He did it!

Caleb had been looking forward to the Bobby Curtis Junior State Championships since, well, last year's tournament ended. lol  I kid you not.  He had talked about it regularly throughout the year.  He was really looking forward to playing well and finishing strong, and that he did.

As I mentioned in my last post, he had an early start time on Saturday.  So he left with Patrick while I hung back with the girls.  Havi had a fever throughout the night.  So I wasn't even sure I would be heading over.  But her fever broke.  So we all hopped in the car and made the drive.  

For the 10 and under division, the format was short sets using green dot balls and a modified compass draw, which insures that each player will get 4-5 matches regardless of whether they win or lose. The goal is obviously to continue winning and stay in the main draw (the East).  And that he did!  

He won is first match against a strong, young player from South Florida.  This boy's older brother won the main consolation draw last year. So he knew his little brother would be good, and he was.  The girls and I arrived after the match ended.  So we hung out a bit with my sister and her family and the other players as well.

Caleb's second match was much easier than the first.  He even surprised himself with how easily it took it.  His opponent was as nice as pie.  When they shook hands at the net, he put his arm around Caleb and was genuinely happy for him.  From then on, you could find him watching Caleb's matches and cheering him on.  It was the sweetest.

(And this is what a compass draw format looks like- lots of consolation draws for each round of winners/losers, with the goal to stay East.) 

After two wins in the main draw, it was time for Caleb to play one last match on Day 1, the Quarterfinals.  He knew that this would be a tough match.  His opponent was a very strong green dot player.  Nerves got the best of him, and he dropped the first set.  But he pulled it together in the second and took it handedly.  Then he took that confidence right into the third set tiebreaker and pulled off a win!  I have seen Caleb pretty happy at the net after winning matches, but I have never seen scream with such joy as he did after winning that quarterfinal.  It made my heart swell.  And another tennis dad that we are friends with was several courts over watching his daughter and immediately texted me (he was THAT loud) "Heart always....pulls through".  And it's so true.  Caleb poured every ounce of himself into that match and found a way to come back and win it.  We were so proud of him.

As I mentioned in my last post, that night we headed back to our neck of the woods for Madeline's dance recital.  The next morning, we all drove over to the tournament together.  We had gotten word from another family that Caleb's Semi-final opponent was known for cheating.  And well, Caleb learned that first hand.  Ugh.  I hate cheaters.  Caleb did a good job getting an official after the first bad call.  But unfortunately, the boy made bad calls during both sets on "pressure points" and that took momentum away from Caleb.  He fought hard, and the sets were tight, but he couldn't overcome the bad calls.

The good news is that he still had one match left- a playoff match between both players that lost their Semi-final match.  Caleb, again, had to play a tough, young player from South Florida.  One of the boys he regularly plays with/against in Central Florida, played this boy on Day 1 and gave Caleb some good advice.  Nerves were a bit of a factor, and Caleb found himself down in the first set.  But he clawed his way back and took the first set in a tiebreaker!  He found himself down in the second set also, but he finally managed to wear this boy down and took the second set also.  That last win meant he took third place in the whole tournament (out of 32 players!)

One of Caleb's tennis friends (and his cousin Josh) came over to the tournament desk to watch Caleb receive his trophy, which is glass!

His opponent's dad shook his hand and congratulated him.

These cousins shots crack me up. Josh adores Caleb.

Although you can't see it in the shot below, the tournament desk let Caleb write his name and score for his 3rd/4th place playoff win.  So that is what he's pointing to. We are so proud of him.  He was the only "non-South Florida" player to make it to the Semi-final round. 

After we got home, the kids had some gifts to open.  We got Madeline a little marker maker kit to celebrate her dance recital.

Can you tell who was also a wee bit excited?! lol

Then Caleb opened up his gift- a painting that Bammy did of him playing tennis.  It was promptly hung up in his room near his trophies.  He just loves it.  Thank you, Bammy! 

We are so proud of him.  While he would have loved to play in the finals, he was hoping to at least make it to the semi-finals of the main draw.  Not only did he successfully do that, but he also won the playoff match and took third overall.  The gal who gave him his trophy commented to me that day that she still remembered the first tournament he played at that facility.  She helped to run it.  She told me should couldn't believe how much he has improved since then.  I told her that, at that point, he had only been playing tennis for about 6 weeks.  That's it!  He's made so much progress in his game in less than two years.  That just goes to show you how hard he trains every day.  His determination and work ethic are second to none.

Caleb, we love you and are so proud of you.  Keep aiming high, precious son!

And I would be remiss if I didn't give a shout out to our precious peanut Havi.  Today marks two years since we met her in Taiyuan.  Happy Forever Family Day, Hav!  Love you girl!

How she got there

So I finally managed to borrow Caleb's phone in order to shoot another video of Havi riding her pedal bike. But before I share it, I thought I would include a few photos I snapped of Havi last fall after she just received her balance bike.  I never got around to posting them because I was so busy sharing about our trip to Connecticut.  But I thought now would be a good time to sneak them in...also because (maybe) I haven't picked up my camera lately.  Shame on me.  But thankfully, that's changing soon because we have some special visitors coming next week to help us celebrate another little dumpling's birthday.

Anyway, she had been riding her balance bike about a month when we had this impromtu shoot in the cul-de-sac.  Isn't she just the cutest?

So I looked back on my computer to pull a video or two of her when she first got her balance bike (and thankfully found some.)  It's the Scoot by Ridgeback, and I'm so glad we got it for her.  It's built like a real bike in every way, except it's missing the pedals.  These videos were shot when she first hopped on it.

After riding her balance bike for five months, she was more than ready to move on to a pedal bike.  If I were to take a photo of the bikes side-by-side, you would see why she so easily transitioned to her pedal bike, which is the 12" Hotrock by Specialized.  They both have 12" wheels, highly adjustable seat heights, and wide handle bars with comfortable grips.  Unlike most big box store bikes, the Hotrock's pedals are further in front, allowing a child to easily push on the pedal to gain speed.  Not only that, the frame of the bike is wider and lower to the ground, offering the rider more control.

I have had several people tell me how amazed they are that Havi can ride a pedal bike at the age of 3.  Sure, she's a bright little girl and a fast learner.  But really, the right tools and some practice was all it took.

Still 'lil Hav, we're really proud of you, girl!

Go get 'em!

She pedals!

So last week Havi decided she was going to get all "grown up" on us and start riding a pedal bike.  Yep, you read that right.  It all started when I accidentally tried running over her balance bike because a certain little someone left it right in the middle of the garage, and I couldn't see it when I opened it up and tried pulling in.  The sound of crunching metal made me stop, of course.  So I got out and surveyed the damage: twisted handle bars and back tire/brake.  I managed to fix the tire and brake while Patrick repaired the handle bars all before we left for camping.  Thank you Jesus.  

But it got me thinking...if I couldn't fix the bike, I surely wasn't going to replace it with another balance bike.  I determined that she would just have to learn how to ride Madeline's old pedal bike.  Well, while we were camping, there were a handful of little pedal bikes with training wheels on them because of all the munchkins on our camping trip. And so I decided to put Havi on one of them to see how she liked pedaling.  Well, it was clear she enjoyed it. So when we got home from our trip, I decided to take Madeline's little pedal bike to the shop to get air put in the tires and let Havi have a go at it.  Needless to say, she took off!  Little girl knew exactly what to do.  In actuality, she probably could've started riding it sooner. She has shown so much control on her balance bike.  But maybe I was secretly hoping to get some longevity out of the bike since it wasn't the cheapest on the market.  Who knows?!   lol

Anyway, the other night I snapped a few photos of the kids playing tennis in the driveway as I was getting ready to take some photos of Havi riding her bike.  But then I ended up talking to a neighbor and didn't take any more photos before the sun set.  Oh well.

And here's a video Caleb took of Havi right after she learned how to ride her pedal bike last week.  I really need to have him get a few more videos because now she cruises up and down the street with some serious speed.

We are just so proud of her.  

And now she can keep up with all the bigger kids on the street.  She may be the youngest and smallest, but she won't be left out!

And she's off!

So this precious little peanut of ours finally got her highly anticipated bike!  Her Baba couldn't come home from work fast enough to put it together because I was having a hard time finding all the necessary tools.  After assembling the bike, this little girl insisted he install her bike light...you know, because her brother and sister both have bike lights.  So little Miss has to have one too.  Once her light was on, she was off!

She amazes me, though not really.  She transitioned easily from her little pre-balance bike to pushing Madeline's old pedal bike.  That bit surprised me because it was quite a jump from a toy to a bike.  Even though she only pushed/walked it for a week, she stayed balanced all the time, never once falling or losing control of the bike.  When she finally got her real balance bike on Monday, she just took off!  Now that the seat is at a comfortable height, she can really run.  And boy, does she run!  I can't even keep up with her.  I have to follow her at a distance and cut corners just so I'm not so far way as she rides.  And as you can see from one of the photos above, when she has enough speed, she lifts her feet and coasts.  I will have to upload a few videos I captured on my iPhone.  She's just to funny.

Seeing her so happy these last two days just does my heart good.  She loves keeping up with Caleb and Madeline now when they're either riding their bikes or scooters.  She feels like such a big kid.  Her bike riding is most definitely the talk of the block.  She might be the youngest kid on the block, but she certainly won't be left out!  You can be sure that her bike riding adventures has only just begun!

P.S.- Her new bike is the 12" Scoot by Ridgeback (in pink, obviously).

Long overdue tennis wrap up

I was meaning to share a tennis update at the end of May, but with Bammy's visit and then Madeline's recital earlier this month, I never got around to it.  So here it goes.  

May...

He played 10s green dot in a USTA Super Series with/against his buddy Charlie.  He took third for singles and first for doubles with Charlie has his partner.  Charlie won for singles.  The boys had such a good time playing doubles together.

Caleb also played in a local Grand Prix 11 and up yellow ball.

Madeline helped hand out awards.

He just missed second place by one point, behind his friend Nathan.  Then he came home after playing for over two hours and hit the ball some more against the house.

June...

The first weekend in June, Caleb played in the USTA Bobby Curtis Junior State Championships.  This is the highest level tournament for 10 and under in Florida.  Most of the kids playing have been doing so for years.  A lot of them play up in the 12s during the year but play down in their natural age division for the state championship.  The only thing we expected Caleb to do was to get out there and have fun and play hard.  And that he did.

He saw his buddy Charlie (they could've passed for doubles partners in their matching colored tennis attire.)

Caleb played so well.  He won one match and lost three, two of which were in come-from-behind-third set tiebreakers.  We're so proud of his mental toughness.  He really enjoyed himself at the tournament and even commented to me recently that he was bummed he had only one more chance to play in the 10s state championships next year.

This past weekend we headed back to the same tennis complex for another USTA 10 and under green dot Super Series. He saw his buddy Charlie, who again took first.  Caleb was awarded third place.  Both Charlie and Caleb had to get an official for the questionable line calling by another player whose name will remain anonymous.  Not cool.  At all.

But the biggest highlight of the day (apart from seeing my sister and her family) was learning that Caleb had been presented the State Championship Sportsmanship Award for boys 10s!!!!!!  This is an award that was voted on by fellow players, officials, parents, and spectators at the State Championships earlier this month. He was presented a nice plaque (that I still have to get a photograph of) and given a lot of praise by the tournament staff.  He had his whole entourage beaming with pride.  

I'm telling ya, tennis isn't just great exercise.  It's a wonderful opportunity to build character.  Caleb is naturally a bit shy, but he's learned he needs to stand up for himself and get an official when he believes his opponent is making questionable calls.  (He actually had to do that in the state championships also.)  We're proud of him for sticking up for himself. We're proud of him for maintaining his composure in tough situations.  We're proud of him for complementing his opponents on their nice shots.  Apparently we're not the only ones who think he's attitude is remarkable.  This Sportsmanship Award is hands down his greatest accomplishment to date, far greater than any winner trophy he might have earned so far.  

We love you, Caleb, and are so proud of you.  

We can't wait to see what your future has in store for you!