and they said there's nothing you can do Last night the kids had soccer practice. Kyle and Caia play on different teams but practice at the same field, so that makes it fairly convenient for their parents. But Gina had to work last night, Keri coaches Kyle's team, and "Gram" (my mom) had a previous engagement and couldn't tag along to help out with Ella. I wasn't planning to go, but Keri asked and they have given me lots of coffee over the last few weeks (that's the deal: babysitting for fresh-brewed coffee), so I agreed to go.

Ella started out crying because her dad forgot to bring her blanket (mean man), but she was good once we arrived at the field and saw all the kids. She and I headed for the playground and played on the various climbing contraptions and slides for a while. The playground isn't quite designed for a two-year-old, so it made me nervous when she was somewhere I couldn't reach to catch her if she stumbled (it's hard to be at the bottom and the top of the slide at the same time!).

On one slide (that I later learned Gina doesn't let her go on), Ella got moving before I had a chance to get to the bottom. Next thing I know, I see her flying around a corner (it's a twirly slide) head-first, and all I can do at that point is reach out and grab whatever I can to stop her. I actually managed to bash her pretty good in the head, but she just laughed and cried out, "ADAIN! ("again", in Ella-speak). The same thing happened the second time - I kept expecting her to cry because the way I was catching her (by the face) could not have been very pleasant, but she was in a good mood and didn't mind.

It's like I have kids or something, huh?  | ¶ 2:57 p.m.