Dee, Just Now

Taking a little time out tonight to cover the next installment of my kid portraits. Dee is newly four him, cleanly out of toddler-hood and into his boyhood years. It's lots of fun to watch him unfolding and see who he is turning out to be. He's a super different person from his big brother, Ru but they get along well and are fast friends too.

 Dee Likes:

• The color yellow. (His preference hasn't faded...even though I thought it might. He was super excited recently when I bought him some new shirts that were yellow.)
• Playing outdoors. He can amuse himself, literally for hours with any little investigation. Insects are a big draw at the moment. He kept busy watching a pillbug forEVER the other day. Gardening mommies don't mind. :)
• Ice cream. He and A have been making the rounds on their own little private ice cream tasting tours, testing all the local spots, its one of his favorite past-times.
• Girls. At his recent birthday party he carefully requested a select crowd of female chums and was beaming at having all of them there to play with together. He tells me often that he likes little girls more than little boys and that he hopes the baby is a sister for him.
• Babies. He loves to talk about our baby-on-the-way and makes a bee-line for a snuggly spot near infants in our crowd of friends.
• Signs. Maybe its watching his big brother learning to read that has created this latest interest, I'm not really sure. Everywhere we go he wants to have us tell him what this sign and that sign and this other sign says. Lots of deciphering work going on.
• Machines of all kinds. His dream vocation changes pretty frequently but right now its always some kind big equipment operator: bus driver, crane operator, train conductor, garbage truck guy...etc.

 Dee Can't Stand:

• Being awakened. In the last year or so I finally realized that he really hates having someone wake him up and will start the day on a much happier note if he is left alone to wake up. This kid needs personal space. 
• Wearing socks. I'm forever catching him slyly slipping his shoes on without his socks and tucking the socks into some hiding spot around the house. He also hates to use his hands to put his shoes on and thus crams the tongues down inside the shoe with his little bare toes.
• Sudden surprises. Unless he grows out of it over time (entirely possible) he will be one of those grouchy people who get angry about practical jokes and insist that surprises are just an evil kind of exclusive-ism. He really gets steamed when Ru pops out from behind a wall and hollers, "Boo!"
• Strangers helping him find his parents. He's a detail-man so when we're out and about, it's easy for him to get distracted by some little interesting thing and lose track of us and get disoriented. Inevitably we'll notice and call his name when we notice him looking wildly around him and some helpful, passerby will stop to point us out and offer words of comfort...and he flips! Some trigger in him is really hit by strangers talking to him and offering help. He acts like they brandished a knife. Guess we don't have to worry about this one every being lured into a stranger's car with candy, eh?
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