Our little Kylie is experiencing her first cold. She’s taking it pretty well, considering that she’s not quite two and a half months old yet. But she was just getting used to her body, and now it’s turned on her. That has to be a little disconcerting.

Anyway, because of sick baby in house, Tammy asked me to bring D.J. home from basketball practice tonight. I met them there and then stayed to watch. It lasted an hour, about half of it with the coach trying to get the attention of a dozen six-year-olds and the rest with balls bouncing everywhere and kids chasing them.

They tried a scrimmage, but nobody could remember which team they were on, so they mostly just tried to grab the ball and run away from each other. Every so often someone would take a shot. I think the little boy with the Laker jersey actually hit the rim once.

There are two girls on the team, and the boys have to be reminded that it’s okay to pass to them, too. The coaches tried to explain some of the fine points of the game, such as trying to keep the ball away from the other team. Some were a little more receptive to the concept of offense and defense, guards and forwards, than others. D.J. was one of the others, although he did fairly well on defense. On offense? He needs a little work on his dribbling. He needs to be reminded to do it, for one thing.

Only one kid had anything resembling a regulation uniform. Most of them wore shirts and shorts. Some of the shirts went down to their knees, but that was okay because their shorts went down to their ankles. In a fashion sense, they looked just about ready for the NBA, where they like to show as little leg as possible.

Anyway, it was fun for them and fun for me. Even the coach seemed to be having a good time, despite the fact that he had to ask repeatedly for some of his players to stand still. One of them (who shall remain nameless (and initialless)) had to be reminded not to lie on the floor under the basket. I don’t see this team contending for a championship soon, but then I haven’t seen the other teams practice, so who knows?

When I got D.J. home, Aiden was helping David feed Kylie. Dakota recited his address and phone number for me. Before I left Kylie had a bath (oh, she did not like that much) and Aiden got into his pajamas. I asked him for a hug and he ran over and wrapped his arms around me and said, “Bye bye.” Then he backed off, ran around in a circle, and gave me another flying hug. I had to remind him that “bye bye” doesn’t mean as much if he doesn’t let me leave. As I walked out the door, he was pulling video tapes off the shelf and handing them to me. Lovely parting gifts, I suppose.