sporty bean

the bean is rather shy. so we've been doing all sorts of stuff to get her out and about with other kids, like the twice-weekly trips to the library for storytime, gymnastics class, playtime at the park. it takes her a little bit to warm up and get comfy with it all, but she's getting better.

i'd also signed her up with the local parks & rec for a "tiny tots all sorts of sports" class. we had to wait until she was exactly 2.5, and so her session started just this week. with the hub out of town for business yet again, the teen and i took her to her first class here:

as we walked in, the instructor, seated at the check-in table, perked up and said "hi! you must be bean," and handed me a cute little nametag in the shape of a baseball. i must've looked really puzzled, because she added "oh, i know her name because she's the only girl! haha!" aw, damn.

there were a crapload of t-ball stations set up all along one wall. after being told that it was "free play" for the first 5-10 minutes, we headed over to see how the bean would do. i was a bit apprehensive about the whole thing, because she'd picked that day to go all day long without taking a nap, but she got right into it:

i took this for the hub, so he could see the action for himself. and totally off-topic: the iVideoCamera app i bought for my phone has been the best $.99 i've ever spent. seriously, it's so easy - you record, hit "share," and it uploads straight into youtube or flickr or a couple of other sites that i can't remember. if you have an older iPhone like i do and don't want to spend the cash on an upgrade to get the video capabilities, i highly recommend it.


then it was time to gather in the center and do some warm-ups. we started with "airplane arms," twisting and bending with arms straight out like wings, and went into toe touches and stretching. the bean is a cheater and bends her knees, but she'll get it with time.

the whole class got a little closer and put their hands all together for a team cheer. it was cute.

the next activity was running from one end of the gym to the other, weaving around the cones set up along the way. the teen and i took turns taking her down the line.

i could hear a bunch of the dads speaking in low voices to their boys - "come on, you can run faster than that. you need to beat all these other kids! and hit the ball really hard. make sure you smack it as hard as you can." oy vey. they're gonna be those kind of sports parents.

post-its were stuck all along another wall with each kid's name on them. they were instructed to throw a ball at it.

next, they threw the ball through hula hoops. haha, my kid totally throws like a girl.

the kids were divided into teams to play a "game" of baseball. the bean hit the ball with my help, looked around, heard all the shouting and cheering, and cracked. she melted down like a hershey's kiss in the sun, and that was it. she actually hung in there longer than i thought, and participated more than i'd expected.

luckily, class was almost over at that point. she calmed down when she saw the big, colorful parachute unfolded in the center of the gym, and dragged me over to join in the fun.

the kids all scrambled underneath it as we raised it up and let it flutter down on top of their heads. you can see that this was her favorite part...

...until she realized that everyone was getting cool stamps on their hands. she sat quietly and waited her turn and was rewarded with two little baseball mitt stamps.

one more team huddle, and it was over.

and when she turned in her name tag, she got a snack!

look at how quickly that frown turned upside-down once she got a bag of snacks in her hand! she is SO her mother's daughter.