Hoopin' it up

Greta loves all round objects, and they're all "balls." She has an entire plastic bin full of balls of various sizes, in fact. Everything from small, super-bouncy balls garnered from a gumball machine to a fabric-encased "Hug & Learn Globe" that sings when you push on a continent. Those are all well and good, but it's important that she also appreciate the real purpose of "balls" -- that is, the primary objects of all sports. We've covered soccer already and she's quite a little kicker, right and left feet. Now she's getting into basketball. Sunday we played at a local court about a mile from our house. She can't throw the ball very high yet, but she seems to understand the goal -- to get it in the hoop. When I made one, she would exclaim, "Yay!" She says the same thing when she successfully climbs into her high-chair or "bumps" herself to the bottom of the stairs. But I'll take it. Next up: a screening of "The Hick from French Lick," a biopic about Larry Bird.