Spring Training

After a long afternoon nap, Daddy and I spent the remainder of the day playing with Payton.  Payton's second favorite thing (second to balls) is outside.  He clearly says outside, it is often the first word of the day for him, and he always wants to go outside.  This was the first time it had been nice enough to spend a lot of time outside at our house with him since he has really started walking.  We set up one of his small basketball goals and his T-ball set in the driveway.  The basketball set was a big hit - one of his indoor basketball goal plays music that sounds like "do du do du do."  Grandpa taught Payton to make this same noise.  Now, as he played with the outdoor goal and scored he would "sing" "do du do du."  A little hard to explain in writing....but it is cute!

Holly gave Payton this T-ball set for his birthday.  Daddy quickly put it together and started showing Payton what to do with the bat and ball.  Of course, Chad attempted to teach him to bat left handed!  The bat is a little big for him right now but he LOVED his Daddy helping him swing the bat and hit the ball.  

Once they would hit the ball Payton would laugh so hard!

After batting practice Mommy and Daddy showed Payton how to hit, catch and throw.  We were playing with the ball in the grass.  Payton would walk along side the edge of the grass on the concrete.  He was still a little unsure of walking on the grass.  

Bailey had fun playing with us too!  We have to teach Bailey not to mess with Payton's balls.  It is a little tricky to teach a dog which ball is OK to play with and which one is not.  So far, she has only had one mistake!

After playing outside for nearly 30 minutes Payton was comfortable enough to venture into the grass alone!  The plant you can see is a sago palm - Payton attempted to play peek-a-boo using one of the branches.  His smile was so precious as he peeked at me from behind the large palm.

After playing outside, we loaded Payton into his wagon and went for a walk in the neighborhood.  We were almost home - Chad was running up ahead with Bailey, I was pulling Payton - and I spotted a new neighborhood pet.....

....a lovely 4 - 5 ft alligator!  Such a pleasant surprise when you're walking with your child and dog!