movin' up in the world

The world of neighborhood foursquare, that is.

Sawyer had a proud morning today... he was granted his very own square in the morning ritual of bus stop foursquare.














He's been out there for nine months "playing" with the big boys (a kindergartner, a third grader and two fifth graders). One of the older boys (or a dad) usually takes pity on him him under their wing and lets him play in their square. But really, that doesn't make for much participation for Sawyer... sometimes they'd let him serve or send a starting bounce gently his way, but mostly they just let him think he was playing. Which is probably fine for most three-year-olds.














But these morning foursquare games before the school bus comes are something Sawyer looks forward to constantly. He loves "playing" with his bigger "friends". And it is really nice they let him play along.
So Sawyer's been practicing in the driveway with us... only I was beginning to think it's just that foursquare isn't really a preschool sport. At least when a preschooler is playing with people twice his size or more! He can hit the ball surprisingly well... think about how hard that little arm has to hit to stop and return the momentum of a playground ball sailing by! But he's been working on it, perfecting his punch. The problem is his little body can't cover the square very well and it's hard for him to hit it after just one bounce because usually it's too tall for him.

Well today he proved everyone wrong.














They let him hold a spot for someone and not only was he able to return the ball when it was tossed to him, but he got someone out. I think they were underestimating him :)














He even got Big M, the usual Ace of the foursquare court, out on a great sneaker shot.




























Sawyer had his share of ins and outs, but at one point worked his way up the squares all the way to the server spot!!! (of course I didn't think to grab the camera until after that part!*)














Obviously, the boys were going easy on him, but I was quite impressed. And proud!
And smiled to myself every time they were taken by surprise (again with the underestimating) and my little boy held his own out there!














*Yes, I took pictures. How long do you think I'll get away with that before Sawyer tells me to knock off the embarrassing paparazzi mimicking while he's hangin' with his friends??