Youngest & Oldest

My youngest child is a character.  I think her personality comes from a lot of different places but wherever it comes from it makes me laugh most of the time.  It also helps that her vocabulary is rather large.

Grandma Cheryl, Larissa, and I had some errands to run.  As usual Larissa had packed her own purse for running errands.  This means her purse if full of little toys that she uses to entertain herself for when Grandma and I take too long to shop, get stuck in traffic, or are at a doctors office.  Grandma and I were in the front seat of the car visiting and Larissa was happily playing in the back seat when Grandma came around a blind turn and saw, last minute, that the light was red.  Grandma had to stop on the brakes abruptly making for a less than gentle stop.  I didn't think anything of it but Larissa sure did!  Out of the back seat we hear this, "GRANDMA, you need to do BETTER braking!!!"

All Grandma and I could do was look at each other and try not to laugh.

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My oldest child is growing and changing way too fast.  It is amazing as a parent to sit and watch your children grow, mature, and succeed in life.  I have learned that watching your kids get older is just as exciting and rewarding if not more so than when they were babies and said their first word or took their first steps.

Hannah found something she loved to do back in 2007 and has stuck with it and continually progressed ever since, it is softball.  It is Hannah's personality to give something her all until she masters it, she can almost be a perfectionist to a fault... a trait she inherited from my side of the family as well as her dad's side of the family.

When Hannah started with softball she had a knack for playing defense.  For whatever reason what she was taught about playing defense she absorbed easily and was able to do it well.  Her hitting though has been a struggle for her and real frustration.  Dad and I have tried just about every trick in the book for helping her to get better with her offensive game.  We did hitting lessons, one on one time with dad, bribes from Dad & Poppy, softball clinics, and even superstitions like wearing ribbons or not wearing ribbons in her hair.  Hannah was frustrated and because she was visibly frustrated so were we.  Everyone but Hannah knew though that it eventually it would just click one day for her.

This summer she went to a softball clinic at one of the high schools here and whether the coach was just that amazing or if it just finally soaked in, Hannah started hitting better.  She even hit a home run in June which earned her a lobster dinner from Poppy.  Throughout the rest of the summer her hitting slowly got better/more consistent.  Hannah and Dad have continued to work out some kinks with her hitting and the last couple of tournaments she has played in she has done phenomenal... so well in fact that she hit a GRAND SLAM this weekend!!!  That grand slam earned her a trip to Chama Gaucha, thanks to a deal from Poppy.

I hope the last few months has given her the confidence she needs.