Will and his Guys

Ever since Will was a baby, he would get one thing in his head, grab onto it, and hold tight. The first indication I had of this was shortly after he came home. He was cruising like a champ at 11 months but had yet to take his first independent steps. He quickly discovered if he held on to this push toy that we had and pushed it sideways on the linoleum floor, there was enough friction for it to move at a good pace for him. He would spend an hour at a time in our kitchen just pushing his toy around. You couldn't convince him to do anything else and if you physically removed him from his push toy, life got ugly. He learned to walk and eventually abandoned his push toy. Little did I know that all the activities he tried were just in hopes to find his next obsession.

It is really no surprise at this point what that obsession it.

Football.

We are working at bringing this kid up right so of course he is well aware that the best team in all of football history is the Steelers. (Yes, I did watch them this season but I am also trying to put that out of my mind.) Everything in Will's world can be reduced to football. We often find ourselves saying things like, "The Steelers eat their vegetables," or "The Steelers use big boy voices to ask for things."

There is really not much in Will's world that doesn't involve football. I assure you, this is his doing. If you give the kid some crayons to draw a picture, he turns them into football players and starts making them tackle each other. Sometimes when he has no toys at all in his hands, his hands begin to tackle each other. Our entire house is actually filled with invisible defensive men who will randomly tackle Will and make him come crashing and rolling onto the floor at any given time, usually without notice. With my very own eyes I have seen Will get tackled by the couch.

It is nice to see that he has something that he clearly enjoys so much. Other times it is frustrating. The whole family will sit down for a mean game of Candyland and Will decides he doesn't want to play because he wants to play with his "guys". Often times no amount of subtle suggestion or near coercion will convince him to try any activity that is not somehow football related. We just hear, "I'm gonna get my guys."

He has several sets of "guys". Most of the time he plays with his "baby Steelers" which is an old electric football game that Greg has. He sets up all his "guys" and then usually yells something about tackling and all his "guys" end up in a pile. Repeat. Over and over and over again. For hours.

"Baby Steelers" are definitely great for playing football, but Will does not discriminate. Football is a game for everyone - race car drivers, construction workers, and even Diego can all play the game. And just one more set of Will's guys line up to show exactly how it is done.


Tackle!


Touchdown!