Jake's Minor League Season

Jake just finshed up his first season of kid pitch (AA here). It was such a season of transitions in so many ways, it hard to kind of sum it up into a nice wrap up post, but I'm going to give it a shot. Jake loves baseball so much and has always enjoyed playing it. He has always picked it up naturally, and although we play/workout a lot with Tanner just goofing around, I don't really teach him a lot. My own experience is limited and I am more concerned about him finding his own way and just helping here and there as he asks. The way I figure it if you watch any given baseball team of 25 guys there are 25 different ways to hit and 25 different ways to throw. So if he's comfortable and his coaches don't need to change anything, I don't need to either.

Jake went into this season a little aprehensive about kid pitch. He didn't really think he wanted to pitch and was concerned about getting hit by a pitch. He quickly got over his fear of being hit, after he got hit in the first game and realized it hurts but only for a minute or two. Some of the kids on his team never got over it and were stepping outside the box all year before they swung.

He also quickly realized he liked pitching. He started the season wanting to play catcher, but when his coach realized he was one of the few kids on the team who could field, throw and catch on a regular basis, he moved him to other positions. His coach explained to him that eventhough he wanted to catch, he could do more to help the team if he played some of the more critical positions. Jake moved and had a great attitude about it. He played shortstop and 2nd base at the start of the season and then moved to pitcher and 1st mid way thru the year. He did great at all of them, making a bunch of infield plays and pitching really well.

He hurt his arm midway thru the season and had to miss four weeks. I was really proud of the way he hung in there. He dressed and went to every game. He coached 1st base, managed the bench and kept the lineup for his coach. He cheered for his team and was really upbeat about it for the most part. I was even more proud by how much of a team player he was when he came back.

His team was playing the Padres (they eventually went to the championship game) for playoff seeding one of the

last games of the season. He got cleared to play by the Doctor right before the game and showed up and played first base and pitched. He realized in his first at bat, that he couldn't swing the bat without his shoulder hurting, but stood in there and did his best for the entire game. Before the next game he asked me to teach him to bunt, which I did and he laid one down in the first round of the playoffs, beating it out for a single (and because this is kid pitch, a double on the subsequent throwing error).

His team lost to the same Padres team in the semi final game. Jake pitched two shutout innings and made two outs in the field, but they just weren't hitting and ended up losing. We're going to watch the championship game on Tuesday with some of the boys from the team.

The kids were great. The parents not so much. I assistant coached all year with a friend of mine as the head coach since I was coaching TBall as well. It was the first year for most of the boys where scores and standing were kept, and the league was very clear that this was competitive baseball and that the objective was to win games. We were very clear about that with the parent group, but still played everyone everywhere all season long. Whoever wanted to pitch, pitched and everyone played where they wanted to. We finished the season at 7-4. Before the year end tournament, which was a single game elmination, we sent out an email say that we were going to play the best players where they could do the most good and would rotate everyone else in the other positions. That got us through the 1st innning before a couple of the dads starting yelling at us from the stands about playing time. I ended up talking to both of them during and after the game several times and got it straightend out, but man, I get where the Little League Dad stereotype comes from.

We also had a WWIII level

confrontation about "everyone gets a trophy" which I thought we killed for awhile, but rose back up the day before the last game and once again, "everyone got a trophy" for 4th place. Jeez.

Next year Jake will try out for AAA and hopefully will play up if he is chosen and a lot of those issues will hopefully go away. The kids that move up, want to play, want to win and concentrate on the game (unlike at this level for a lot of them). The kids that don't won't play AAA, so hopefully it was just a perfect storm kind of year. I don't know that I'm willing to coach the same group of kids (and parents) again.

Click here for Jake's 2011 season highlight video. I made it just for fun (and submission to the Notre Dame Athletic Department eventually)...whatever....I'm a proud Dad. Sue me.

Big Man on Campus

Tanner has all of the sudden grown up before our eyes. It of course was a slow process, but it kind of took Marisa and I by surprise lately. He has really grown into himself over the course of his pre-k year. We were concerned last year as he was very quiet and shy, hiding when friends came over, not speaking up in groups and not really playing with other boys in pre-school. That all changed this year.

He is now very confident, shares in class and has really blossomed in school. He still has a shy streak that comes out every once in a while, but has a group of best buddies at school and a best friend (Evan) that he plays with all of the time. He had a great baseball season (I'll share more about that later) and got along really well with all his friends on the team.

To top all that change off, he graduated from pre-school the other night and is now a full fleged kindergartener. We can't believe that he will be going to school with Jake in the fall. He is so excited for this transition though. He will be in all day kindergarten, with Jake's same kindergarten teacher, Ms. Schubert. They made a field trip to the big school last week and Tanner got to go to PE with Mr. Perotto and meet Ms. Schubert, he wore his kindergarten shirt and is very proud of himself.

Just to top it off, he went into his "too

big" bin this morning and got out some jeans and shoes that Jake just grew out of and insisted on wearing them to his pizza party today for his last day of pre-school.

Next year it's just Faith at the little red school house next door, then she's off too. While that does mean that we will be getting almost an entire mortgage payment back each month in childcare expenses, it does make me a little misty watching the days go by so fast.

Jackson Goes to Boot Camp

We''ve been realizing over the last few weeks that in dealing with Jake's issues our "fourth child" has gotten a little out of control. Jackson is a puppy but I think we were in denial that Jackson is actually not a good puppy. He jumps on people. He barks. He nips at kids in the house. He runs into the street. He bugs you incessantly with the ball. He thinks he is a lap dog and doesn't take "no" for an answer. He chews the kids toys. He even ate a pizza off our kitchen counter. No, Jackson is not a "good puppy".

Now that things have calmed down some in the Alan household we decided that something must be done. Enter the "Sit Means Sit" people. They came for an hour last night to meet Jackson and give us some options for training. They ended up taking our boy away in the "paddy wagon". We decided to bite the bullet and pay for the training camp. 10 days of training at the owner's house, then four follow up lessons in our home with lifetime follow up as needed. It's an investment for sure (mom actually gasped at the price) but we figure if we are going to have a dog for the long haul (possibly until Jake leaves home) we want it to be one that is well behaved and one that adds fun and love to our household not more chaos. So, Jackson is at bootcamp. We will be getting videos of his progress every day or two from the owner and trainers.

The house feels empty today but we hope that when Jackson returns we will be able to have guests over without fear of embarrassment. We hope the kids will once again be able to play outside on the swings and with their balls in peace. We hope that we will be able to have Jackson out front with us to enjoy the summer weather. So, good luck to our puppy. Sorry for the tough love, Buddy, but it's for your own good!

PS. As the person who formats and posts this to the blog, I have ad hoc final editorial say, and would like to rebutt. Jackson is a good puppy, it just that he's just a puppy and a puppy with no training to boot. I spent a lot of money to get Milo trained as well for the same reasons (I didn't have time) and it still ranks as some of the best money I have ever spent. Unlike Marisa I have bonded with Jax and miss him and will be happy when he comes home.

Mothers' Day

It has been way too long since I have posted- and it is certainly not because life has been too dull to write about! Spring is sort of here: It was 84 on Friday and snowed on Monday. Very odd weather but I have been able to have the top down on the car several times and finally put away my winter clothes and swapped them out for my shorts and tank tops.

Auntie Sue and Grandma Mary came to visit a few weeks ago so they could watch the boys play baseball/tball. It was a great visit and my only complaint is that it was TOO SHORT. The kids and I picked them up on Saturday afternoon and the rest of the day was consumed with Old Maid and Crazy 8's. Sunday was Mother's Day and it was such a treat to not only have my mom here, but also my MIL and Aunt-in-Law. I was spoiled rotten by the kids- they were so excited by allthe cards and gifts they had made for me, as well as the gifts they picked out (several good books and a new pair of summer jammies ). We had doughnuts for breakfast and had a lazy day at home- which for me included an afternoon nap and reading time. The big event of the day was our dinner at Sakura- a place very similar to Benihana. We took all three "moms" there and all the kids. We shared a big table and the kids were fascinated by the chef. He was great. He juggled knives and caught eggs and salt and pepper shakers in his hat. He cut up an onion and made it into a volcano. He cut up shrimp and tossed it in the air to us each one by one so we could try to catch it. It was a really fun night. Then it was time for some Mother's Day Dessert (My new favorite: Dairy Queen ice cream cake).

The kids had ball games both Monday and Tuesday night so we headed down to those. Unfortunately Jake couldn't play in his game due to his injured shoulder, but we went and supported the team anyway. Tanner loved playing for his audience. He beamed each time he got the ball or got a hit. He really loves the game and it is so fun to see his eyes light up when he plays. It was actually a great game with lots of action. Brian was also really glad that his mom and aunt could see him in the coaching role that he loves so much.

We had lots of good talks while they were here and Jake was on best behavior. Actually, speaking of Jake, he has been doing so much better in the last two weeks overall. Things got worse (way worse) unfortunately before they got better but now we are definitely on the track to peace in our home and sleep at night. Anxiety stinks and I feel badly that he has it on both sides of the family and that it will probably be something he deals with on some level for his whole life. But luckily there are medications to help with anxiety and since he has started taking the right dose he is like another kid (well, he's still my same sweet boy, but without the crazy fears and out-of-control fits!). It was not a decision we made lightly and we are of course combining the meds with therapy but I think judging from the progress we have seen that it was the right decision. A huge thank you to those that offered me advice, a listening ear, and comforting emails during the last few months. It has not been easy.

Tanner has his last two games of Tball and preschool graduation next week. Jake has his school carnival, baseball playoffs, and his last day of school coming up. Brian and I have a night away (thanks, Mom!), several business trips coming up, as well as lots of fun boating, camping, and vacations planned.