Dylan's new adventure

Dylan recently finished his first year of soccer. He LOVED it! He was a bit timid at first. He wasn't sure he'd be able to do it. After his very first practice, though, he looked at me, eyes shining and said, "I can do it!" He was so proud of himself and finally realized that he really is a big boy now. Practices were so much fun for him.

The day of his first game, we drove over to the school, and he completely freaked out. He didn't want to play at the school in front of all those people. He wanted his first game to be at the park where he practiced with only our parents. He flat refused to play in the game. Afterwards he said he didn't want all those people to see him. Way too scary! I told him that all those mommies and daddies weren't there to watch him play, they were there to see their own little boy or little girl play. Once Dylan determined that no one was going to see him play, he willingly walked onto the field for game 2. When he wasn't chasing the ball, he was jumping up and down because he was so excited to be playing. It was down right adorable.

Dylan had a fantastic season. As the weeks flew by, Dylan blossomed and naturally gravitated towards defense. That was kind of a shocker because he started the season out strong on offense. He was an awesome defender charging at anyone who came near him and the goal. It didn't matter how big the player was, Dylan only saw the ball and made sure it was going the opposite direction when he was done. I've never seen Dylan happier.

The Saturday before Thanksgiving was the last game of the season. Dylan was quite upset he wasn't going to be playing soccer anymore. He got over it as soon as we reminded him that he would get a trophy at the team party. That snapped him right out of his funk. He spent the whole party running around the pizza place with all his little friends. So many kids were calling his name, I couldn't help being happy for him. He's changed a lot since this summer. Not all of it has to do with his soccer experience, although it did play a big part.