Baseball Season

Not only have the new seasons for the St. Louis Cardinals and Memphis Redbirds begun, but so too has the new season for the Arlington Astros. This is Drew's T-ball team. So far he has had several practices over the last few weeks. I have been helping out the coach with a couple of the other dads. This was until last week when I actually led practice because the coach was out of town. I was exhausted afterwards, but it was a lot of fun and Drew loved it. I think I would do better as a head coach when the kids are a little older and already know the rules and fundamentals of the game though. Unfortunately, the Arlington Astros are orange, which does not go over well at our house. At least it is a little bit darker than the awful UT version.

We have a had a really busy week. I have started back in the NICU, which is at The Med, pretty much the only rotation we do over there. It is a lot different being over there as an upper level resident rather than an intern. There is a lot more responsibility and we typically have the sicker patients. It really hit me last Monday, which was my first day back, when I also happened to be on call, and the fellow went to lay down for a nap. Suddenly I realized that I was the senior doctor in the room and anything significant going on for over 50 patients would go through me. Luckily the fellow is only a call away and there are excellent experienced nurse practitioners available most of the time also. I am not a fan of having to go back down to the delivery room. There is just a certain stench that is hard to forget. It's just not the same when it is not your own child that is the one being born. Plus, it's terrifying at times. You never know what is going to happen. You just pray to hear that baby cry. This has been a month I have really been dreading, but it has not really been that bad so far.

So, I was on call Monday night, came home for a nap when I got off on Tuesday, then went to a dinner at Folk's Folly on Tuesday night for a seminar from a company that essentially places and employees doctors. It was not only informative, but I had a delicious filet and won the door prize- an iPod shuffle! The only downside was not being able to take Drew to karate. We made up for it Wednesday with a nice quiet day at home playing outside though.

Thursday we went to Opening Night at AutoZone Park to see the Redbirds. It was UT night so we had all you can eat Rendezvous BBQ and chicken nachos! We went with Brad and Sarah and had a great time. As you can see below Allie wasn't so sure at first, but then she kind of warmed up to everything. Drew got to meet Rocky, but his favorite part was watching the opposing pitchers warm up in the bullpen later in the game. When we are playing he would much rather throw to me than bat himself. All of this to say that I am hoping that this means that he will be a pitcher when he gets a little older. I loved to pitch and wish I could still be doing it now. I think that is one of the things I miss most from childhood. There is nothing else like it in sports in my opinion, just you against the hitter with the whole team on your back. If only I could convert Drew over to a lefty.

I was on call again Friday, which meant I was post call on Saturday. However, this means that I still have to round Saturday morning, not that I get to go home. Only after 30 hours total do I get to go home. That also means that I was still at work during Opening Day for the Arlington T-Ball League. Fortunately, I only missed a parade and some people talking, as only two teams were picked to play and Drew's team was not one of them, so I didn't miss his first game. I did still miss getting to see him wear his uniform for the first time and how cute he was holding up his team sign during the parade.

Saturday night after I had a nice nap we went back down to AutoZone Park to see the Redbirds again, this time with some of my friends from work. Drew was amazing. He has such a big and outgoing personality. He had an absolute blast with the other residents there. I told them that if he didn't look just like me I would seriously doubt that he was my child. He was dancing, singing, and cheering like no one was watching him. I wish I could be like that. As I said a couple weeks ago, he is already cooler than me anyways. The big draw Saturday night was that Fredbird, mascot of the parent club, the Cardinals, was there. Drew got a big kick out seeing him and they all happened to come right by us and Drew got to see them and get high fives. It was also a fireworks night and they were excellent as usual.

Today we had a nice relaxed day at my parents house with my mom since it had been a while since I had seen her. It looks like we may be headed back down to the ballpark again Monday night. Drew has his first game Wednesday night and I am so excited that my schedule works out so that I will be there to see it. I'm sure there will be plenty of pictures and a post soon afterwards.