Will right now.

We have this boy his name is Will. He is 4, but he likes to tell every one that he is four and a half. I think he knows it has a cuteness factor to it. He is charming and funny. He is intelligent and creative. He is sweet and kind and good. He is also one great big huge pain in the butt! 

Seriously, Will is pretty amazing at the moment. I was fairly stressed about him starting 'Kindy' at school. I was totally expecting a lot of emphasis on pre-reading and writing. And I was right. I'm not one of those mums who believes in lots of homework or wants to hothouse my kids into little infant prodigies reading and writing before they start school. And of all our children Will has been, I thought, the least suited to sitting down at a table pencil in hand. I figured he'd be much better off in an environment that allowed him to make and do, to get outside when he wanted (not by bells and timetables) and to use hammers and saws, and spades and hoses. In fact I probably still do think that. That said he is thriving at school. Absolutely loving formal learning. He comes home with all sorts or stories. Most of them consist of something terrible 'Boy F' did and something wonderful Will did. "F called me chicken legs today, and that is not very nice". "Mrs Gordon said I was the best 'rest-er' in the whole wide world." But a lot of the stories relate to letter sounds, and other more formal learning. He is thriving on it. And he was one of the first 2 kids in blue group to get an Honour Certificate at the first full school assembly this year- so I guess he'd doing lots of stuff right.

But he really is a pain in the bum at home. We can't really leave him alone in a room with Tama unless he's fully engaged in something like eating. He's rough and he can be quite mean and essentially sees T as a bit of a play thing and about the only person in the house he can really assert his will over. He has been told countless times not to touch his head, try and pick him up, or prevent T from getting where he needs to go. But as far as Will is concerned rules are for ignoring. Like the rule about keeping the sand in the sand pit. Or the one about not chewing on: furniture, TV remotes, and cushions, or licking things, or eating food off the floor or covering his damn mouth with his hand when he is constantly coughing his guts out. The other day he decided while sitting on the couch that spitting on the toy in his hand would be a great idea. He was sent immediately to the hallway and the TV went off. Whilst in the hallway he amused himself by quietly spitting on the bathroom door- he had built up quite a waterfall by the time I caught him. It's moments like that that really send me nuts. He's already in time out, what I do- put him in time-out time out?? And what he did was so gross and so obviously against the rules- I mean he was already in trouble for spitting.

There's lots of boy stuff going on.... fighting.

 

More fighting, this time as Sportacus from Lazy Town.

And of course outside play like biking, flying, water play and in the sand pit.

He's probably happiest with glue, scissors, paint or paper in hand.

 

 

He spends his entire day asking me what the time is. And telling me that he's hungry. And then at dinner time he eats like a sparrow.

  

He loves to get involved with stuff like making dinner, baking, and gardening.

  

 He'd like to think he is a fabulous big brother but it's not the case and Tama is not one of those babies that delights in seeing his amazing big brother... unless that amazing big brother is Kieran.

 

But he does try and be kind and loving and helpful. It's just that he's a little too kind, a little over loving, and unhelpfully helpful.

 

He's also into playing on the computer "Grumpy Birds" and ABC for kids. On the Wii and the PS. He likes imaginary play (kitchens, dressing up and so forth) especially if someone is keen to join in. And building stuff like towers and such with Duplo, lego and other stuff. He also really enjoys music and will sometimes hang out in Merenia's room listening, playing, learning and singing.

 

  

Probably the coolest things about Will is his language. When some one asks him how he is he doesn't just say good he says "Great!". He has a little thing that he does where he breathes out when he speaks almost like an enthusiastic sigh. "Ahhhh that was really cool Mum!". We were out recently on a walk and Les and I were talking about a nasty looking patch of weather approaching Will said "Best we return home then" And when driving in the car last week he was telling his friend "Spiders have consequences Leon! That have poisonous in them and if they bite you you will get poisonous. And then you could die. Snakes and Jelly fish have consequences too!" He often likes to talk about what other people might think of. Generally the most mundane stuff like: "I'm going to wear my Octonauts T-shirt to the garden centre I think they'll love that Mum".

A couple of my other favourite Will Quotes of late:

"I really like this Highway Mum it can take you to a lot of places!"

"Mum sometimes my mouth makes this whiny noise"  (Yep it sure does).

And on seeing a hot rod with an exposed engine: "That's like a ghost town car Mum. It's got that really freaky part!"

"You known Mum I think those dogs really liked it when I got down and talked to them the other day. Because I was down on my hand and knees and saying "Woof Woof Woof!" and they would have thought I was a dog like them." (Those dogs like to look under the gate and bark endlessly at anyone walking past- I'm fairly certain they would have thought dog-Will was taunting them!)

And this one too....

Will: Mum I'm confused.
Me: Really, what are you confused about?
Will: Actually I'm exhausted.
Me: Sounds like you might be confused too.

We do love this boy. He might just be the one that tips over the edge of parenting sanity though, so it's lucky we do.

 ♥