The Love of the Game

Hey guys, Josh here with a post for the first time in a looong time, because Libby has been hogging the blog lately. In fact, I think I'll start calling her the Blog Hog. I'll probably pay for that later.

Today, Libby had a job interview at North Hills Hospital in North Richland Hills. It's about 20 to 25 minutes from our apartment, and Noah and I decided to go along for the ride. There is a nice mall right by the hospital, so we ended up going there while Libby interviewed.

Anyone who knows Noah knows that he's an easy-going baby. But don't let his laid-back ways deceive you; Noah has some quick little hands on him. In fact, I'd say they're pretty darn quick for a baby. We entered the mall through Dillards, and before we could get halfway across the store, we'd almost pulled down 2 clothing racks. Noah would grab clothing tags as we were walking by and hold on for dear life as I unknowingly walked on.

Terrified that my 9 month old might get busted for shoplifting a $350 handbag, I got out of Dillards as fast as I could and stuck to the main walkway outside the stores. I was too scared to go in any store because of Noah's sticky fingers and also because of my clumsiness with the stroller. So we made our way around the mall, prisoners to our walkway.

Then I saw it. Dick's Sporting Goods.

Sure, I knew there were plenty of things for Noah to grab a hold of in there. Sure I knew I might accidentally bowl over a rack of hockey sticks with the stroller. But both of us were drawn in like moths to a bug-zapper. Noah even started lunging forward in his stroller as we drew nearer to the store.

Thankfully, we made it safely to the back of the store where the basketballs were kept. We found a bin of mini-basketballs, and I decided it was as good a time as any to introduce Noah to my favorite sport. We passed the ball back and forth, or more correctly, I placed the ball in his lap and picked it up a couple of seconds later, making all kinds of sound effects as we went along. Noah loved our little game! We played for about 10 minutes, both of us grinning and laughing the entire time.

Then, it was time to leave. And, though I considered buying the basketball and bringing it home, it was way overpriced, so I took the ball from Noah's lap one last time, and making my most dramatic and outrageous sound effect yet, I dunked the ball back into the bin. We started to head for the exit, and this is the look I got from Noah:

Noah has been giving us those wicked little looks for the past week or so when he doesn't get his way.

From what I hear, these tantrums won't go away anytime soon, but never has a temper tantrum so warmed my heart. Noah loves basktetball. Or at least he did for 10 minutes. Combine that with the fact that Noah absolutely loved jumping in the bouncer when he was younger, and I think I have something to build on. Maybe I'm the father of the next LeBron James. Maybe I should have named him LeNoah to give him a head start. All I know is Noah loves basketball, and I'm thrilled.

Of course, Noah also loves chewing on Einstein's dog bones. So, maybe I shouldn't get my hopes up just yet.

--Josh