On the recommendation of a coworker of Dan’s, we took the boys to a soccer gathering this morning.  It was a set of games, plus registration for the fall soccer season.  It was our first experience with organized sports for little kids, and we had fun, although our boys were too little to participate (it’s for 4 and over).

Benjamin kicked some soccer balls around with Dan, and then with me.  We tried to get him to play with the other “too little” kids that were running around, but he was feeling shy.  Liam crawled around on our picnic blanket and played with a little boy who is 5 days younger than he is — it was really funny to see how exactly alike they are, developmentally (although Mateo has more teeth — and likes to bite!).

The soccer lessons/games are conducted in English, so nearly everyone there spoke English very well (and many, if not most, seemed to be English speaking expatriates).  A good time was had by all — it’s beautiful here in Vienna right now, and it was a nice way to spend a Saturday morning.

I was watching all of the kids play soccer and play with each other, and I’m amazed that some of them are less than a year older than Benjamin.  Soon, that will be my little boy, out on the field, playing with the other kids, not needing my help or my direct supervision.  This all happens so fast — from cooing infants to giggling crawlers to growling toddlers to screaming runners to very grown up soccer players, all in a few short years.  I got to have a little peek into what we have in the years ahead of us, and it looks very fun, but very, very different than what we have now.