Who's game?

And they're off! It's soccer time again. AJ had his first game Monday night. Of course I'm a biased Mom, but I have to say he did a great job.

The big shock of the evening, and perhaps a sign that the end of the world is near, is that my husband, Mr. Baseball, is... (drum roll please)... now an assistant soccer coach.

Does anyone else hear hoofbeats in the distance? Could the four horsemen of the apocolypse be far behind?

Here's the other big shocker. AJ is whistling in most of the photos I took. Oh wait. That's not surprising at all.

I did manage to capture a shot of AJ's first goal. Yes, he was that far out ahead of all the other kids. He really was hustling.

Alas, it was all for naught. The game once again ended in a tie. (This is the age group that doesn't keep score.) AJ was in tears as his team lined up to smack hands and say "good game" to the other players. He really thought if he tried hard, that his team would win. Hopefully this won't affect his effort level in next week's game.

In his mind, AJ had taken the proverbial one for the team, coming back to play after being injured. I didn't see him go down, but suddenly I saw Jeff lifting a sobbing AJ off the ground. It happened in a mob of kids by the goal. By the time I got to them (no, I'm not that Mom who runs out onto the field.) Jeff had pulled AJ's sock down and was trying to remove his shin guard. AJ was crying "my knee." There was no blood, so Jeff asked AJ if he'd twisted his knee.

"No," AJ wailed. "I got scratched!"

Did I mention there was no blood? This kid needs to toughen up.

Attempting to pull himself together, AJ resolutely announced, still in tears, "I have to go back and help my team."

I counted four goals he scored that evening. Twice he came running across the field to give me a hug. As much as I wanted to tell him that he needed to stay with his team, I'm never going to turn down a hug. I figure there won't be too many years left that he'll be willing to do that.