Hunter, June 2012

He thinks REALLY highly of himself. As I'm moving a huge rock, he confidently asks, "Do you want me to take care of that for you, mom? He tells Dad, "You are not a wii master, I am." He has no concept of appropriate volume, but I can't blame him... I didn't figure it out until I was like, 30, maybe. He will not be told what to wear. He knows best, what is cool, what cool dudes' wear. He flings himself around, flails, spins, twists, constantly. One of the other moms told me she overheard him telling a fellow preschooler, "You and Katherine are hot babes." He loves to pretend to be animals, like cats, and dogs. He doesn't listen. You can tell him to do something 5 or 6 times, and he won't even glance your way. He still mispronounces a handful of words, including disk, "dih-kuh," which is really funny...

He exaggerates. If its 80, he's "So hot he's gonna die!" if I don't set up his pool. A lull in his imagination, and he's "So bored," he doesn't know what to do! He also thinks he's fat? His stomach fluff out like a food baby when he eats a large meal. We take pictures, because it is surreal, and so now he thinks he is so fat. I correct him all the time, and he doesn't care. This kid can eat! he'll eat as much as me or dad sometimes, and still ask for more. His favorite foods are bacon, tortilla chips, shiny red apples, shrimp, cheerios, and granola bars.

 He dances all day. At t-ball he was shaking his booty, touching his toes with his butt in the air, making beats with his mouth, entertaining all the parents.  He makes up songs with dad, and by himself about anything and everything. Some of my favorites start with "Mahmmmmm is the prettiest Mahmmmmm," or variations on the theme. He also has tons of songs from radio and TV memorized and will sing them as he's cleaning, or getting ready to play something. In the car he will yell, "Turn it up!" and won't let us talk because he has to sing every word to the song. If ben sings he yells, "I hate it when you sing! Stop singing!!"

 He loves his brother so much. He gets so sad when Ben wants to read quietly or do something Hunter can't be a part of. He likes to cuddle, and pretend, and make things up. He loves to color. He is bored when he is alone, half the time.

The day these pictures were taken he fell off a ladder he was sitting on and it was my fault because I was distracting him. If he dies on the wii, or loses a battle, it is whoever is in the rooms fault. He is never at fault for anything.

 He doesn't doubt his own strength or abilities. He believes with his whole heart he's strong and great and capable of anything. He shrugs off fear, unless it is bedtime and it is thunderstorming.

 He is saucy as sh*t. He talks back nearly every time he is spoken to. He defies all requests, and stomps when he doesn't get his way. Sometimes I end up having to send him to bed in the middle of the day. Last week when I did that he ripped 4 of my paint by numbers off the wall. He pushes threats to the limit. If you say, "No wii today," he counters with, "I don't care!" Promptly turning into "No wii for 2 days, and if you talk back again it will be 3." I usually have to cut him off, or he'll retort all day.

He loves to fish. He asks to go everyday. He also loves his new pond in the backyard. I could barely peel him away from it all day Sunday. He likes to put his hands in the water and through the sprinkles from the filter fountain. I'm sure the fish do not appreciate it.

He's hilarious. Makes total strangers laugh. He likes to "race" cars on his bike down our street... and several times the drivers or passengers have noticed and cheered him on, slowing down or speeding up, and he LOVES it. He loves our neighbors. Is super friendly. He'll follow one neighbor while he mows, and asked for a tour of their house. Every time he sees them outside he yells out the window a kind greeting, or if we're already out, he'll run over and carry on a grown up conversation with them.

Our new favorite thing: when he responds with "Sheeeesh!" I'll have to get it recorded.

All these cute pictures were taken before he got mad and threw a handful of tiny mulch rocks at me, promptly ending our trip to the park.