. Alex was 19 months old when he attended his first baseball game. Alex was 19 months old when he had his first ballpark frank. (He LOVED it.) Alex lasted exactly one batter beyond the hotdog and was then ready to be out of his seat. Alex and mom did alot of walking around the park. By the third inning, Alex was done with walking around and ready to go home. Mom was ready to go home. Even Dad saw the wisdom of going home. By the time we actually got home, it was an hour past bedtime and Alex was tired tired tired.

Yup, Alex should have been five before he went to his first baseball game....but instead we didn't make it out of the first month of baseball season before making an evening of it at the ball park. You can convince yourself of just about anything (my 19 month old won't act like he's too young to be there) if you try hard enough.

Where's mom?

As you may have already figured out, I am usually the one behind the camera. Couple that with the fact that Alex can't get enough of his dad at the moment and the result is that nearly every picture of Alex these days is him in his dad's arms. I think Dad was feeling a bit guilty about that this morning. During breakfast he appeared with the camera in hand. Here are the stellar results. Hmmm.





Ok, so it isn't always that bad. Here's another one, taken last weekend.


And one where you can actually see Alex too.



And in other news, we've started potty training - check out the big boy pants. We spent a little time on Saturday being diaper free. Don't you love the expression?

"Must you?"

What's in a name?

It's probably time I explained this blog name, given the fact that our dear Alex, who joined his forever family last October, is our fifth child and thus the seventh member of our family....

When we decided to expand our family through international adoption, we jumped in with both feet. We figured if we're in for one, what's one more? So Alex will someday have a mei mei from China. We were logged in last June and are patiently waiting for China to work through the huge number of applications they received at the end of 2005. There are currently 7 months of families ahead of us in this long, slow moving, line. If we're lucky we only have another year to wait. If we're really lucky, I might be able to say we're half way there: 10 months down, 10 more to go.

And that's how this blog got it's name. Alex's mei mei is lucky number 8.

Here's to summer

Happy April! With March behind us and the 2007 baseball season officially underway, winter is officially over. Alex's dad is a big baseball fan. He's good at rooting for the hometown team, where ever we're living at the moment. In the 80's, when we lived in Sioux City, Iowa, he cheered for the Twins and the Cubs, in the 90's when we were in Pennsylvania he followed the Pirates, and in the 00's, here in San Francisco, he's had season tickets with the Giants and attended his share of A's games. But he was born and raised in New England, so the Red Sox will always be his first love (someday I hope to reconcile myself to my second place standing). It's only fitting that one of Alex's first gifts from the New England cousins is a cap that is identical to one his dad has had for decades, right down to the worn brim edge! I think they look pretty darn spiffy together!