1. This is waaaaayyyy more fun to watch than tee-ball. 3-on-3 on an 8 ft hoop with a bunch of K/1st graders (who don't really know the rules) is much more exciting to watch. 
2. Kaed's team is good. And they're all nice kids with good parents. Some of the parents include, but are not limited to: Greg Gardner, Bob Johanson, Jon Webb (Coach), Curt Ransom, Chris Ransom. Good kids from good families. It's refreshing. All the kids have somewhat of a clue as to what's going on too. It's like thier mom/dad actually played some bball with them before they joined the team.
3. Kaed is much better than I thought he'd be. It's not that I set the bar real low for him, but he's never played before, we don't have a hoop in the backyard, and all he's ever really done is dribble around the house. Oh, and he's the smallest kid on the team (he still has yet to crack the 40lb barrier - and he can't move Dash, seriously. He might as well be trying to lift a VW when he tries to pick Dash up.) So how were his first games? Awesome. My camera picked a lousy time to have a dead battery, but he scored 5 baskets! 5 shots. 5 freaking shots! And of course the gym erupted (because he easily had the biggest cheering section - 14 people) after every shot. But that wasn't even the best part. The kid can dribble. Both hands. You can't believe what a huge advantage that is at this level. He's aggressive, plays intensely bad defense (but it's getting better) and makes the funniest faces. You'd never know he's the smallest kid on the team - who's never played bball before. I'm very proud of him. (And his dad got him some Jordan III's. Sweet.)
*But on a side note, I've played bball since 4th grade, competatively and less-competatively, and never have I owned some Jordans. Bitter, no... But the Avias, Roos, and Olympics - with the zipper pocket - just seemed, well, nevermind.
4. Dash loves watching him play. He's glued to the games like it's prunes baby food. He yells when we yell, tries to reach for the ball whenever it's near, and cusses at the refs. True story. The kid has a mouth like a sailor - gets it from Leah. In fact, he got so mad at a no-call foul on Kaed that he looked right at the ref and with great vengance and furious anger, pooped his pants.
Take that.
Dash did just bust through his top two teeth a few days ago. Good times. Still bald. He's incredibly close to crawling, still, but I think he's just focusing on eating. He's doing this smacking thing when he eats that's pretty funny. Like, if you give him a big mouthful of sweet potatoes, he sticks his tongue out and smacks his mouth over and over. It's similar to how Murdok drinks water. A lot of sloshing with much of it running down his chin. I think he's real close to saying his first word - "wussat?" When it's quiet and then a noise is made or a door opens he whispers what I believe is "What's that?" But it's more baby-speak and sounds like "w'th't". Ok, he's whispering something that I'm probably reading too much into. I really don't want him to grow up. In fact I hope he doesn't ever grow hair or teeth. I like him just like this.
Another difference between men and women that I won't ever understand: Last night Leah and I were in bed talking (because we get to do that now that Dash is in Kaed's room). She's got one leg draped over my legs, one arm under my head and the other over my chest. Her nose is on my neck and she's wearing a shirt and long-johns. Yes, we're cuddling. In the middle of a conversation she says, "Man you're hot. (like the opposite of cold) You are radiating heat. Will you turn down the thermostat?" This of course drives me nuts and not because I have to get up. I don't mind a little snuggle-time, but I really can't do it for long because I'm a hot sleeper. I typically sleep with one sheet, no comforter. So when she told me I was hot, I already knew that. Not only had she draped the sheets over me, she was being a human blanket, breathing on my neck, in basically a sweat-suit (socks are absolutely prohibited in my bed though - but that's an entirely different story) and I was beginning to sweat. No kidding I was hot... It was kind of sweet that even though she was hot, she still wanted to snuggle - just with the heat lower so she'd be more comfortable, BUT, all I could think about was how hot I was at that moment, and if I turned down the thermostat she'd freeze and cling onto me all night and I'd be 5 lbs lighter in the morning from sweating all night (not all bad) and I'd sleep poorly and why can't she just wash her hair everyday because some of it's in my mouth, and Dash is going to wake up soon and be cold in this room. So no, I didn't turn down the heat. Anyone else go through stuff like that or is it just me? My poor wife.
Here's a picture of the Nordstrom great-grandkids: Helaina, Delaney, Kaed and Dash.
Oh, Leah and I have watched the first 2 seasons of Grey's Anatomy in the last 2 weeks. My estrogen levels are at an all-time high. Thank-you writer's guild strike.
Kaeden Manning. Kaed's inflections on "Peyton" are funny. I said this before but I love his wordings. Most recent mis-pronounced words are: Honda Solo, Obi-Wand, Endo TS (Nintendo DS)
