After seeing a picture of a fellow Pod member's son (about 2.5 years old) in a picture with a soccer jersey on, posing with his teammates, it made me want to sign Cael up for soccer as soon as he was old enough. I played soccer when I was young, and my mom coached, so why wouldn't I want Cael to play too!? Well, when she told me that they started at 18 months, I was ecstatic. Actually, I was stupid-excited. I signed up Cael up that day. They're 12 week "seasons", meeting once a week for 50 minutes, and it was $150 for the 12 weeks. That includes a jersey and a team photo emailed to you, as well. I was able to sign up just a week before the first practice, so Cael didn't miss anything. And even if we signed up late, the cost would be prorated, which is nice to know.
I really didn't know what to expect, since the kids are so young. From what I read on their website, they do activities to work on cognition, as well as "play" soccer. These activities use cones, parachutes, balls, and various other paraphernalia that I can't remember the names of. I was worried about being able to keep Cael's attention since he's all over the place, and doesn't quite follow instructions yet. Not to mention he has a very short attention span, which is to be expected. But I was very pleased.
They started off with letting the kids play with the soccer balls while they waited for everyone to show up. Then once everyone was there, the Coach had everyone sit in a circle and do some stretches. Of course, Cael doesn't want to sit still, and screamed when we tried to get him to sit down. He wasn't the only one, though. Then we played Red Light, Green Light. That was interesting, because the kids didn't want to stop. So we heard a bunch of whines when the coach had the red circle, and yelled "stop!", and all the parents grabbed their kids to get them to stop. It was funny, actually. Then the coach set up an obstacle course with hula-hoops and some colored, rubber things that look like rocks. The kids had to step on the "plastic rocks" and jump into the hula-hoop, while following the white line on the ground around the goal net. Cael seemed to like that the most, as he loves stepping on the "plastic rocks". Some other activities included bubbles, building cone towers and kicking them over, and kicking rubber bouncy balls around. Then the kids have to help clean up all the balls. Overall, it's a very cute and fun way for Cael to interact and socialize with kids his age, AND start to get into sports. Not to mention he gets to run around and get some energy out. I can't wait to see how next weekend goes.
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| "You're going to do what to my hair!?" |
We had another "big" moment this weekend too. I've finally accepted that the hair on the back of Cael's head was just too long. It was no longer making a cute little whispy curl anymore, and whenever he laid on the back of his head, his hair would get frizzy and just didn't look good anymore. So I took him to the hair place, and finally got him a big boy haircut, and cut off all his long hair. I was ok with it. Cael, on the other hand, was hysterical the whole time! He had to sit on my lap because he kept reaching forward to try to get to me. And even when he sat on my lap, he continued to cry like the lady was torturing him. But in the end, his hair came out pretty good, even though she was trying to rush because of the crying. It was a little choppy above his ears, but it was (I believe) the best she could do with the high-pitched screams.
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| Before and after his "big-boy" haircut! |
After seeing a picture of a fellow Pod member's son (about 2.5 years old) in a picture with a soccer jersey on, posing with his teammates, it made me want to sign Cael up for soccer as soon as he was old enough. I played soccer when I was young, and my mom coached, so why wouldn't I want Cael to play too!? Well, when she told me that they started at 18 months, I was ecstatic. Actually, I was stupid-excited. I signed up Cael up that day. They're 12 week "seasons", meeting once a week for 50 minutes, and it was $150 for the 12 weeks. That includes a jersey and a team photo emailed to you, as well. I was able to sign up just a week before the first practice, so Cael didn't miss anything. And even if we signed up late, the cost would be prorated, which is nice to know. 
They started off with letting the kids play with the soccer balls while they waited for everyone to show up. Then once everyone was there, the Coach had everyone sit in a circle and do some stretches. Of course, Cael doesn't want to sit still, and screamed when we tried to get him to sit down. He wasn't the only one, though. Then we played Red Light, Green Light. That was interesting, because the kids didn't want to stop. So we heard a bunch of whines when the coach had the red circle, and yelled "stop!", and all the parents grabbed their kids to get them to stop. It was funny, actually. Then the coach set up an obstacle course with hula-hoops and some colored, rubber things that look like rocks. The kids had to step on the "plastic rocks" and jump into the hula-hoop, while following the white line on the ground around the goal net. Cael seemed to like that the most, as he loves stepping on the "plastic rocks". Some other activities included bubbles, building cone towers and kicking them over, and kicking rubber bouncy balls around. Then the kids have to help clean up all the balls. Overall, it's a very cute and fun way for Cael to interact and socialize with kids his age, AND start to get into sports. Not to mention he gets to run around and get some energy out. I can't wait to see how next weekend goes. 
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